Last Chance Proposal by Barbara Deleo Page B

another sip of beer. He saw the way she spoke to Louis, with love and devotion, and he only hoped he could help her build some sort of relationship with Jonty—and eventually him.
    She nibbled her lip then jumped off the swing and came to stand beside him. “It’s great to have you back, Cy, really great, and I have a feeling that everything’s going to turn out fine.”
    She turned away to pick up a bowl of corncobs and he watched the way the dusky light cast soft shadows on her face. It did feel good to be back here, way more than he’d imagined, but it wasn’t the relaxed lifestyle or the beautiful scenery that was getting under his skin. It was the beautiful Ellie Jacobs. He hoped that the connection to her he could feel growing every minute wouldn’t cause everything to be blown apart.
    …
    The night was still and black when they’d finished dinner and everyone else had gone home. The cool breeze had dropped and the earth had come alive, heating from within as mosquitoes hummed and a morepork owl hooted in the distance.
    Ellie watched Cy lean his forearms on the picnic table as he spoke. “That was great ice cream, Louis.”
    Louis looked down at the table and shrugged.
    Cy scooped up the last bit of creamy residue with his finger before sliding it into his mouth. “Wish I could make ice cream. I can make a mean chocolate cake, but wouldn’t know where to start with ice cream.”
    Louis’s eyes flicked up, then down. “It’s easy, but you’ve gotta use big eggs.”
    Cy nodded. “We’ve been doing eggs for breakfast since we got here, haven’t we Jonty? We like them with lots of ketchup.”
    Ellie made a gagging sound. “Ugh, you’re kidding! That sounds nasty.”
    “No, it’s not,” Louis said. “It’s what boys like, isn’t it, Cy?”
    “Sure is. Almost as good as chocolate sauce on pancakes for breakfast.”
    “I can do pancakes!” Louis’s chin shot up. “I can do them with peanut butter, too, and my best ones have chocolate chunks.”
    Ellie and Fleur both poked their tongues out.
    Cy winked across the table. “Maybe we’ll have a boys’ breakfast sometime. What do you say, Louis? Eggs and ketchup, chocolate chunk pancakes and a few sausages on the side. You can come to our place.”
    “Have you still got that pukeko chick?” Fleur asked.
    Cy nodded. “Ellie called the bird sanctuary and they said not to release it until its foot was better. They can take it after the Christmas break to get it ready to go back into the wild. Jonty’s been looking after it really well, haven’t you, bud?”
    Jonty dragged the spoon through his lips and nodded to his father. He played with the scarf that was always tied around his neck or wrist.
    Louis pushed his chair back. “Can we see the glowworms?”
    Ellie shot a look at Cy. “I forgot to tell him.”
    “I think Jonty’s a bit tired tonight, aren’t you, J?” Cy said
    Jonty’s eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously.
    Cy swiveled toward his son. “There are no lights where the glowworms are. You can only see them when it’s really dark at night. In the forest.”
    Sensing a moment of tension Ellie said, “You’ll be here for lots of nights, Jonty. We can see the glowworms another time. Has Daddy told you about them?” Cy’s little boy just looked at her and she rushed on, cursing herself for asking a question he couldn’t answer. “They’re a bit like lightening bugs but they’re worms that live on the banks of the stream. You can only see them at night. When you’re really, really quiet and everything’s really dark they shine brightly like the fairy lights you helped Fleur put in the trees.”
    Jonty put his spoon in the plate and as he looked at her, blinking, Ellie’s heart did a swan dive. Connecting with him was going to be so hard. And reconnecting with his dad was going to be even harder.
    Jonty turned to Louis.
    “Pleeeease,” Louis said to Cy. “Tell him, Ellie. It’ll be great. Jonty’s never seen