Despite the simplistic nature of the wedding of Hannah and Adam, there were still many things to be organised. Ally and Hannah worked together well, having known each other too long for any annoyances to be anything more than memories to laugh about at a later date. The outings out of the city weren’t so frequent but Joshua still made a point of taking Ally to all the hidden and beautiful environments. One day he took her horse riding.
“You know,” Ally said as she was jostled about, “when Aloy got on a Strider for the very first time…she made it look so easy!”
“You’re doing better than I am!” Joshua laughed as the instructor gave them some pointers then took them on a beach ride. They kicked up salt water with their hooves and some of the more adventurous and experienced riders cantered and galloped.
Ally gazed at them wistfully. “I’m going to do that one day.” She vowed, still at a walking pace.
“It looks like freedom, doesn’t it?” Joshua rode beside her and she nodded.
“Aloy can ride on a machine at the edge of the surf in the game. The graphics are incredible. I honestly thought that’s what it would be like to ride at the beach,” she shook her head, “but nothing compares to this…nothing.”
With aching legs and backsides they travelled back into town on the train, Ally checking her messages.
“Hannah picked up her dress…I’ll get mine tomorrow…”
“Can’t believe, between the three of you, you organised a wedding within nine days.”
“The hard part was already done,” Ally saw his confused glance, “Adam asking Hannah out and then having the guts to ask her to marry him.”
“He’s shy?”
“No, she’s scary.” Ally laughed. “Everyone used to say, Hannah’s so scary! How can you be friends with her? I never thought she was scary. She just stood her ground and wouldn’t be pushed or swayed by what everyone else thought or said. I swear if they go to Spain during the ‘Running with the bulls’ event, Hannah would play chicken with them.”
“And win?”
“Wearing red.” Ally giggled then paused. “Uh…do we have an hour or so before you need to be back at the gym?”
“We’ve got time. What are your thoughts?”
“We’re near Fielding. I haven’t seen Gigi for a while.”
“Your grandmother?”
“As good as, yeah.”
“Let’s.”
They got out at the next suburb over from Fielding and caught a taxi to the aged care centre. Ally paid the driver and climbed out, Joshua holding the door open for her.
“I was going to pay for that.” He groused.
“You’ve paid for so much. I can handle a taxi.” Ally cleared her throat. “Just so you know…Gigi has mini strokes, more so in the afternoons and evenings.”
“When she’s tired?” Joshua held the door open for her and she led him into the foyer.
“Yeah. If it happens, she loses big chunks of time. It’s a form of dementia…untreatable.”
“How big are the chunks?”
Ally sighed. “The last one was about ten years.”
Joshua whistled. “That’s a large piece of memory gone. She must become disorientated.”
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“And a little aggressive when she can’t understand why she’s in here. Most times she just asks me if I’m talking to my mum or to tell my dad she’s thinking of him.” She caught his pained expression. “What?”
“That must be hard, revisiting moments like that.”
“She was there for me when mum and dad were falling apart. I’ll always look after her and help her find the missing pieces of herself if I can.”
He smiled warmly at her and she blushed then turned to Imogene.
“Ally! It’s been a while! Gigi was asking about you only yesterday.”
“Sorry. I had…something came up.”
“I see,” Imogene caught sight of Joshua, “uh…”
“This is my friend, Joshua.” Imogene raised her eyebrows and nodded. Ally rolled her eyes and sighed. “Can we go see her?”
“She’s lucid and more than ready for company.” Imogene pointed at the doors. “Just through there.” As Joshua moved away Imogene looked at Ally and mouthed ‘wow’. Ally had to fight down the smile and led Joshua into the lounge to where Gigi was in her favourite chair.
“My girl! My Ally!” Gigi stood and hugged her. “I was starting to think you’d vanished off the face of the earth!”
“I’m so sorry Gigi. I should have come back sooner.”
“Are you okay?” Gigi held her face and studied her. “You look fantastic. I can almost smell the salty water and sand…have you been to the beach?”
“Horse riding.”
“No…you? Horse riding?” Gigi saw Joshua hanging back. “Alone?”
“No,” Ally waved him forward, “Gigi, this is Joshua, a friend. Joshua, this is Gigi.”
“Come close Joshua. Let me take a good look at you.” Gigi grasped his hand and peered up at him. “He’s handsome Ally…and he doesn’t look dim.”
Ally put her hand on her face and groaned. Joshua laughed.
“It’s nice to meet you. Ally’s spoken a lot about you.”
“She’s never mentioned you,” Gigi looked pointedly at Ally, “a bit of a secret?”
“Not anymore.” Ally snorted and sat down. “How are you?”
“Pfft,” Gigi waved her hand, “forget me. I want to hear about you two. Grab that pouffe over there and come sit close, Joshua.” Ally mouthed ‘sorry’ to him and he winked like he thought it was good fun. “So, Joshua…got a last name?”
“Knightly.”
“Joshua Knightly…that’s a good strong name…and you don’t look weedy.”
“I’m a qualified gym instructor.” Joshua sat and leaned forward, taking Gigi’s interrogation in his stride. “I keep an eye on the people that come and do their workouts. I also teach tae kwon do from entry age all the way up to black belt and tai chi.”
“Isn’t that a tea?”
“No,” Ally laughed, “it’s a form of martial art but it focuses on centring yourself, breathing and the flow of form. Joshua also helps with disadvantaged kids in schools, taking them on hikes, kayak rides down rivers…charity swims off the coast.”
“A genuine white knight it sounds like.” Gigi mused. “Why haven’t you been snapped up before now, Joshua?” She ignored Ally’s hiss of derision.
“I was engaged once. It ended badly. I’ve been pretty cautious since.” Joshua summed up succinctly.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Gigi nodded, pulling a packet out of her pocket, “now…the big question…do you play cards?”
Joshua’s mouth curled up into a smile. “Bridge?”
Gigi huffed. “Poker.”
“I’m intrigued,” Joshua admitted, “but…what are we betting?”
“I’ve got false teeth or jello…you can only have one or the other.”
Ally wondered if she should just leave her hands over her mortified expression.
“Tempting,” Joshua put his hand up to his face and pretended to be seriously considering it, “I like jello…”
“What do I get if I win?”
“One free tai chi class.”
Gigi laughed outright. “Honey, at my age, I don’t need anyone telling me how to breathe. In fact I could probably teach you a thing or two.” She looked at Ally. “There’s usually a bag of tiddlywinks in the games trolley. Better than jello and tai chi.”
Ally got up and dug around in the trolley, finding the bag of little clear disks of red, green and yellow. She walked back towards them and heard Gigi speaking firmly.
“…be a fly by night. Ally has had enough people leaving her. She needs someone who stays.”
Ally pressed her lips together as Joshua leaned forward and held Gigi’s hands.
“I don’t do fly bys. If I’m in it…I’m in it forever.”
Gigi’s eyes twinkled with delight. Ally cleared her throat and jiggled the bag. “Who’s dealing?”
“Sorry about Gigi interrogating you,” Ally said as they travelled in the backseat of the cab towards the city, “she’s protective of me.”
“As a grandparent ought to be.” Joshua reassured her. “She wasn’t mean or stand offish. She just wants the best for you, especially when she knows all that you’ve lost.”
“I’m amazed that she remembered. It’s late but she hadn’t forgotten a thing.” Ally’s phone buzzed. She looked at it. “Oh…Hannah wants to know if she can stay over the night before the wedding.”
“A hen’s night without the hens?”
“Just the two of us.” Ally nodded. “We’d stay at my place, go out for breakfast…oh she wants to go to a spa for a facial and massage then we go to the hairdresser before getting dressed for the wedding.”
“Sounds better than drinking and a strip dancer.”
Ally shuddered. “I’ve never understood the appeal of that.” She twisted to look at him. “It’d mean I’ll be sleeping in my apartment tomorrow.”
Joshua tried to cover his swallow by nodding but Ally caught sight of it all the same.
“Of course.”
She frowned, her heart unsettled for some reason. “You’re coming to the wedding…aren’t you?”
He turned and smiled at her, his eyes failing to light up. “Yes, I will be there.”