Sarah was well aware that there was a great deal to pack into one day, but having a leisurely breakfast and not being up early was a pleasant change.  The first stop was the specialist shop run by an ex-police friend of Al’s, where they could pick up a couple of cameras, and all the necessary bits and pieces to set up some decent security at Maggie’s house.  The storage unit would be next, and Al had put the back seats down in his car so that they could empty the unit – hopefully. Everything would be taken back to the house, there was time for a quick lunch, and then a visit to Jude and Dan’s, suitably loaded down with sweets and silly things for the girls.  The final stop of the day would be the dinner at Millie’s, cooked by Jiara.  Sarah was hoping that Tom and Jiara had taken to each other by then.

Al looked very content with two soft-boiled eggs in the much-loved comic egg cups – with buttered soldiers.  Two questions occurred to Sarah as she watched Al eating; they weren’t big issues but things that left her slightly perplexed nevertheless.  She got up and put her empty bowl and spoon in the dishwasher, and stood behind Al, her arms around his shoulders.  He stopped eating.

“What’s up?”

“What’s Al short for?”

“Alexander.  I never use it; and Maggie has given it to my nephew now.”

“Alexander the Great. No secrets, right?”

“I also have to confess that I am six feet, two and a half inches tall. Five and a half inches more and I’d be classified as an official giant. You know all my secrets now.”

Sarah shook her head, and sat down on the chair beside him with a very serious look on her face.

“Not quite. Even if I wasn’t your fiancée, I would be the first to admit that you are rather fit, Al.  You need to be, to do all that running after guests and knife-wielding maniacs.  You also enjoy your food, which is yet another thing I love about you.  What is your secret?”

Al laughed, and pulled her onto his lap.

“I confess, you’ve caught me out.  I do have a secret but it isn’t a guilty one.  We need to get dressed first though.”

Curiosity piqued, Sarah ran upstairs, threw off her nightshirt and pulled on some old clothes, with Al following very close behind her. She waited patiently back down in the kitchen while Al laced up his trainers.  He seemed to be taking an extremely long time, but she was determined not to nag. He was smiling as he stood up, and walked over to the kitchen door.

“Most of the time you’ve been here, it’s been dark or you’ve been – rather distracted?  So, you won’t have looked out at the back garden much?”

Sarah shook her head, and watched as Al took a key from a hook over the door.

“Come on, then.” he said as he opened the door and stepped down onto the path.  He took her hand and pointed to a large building at the end of the garden.

“I didn’t even know there was anything there!” she said.

“Welcome to my mancave!” said Al as he unlocked the door and turned on the light. “Until a couple of months ago I used to go to the gym after work, but I didn’t have an awful lot of spare time so I invested in some gear of my own.  I’ve been rather busy recently, but you are right, I need to stay fit in order to do my job properly amongst other things.”

Sarah wandered around, touching the various items of equipment, most of which were completely alien to her, and looked a bit scary. She sat down on a weight bench, and laughed.  Al sat next to her and took her hand.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“There are times when I feel that ten years of switching off from Andy’s comings and goings has left me rather ignorant and disinterested, or perhaps innocent?  He used to do mountain biking and even bought me a bike once, but it all seemed pretty hectic and I would only go out on it if it was a circular ride, and on the flat, so he sold it to a friend.  He had weights that he kept in the garage but I never saw him use them.  I suppose he worked out when I was at the office.  He was fairly fit, with all the gardening and climbing, but not hunky fit, like you are. I love your secret Al, and I love the fact that you shared it with me when I asked.  Will you teach me how to use some of it?  I quite like the idea of a bike that doesn’t go anywhere, and that you can get off when you’re fed up.”

“Hunky fit eh?  Never been called that before.  I will show you how to use the equipment, but only once your war wound has healed up.  No operating heavy machinery remember?”

“Talking of which, can we change the dressing before we go out? I’d like it to be as discreet as possible when we go to Jude’s.  Her girls are a bit younger than Maggie’s children and I don’t want to spook them. We’ll have to take more photos for Dan.  He’s fascinated by gruesome stuff.”

Al turned off the light and locked up the gym.  Sarah took the opportunity to look around the rest of the back garden; a large patio with the firepit and a barbecue, mostly laid to lawn with fruit trees and shrubs round the edges. Behind the gym there were three vegetable patches, with bamboo canes that brought back memories of her childhood garden, and her Dad’s runner beans and sweet peas. She hadn’t thought of it since her parents died, but it was a particularly poignant reminder, and she couldn’t stop herself from crying – again.  The ever-ready handkerchief was proffered, and Al led her back into the house, sat her down and got out the dressings pack.  He was extremely gentle as he took off the old dressing, and used warm water and cotton wool to clean the wound.

“It’s still healing up but there’s no sign of infection, and I think we can get away with cutting down the size of the dressing again.  How does it feel? Can you smile yet?”

“For you, yes.” said Sarah testing out a smile.  Her face felt stiff but not as sore as it had been.  “Does it look gruesome enough for Dan?”

“It will never look gruesome to me.  Do you want me to come to the hospital with you on Monday?”

“Oh, would you?  I could drive myself, but I might go wimpy if they take the stitches out.”

“You won’t, but I’d like to be there anyway so I can be complimented on my medical prowess.”

“Do you remember what we were talking about on our way down to the car on the night that Marta attacked me? You told me that you weren’t very good at romance and all that stuff.  I beg to differ.  No one has ever made me feel as special as you do.  I was thinking this morning at breakfast; Andy and I rarely ate together; he was always up earlier than me so I tended to stay in bed and watch the news until he’d gone.  If he was away and Jude came to stay, we used to chat and laugh, and when I moved in with Millie, breakfast was generally a happy, busy time.  With you, I get all the best bits of being with Jude and Millie, but you add another dimension, and I love it. You make me happy Al, and you are romantic even if you don’t think so.”

Al finished off the dressing, and kissed Sarah’s other cheek, before gathering her up in his arms and holding her very tight.

“I’d kind of given up on finding happiness after all this time.” he said as he kissed her neck. “I have a feeling that if we aren’t careful, we may find that we haven’t got quite as much time to do all the things that we need to do today.”

“That’s another thing.  Andy never made feel – well – interested in sex and being close to someone as you do.  Thank goodness for Amy Loomis.  I could have ended up in a right state if Steven had taken me to the Graduation Ball instead of her.  Will this feeling wear off do you think?”

“What, the fact that we can’t keep our hands off each other? I sincerely hope not.”

“Jude mentioned that too. Hold that thought for now.  Let’s go off to the shop to buy stuff that will keep Maggie and the children safe. Have you heard from her or the police this morning?”

“She texted me.  They are all okay. No more news of Bob from the police so far.”

“There’s just one more thing I need to get straight Al.”

“Go on.”

“I would offer to help pay for the security stuff for Maggie but I know you’d refuse, and I know why.  We will have to talk about money and bills eventually, and I want to pay my way.”

“We will.  You can pay for the storage fees then, and I won’t charge you for transport.”

“You strike a hard bargain.  Don’t let me forget to pick up some stuff for Jude’s girls after lunch.”

“I was about to say that you might find my friend’s shop a bit strange, but I’ve a feeling that you’ll find things there that will interest you.”