Going Home

Part 61

Walking back into the room dressed again after her shower Grace smiled as she spotted Josh lying face up on the bed. His feet were on the floor and his arms were spread wide like he’d sat down then just lay back and fell asleep. She noticed he had managed to take off his top, exposing his toned upper body. But he was still wearing his jeans and boots.

Walking over as she rubbed her wet hair with a towel Grace drops the towel and winding her hair into a single strand so it didn’t fall forward on to him she stood between his legs. Then leaning over with one hand planted on either side of his torso she bent lower to gently touch his lips with hers. Even half asleep Josh responded straight away to the touch of her lips on his and unable to help herself Grace increased the pressure and deepened the kiss.

Fully awake now Josh wrapped his arms around Grace and pulled her down on top of him. He wasn’t sure how it happened but he wasn’t at all upset at this turn of events. However just as he was getting serious about what they were doing Grace raised her head.

Having heard Margaret’s voice letting them know dinner was ready, Grace called back to indicate they’d heard then turned back to look at Josh with a smile.

His arms falling back to the bed, Josh groaned and glared at her “that wasn’t nice.”

Smiling at his obvious frustration she pretended not to know what he was talking about “what? It felt pretty nice to me” she teased.

“That’s the problem” Josh growled “you shouldn’t have started something you knew you weren’t going to finish.”

Grace laughed but then looked remorseful “I know Josh and I’m sorry but I just couldn’t help it, you looked so good lying there half naked, I couldn’t resist.”

Groaning again Josh closed his eyes and putting his arms around her held her against him. “Grace don’t” he said “I’m only just hanging on here.” Then opening his eyes and giving her a stern look, he added “but let me tell you what ever you have planned for tonight better be good.”

Laughing again Grace pushed herself up, pulling him to a sitting position in the process. She teased “well you’ll have to wait and see now won’t you.”

But Josh was in no mood for jokes and grabbing her arm before she could move away he warned “Grace?”

Looking at him she decided she’d probably pushed him far enough and running her free hand down his face, her touch tender, she relented “don’t worry Josh it’ll be good, trust me.”

Then standing and giving her a tense smile Josh let her go.

 “Now go shower will you, I’m starving.” she ordered.

Grinning Josh said “oh so am I but I guess we can eat first.”

Smiling Grace shook her head at him and shoved him in the direction of the door.

Going Home

Part 60

As Josh watched Grace move about the room, his mind once more turned to other things. He noticed her jeans and boots were dusty but this didn’t detract from how good she looked with the close fitting material hugging her hips and thighs. Then his gaze moved up and he took in the way her tight top showed off her lovely curves.

With her back to him Grace asked “do you want to shower first or will I?” But Josh didn’t answer and after a few seconds Grace turned back to look at him, “Josh?”

As she met his gaze she realised he has been watching her and surveyed him with suspicion as he smiled and sauntered over.

“How about we conserve water and shower together, we are in the middle of a drought you know?” Josh said grinning.

But Grace had already been thinking about this and had other plans so smiling she gently put him off “ah no, I don’t think that’s a very good idea. But if you are good I do have something in mind for later.”

Going Home

Part 59

Reaching the privacy of their room, as soon as the door was shut Grace wrapped her arms around Josh’s waist and held him tight. She was so proud of the way he’d handled that situation with his mother. He’d come a long way from when they’d arrived.

He held her just as tight.

Moving her head back so she could look up at him Grace smiled “you did good, you know. Margaret looked devastated.”

Looking down at her, his expression serious, he said “I know.”

Then watching him she asked “are you okay about it?”

“Yeah, but being able to talk about him is going to take some getting used to.”

Grace nodded “for all of you.”

Then moving out of his arms Grace turned and crossed the room to get out some clean clothes, intending to go and have a shower.

Going Home

Part 58

The ride back to the house seemed to take forever to Grace. She was tired after the events of the day and would dearly love a shower. Not to mention some food, lunch seemed along time ago now. Looking over at Josh she couldn’t believe it was only that morning that he’d faced his past, the day seemed to have gone on for a month.

Josh was tired too. So much had happened that day and he needed time to think about it. But not then. He was done with thinking about it for today. All he wanted to do was shower and eat and then get Grace some place by her self.

Minutes later as they finally pulled up next to the house, Margaret walked down the steps to meet them. Smiling she gave them some good news “I just called the hospital and Maddie’s going to be fine she was very lucky.”

Looking at his mother Josh said, “I’ll say, you should have seen how far she fell. I can’t believe she hasn’t got serious injuries.”

Margaret smiled “kids are tough and they’ve flexible, I remember you and Gavin…” and stopping mid sentence Margaret was horrified at what she had just said. Hurriedly she apologized, “oh Josh I’m sorry.” Then closing her eyes for a minute she held her breath and waited for a reaction. She hoped she hadn’t just undone everything they’d managed to achieve towards repairing their relationship.

Grace watched Josh, she had no idea how he would take this. She knew he’d resolved some things but it was all still new and old habits may be hard to break.

Josh however was stunned and just looked at his mother without speaking. It was a shock to hear her mention Gavin so casually, they had all avoided talking about him since Josh and Grace had been at the farm. But it wasn’t the devastating blow he had expected, so putting a hand on her arm he broke the tense silence “don’t worry about it” he said. Then stepping around her he walked up the stairs and into the house.

As Josh walked away Margaret released her breath in a soft sigh and looked at Grace, her relief obvious.

Grace gave her a sympathetic smile and giving her arm a reassuring pat, she followed Josh inside.

Day 14

A smart car that you see all over Italy.

© A Product of Silence

Today we say good bye to Italy. We left our hotel for Rome airport at 8.30am ready for a 12.30 flight. As we travelled on the coach we were all silence, our eyes trained out the window, getting our last look. When we arrived at the airport we found out our flight had been delayed by an hour and we also had an unscheduled stopover in Milan. This meant getting off the plane one more time and taking all our carry on luggage with us. 

We were in Milan for a couple of hours, where some of did some last minute shopping, and then we reboarded the plane and continued our trip home. We had another stop at Dubai and again at Singapore, both times just involved getting off at one gate and getting on at another, but each time you have to go back through security. I lost count of how many bottles of water I had to throw out during this process. Finally we touched down in Melbourne at 2.00 am and after clearing customs I walked out to meet my family at three in the morning. It was wonderful to see everyone, I had missed them more than I thought posssible. And as good as Italy was, I was glad to be home. It was the end of a fantastic trip.

Going Home

Part 57

Walking over to the ute Robert drove, Josh put his gear in the back.

As he straightened up, a pair of arms snaked their way around his waist. Smiling Josh turned in Grace’s embrace and pulling her close for a quick kiss he said “you okay?”

Smiling up at him she said “yes but a bath sounds good about now, it’s been a long day.”

Josh grinned and raised an eyebrow “a bath hey?”

But Grace shook her head, “oh no not here Josh, that one will have to wait until we are home.”

Giving her a wicked grin, Josh said “think so?”

“No, I know so” she said with vehemence.

Laughing Josh relented “alright I’ll let you off on one condition.”

Frowning, wary suddenly, grace said “what condition?”

His look intent, Josh said “that you make the wait worth my while when we get home.”

Smiling Grace moved closer and whispered “okay Josh I promise to make sure you’re not sorry you had to wait.”

Closing his eyes as his body responded to her close proximity Josh groaned, “Grace don’t do that, you know what it does to me.” Then looking pointedly at the people around them and back into her eyes he added “and at the moment that could be very dangerous.”

Grace smiled, well aware of the effect she was having on him.

Seeing her smile Josh couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing her. It was a quick caress filled with intent. Then releasing her with reluctance he watched as she headed over to her bike. And as he studied her butt in her tight fitting jeans Josh found that the kiss was not nearly enough. As soon as it was dark he was going to do something about it. She may have got her way about the bath but there was no way they weren’t going down to that shed tonight. He was going to make sure of it, even if he had to carry her there. But that thought was almost more than he could bear and stopping it immediately he sighed in frustration and strode over to his bike.