by Holly Martin
In reality, he knew this was unlikely. If him being involved with Isla and Elliot was an issue, Karie would have raised it before now. And remarkably, for someone with such a bad reputation, Karie actually seemed to like him.
He sat up and sighed. Isla was right, he was an asshole.
The front door opened and a few seconds later Jamie appeared in the door to the lounge. Jamie started a little when he saw his brother.
‘Well, this is an unwelcome surprise,’ Jamie said, dryly. He took in Leo’s dishevelled appearance and frowned. ‘Did you stay here last night?’
Leo nodded.
‘Hang on, Melody came home from her dress fitting with Isla and Tori yesterday afternoon and was full of the joys of how happy you and Isla were, that you’d got engaged, and that Sadie had agreed to the adoption. Everything seemed to be coming together for you guys. What the hell happened?’
Jamie clearly didn’t know about the accident. Leo had finally managed to get hold of Isla after she had left Melody and Tori and was on her way back home, so they would have had no idea about Elliot’s accident or probably the events after.
‘Yes, it was,’ Leo said. ‘Everything was perfect. Then I cocked everything up.’
Jamie sat down on the chair opposite the sofa. ‘She threw you out?’
‘Worse. Less than twenty-four hours after I’d proposed and told her I loved her and would look after her and Elliot forever, I walked out on her.’
Jamie stared at him. ‘Then you’re a bigger dick than I thought you were.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Leo sighed.
‘What happened?’
Leo told him about the accident and what had happened at the hospital, everything that Eva had said and how he’d let it fester inside of him, and then how he’d broken up with Isla when he’d got back home.
Jamie had nothing to say, no pearls of wisdom. But what was there to say? He had ruined everything.
‘Honestly, do you think they’d be better off without me?’ Leo asked.
‘It depends. Are they going to have to deal with this kind of shit on a regular basis, you walking out every time things get tough? Because if they are, then I’d say yes, they are better off without you. Elliot needs someone he can rely on, who will always be there, and if you can’t be that person, then it’s better for you to be out of his life completely rather than dipping in and out whenever the mood suits you.’
Leo let his head fall in his hands. It was harsh, but Jamie was right. There was more at stake here than his and Isla’s relationship, there was a little boy to think about too.
‘I was trying to do the right thing for him, for both of them,’ Leo said.
‘I know, which is why, in normal circumstances, you guys are all great for each other. You have changed that little boy’s life, for the better. You were there for Isla in the toughest moments of her life, but they saved you too. When Matthew died, I thought I had lost you as well. You were at your lowest, taking all that guilt on your shoulders, and they brought joy into your life again, gave you something worth living for. You all need each other, you’re intrinsically linked now and you can’t just walk away from something like that.’
‘What about all that stuff about the judge denying Isla custody of Elliot because of her involvement with me? I could stick my fingers up to anyone who thinks that I’m a rotten apple, or anyone who thinks I hurt Elliot. I know the truth and so does Isla, so I don’t care about anyone else. But I can’t stand in the way of her adopting Elliot. That would break her heart.’
‘You know that’s utter bullshit. Those are the words of someone who holds a grudge against you, not someone who speaks with any authority or knowledge of your case. It will be Karie who will have the most sway in the case before the judge. The judge will listen to her assessment, they will see how happy Elliot is with you and that’s what they will base their decision on. Not the person you were twenty years ago or that you slept with more women than you had hot dinners – the judge won’t care about stuff like that.’
Leo swore. Jamie was right. What the hell had he done?
‘Isla is never going to forgive me. You should have heard her last night, I destroyed her.’
‘It will take some time,’ Jamie said, honestly. ‘Showing up at that Halloween parade this evening is a start. Then talk to her, tell her about your fears for the adoption case, be honest about why you walked away.’
‘And if that doesn’t work?’
‘You two were meant to be together, she knows that.’
Leo sighed. He had a hell of a lot of making up to do and it was going to start with a Robin costume.
Isla waited nervously at the start of the parade as friends and families milled about exclaiming over each other’s costumes. The parade was not due to start for another ten minutes but every minute seemed to drag by. Leo had to be there, he just had to. She couldn’t lie to Elliot again.
‘He’ll be here,’ Melody said, quietly, as she hovered nearby, dressed as Wonder Woman. Isla had already seen Jamie dressed as a WWI pilot outfit, clearly he was supposed to be Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman’s sidekick.
‘He’s not going to let you or Elliot down,’ Tori said, dressed as Merida, complete with bow and arrow.
‘He already has,’ Isla muttered.
In reality she needed him here for more than just Elliot. She had to know that what they had was real, that his promises the night she had accepted his proposal actually meant something. She didn’t know if they had any kind of future together, but if he showed up today then it proved that what they had was at least as important to him as it was to her.
‘You look great.’ Emily came over with Marigold dressed in what was definitely a pink Spiderman costume or, rather, Spiderwoman. Emily had gone for a very simple Hermione Granger: long black cloak, bushy hair, carrying a wand and a stack of books. It must be hard to find any suitable costumes when you’re eight months pregnant.
Marigold assessed Isla’s costume. ‘What are you supposed to be?’ she asked, bluntly.
‘She-Ra,’ Isla said. ‘It’s a character from a TV programme when I was young.’
‘That dress is very short,’ Marigold said.
Isla knew that it was. It hadn’t been her intention to dress like she was about to star in the porno version of the cartoon, but when she’d put it on, she felt like she was channelling some of She-Ra’s power. She was brave and strong and she would be just fine without Leo. It helped that, complete with her long gold boots, she looked damned sexy; it didn’t hurt to show Leo what he would be missing.
If he showed up.
Obviously, Marigold had already lost interest as she took Elliot’s hand. ‘Come and look at this costume, it’s hilarious.’
They ran off to look at a man dressed in a big furry green monster costume.
‘Hello,’ Leo’s voice came from behind her.
She whirled round to face him and for a moment he simply stared at her. Not at her costume or her big bouffant hair, just at her, hurt and regret warring in his eyes.
God, she had no words to say to him. She wanted to shake him and hurt him like he had hurt her but she also wanted to kiss him and hold him close and never let him go. But he was here for Elliot and that was all that mattered for now.
His eyes raked down over her body and they widened slightly.
‘You look… amazing,’ Leo said.
She took in his costume. She couldn’t say the same about him. In his tiny green shorts, red waistcoat, gold cape, and green pointy elf-like shoes, he looked quite ridiculous, and her heart softened a tiny bit because of it. He had dressed himself up as an idiot simply to make Elliot happy.
‘Thank you for coming.’
He pushed his hand through his hair awkwardly. ‘Look, I’m sorry about last night—’
‘Leo!’ Elliot came running over and launched himself at Leo. Leo scooped him up and hugged him tight.
‘Hey buddy, how you doing?’ Leo looked down at what he was wearing
in confusion. ‘Where’s your costume?’
‘I’m wearing it,’ Elliot giggled. ‘Can you guess who I am?’
Isla smiled slightly as she watched Leo take in his clothes again. She had thought initially that Elliot could just wear Leo’s clothes but the man was so big that even his shirt dragged on the floor. Instead, she had taken Elliot shopping and he had chosen a pale blue shirt similar to one that Leo wore a lot, and had even rolled his sleeves up to his elbows just like his godfather always did. He wore it over a pair of jeans with a small leather jacket from a charity shop that looked like one Leo owned.
‘Are you Bruce Wayne?’ Leo said.
‘I’m you,’ Elliot said, no longer able to keep it in.
Leo stared at him in shock.
‘Yes, when I explained to Elliot what a hero was – someone who is always there when you need them, someone brave and strong and fearless – for some reason, I don’t know why, Elliot thought of you. He thinks you’re his hero,’ Isla said.
Leo swallowed and when he spoke his voice was hoarse. ‘Thanks buddy, this is amazing.’
‘I’ll have to get him to set the bar a little higher next year,’ Isla said, coldly, knowing that would go straight over Elliot’s head.
Leo looked at her and she turned away. She couldn’t look at the two of them together, it hurt too much. As the crowd jostled around them ready for the start of the parade, she allowed other people to get between them. She knew Elliot would be safe with Leo and if this really was going to be the last time they would see him, then she wanted Elliot to be able to make the most of it.
She stepped away and joined Melody and Jamie as they all started walking down the main road towards the beach, everyone carrying their pumpkin lanterns.
Jamie looked at her with surprise. ‘Have you two spoken?’
Isla shook her head. ‘What’s left to say? He doesn’t want to be part of my family any more.’
‘That’s not true. He overreacted last night, he wants to apologise.’
Her fragile heart filled with hope for a few seconds and then quickly deflated again.
‘I can’t…’ Isla started. ‘It’s too late for that.’
Melody squeezed her hand. ‘He’s not Daniel.’
‘I know,’ Isla said.
‘Don’t you think he deserves a second chance?’
‘It boils down to the same thing, they both promised me forever and they both walked away from me. Only difference is that Leo actually put a ring on my finger first. I was so wary of getting involved with someone after Daniel let me down so spectacularly. I knew that whoever I went out with would have to be someone I trusted completely, not just for me but for Elliot. I trusted Leo and he threw it back in my face.’
‘Look, I know he was a dick last night,’ Jamie said. ‘He knows he was a dick. But don’t you think you should listen to him so he can at least try to apologise for it? You owe him that.’
Why was she suddenly the bad guy in this? ‘He walked out on me, I don’t owe him anything.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Jamie said. ‘How about the fact that over the last year he has taken on a load more staff at The Big Bang just so he could take more time off work and be there for you and Elliot?’
‘What?’ Isla said. She didn’t know he’d done that.
‘How about the fact that he has become a dad to that little boy? Leo has taken him into his life and loved him, he didn’t have to do any of that. And what about him going to see Sadie and begging her to sign the adoption form, to leave Elliot out of all this mess that she had created, which she did?’
‘He… went to see Sadie?’
‘Yes, he didn’t want you to know as you’d asked him not to, but he knew he had to give it a shot. Or how about the fact that the main reason Leo broke up with you last night was because he overheard some cow who he’d dated once say that the judge in charge of your adoption case would never give Elliot to you if they knew Leo was involved and he got scared that he could ruin all of that for you? He was prepared to walk away from the only woman he has ever loved to ensure that you could continue to adopt Elliot.’ Jamie paused and continued, more gently. ‘I’d say you owe him quite a lot actually.’
Isla stared at him, tears filling her eyes, emotion clogging her throat. ‘I… I didn’t know any of that.’
Christ, that was why Leo had walked away: because he thought that Elliot meant more to her than he did, when in reality she needed them both in her life. He really had thought that she was better off without him and had been trying to do everything he possibly could to make sure the adoption went ahead, including sacrificing his own happiness for her.
He was the most incredible, amazing, kind, generous man she had ever met. Why couldn’t he see that?
He’d been to see Sadie. He was the reason why Sadie had suddenly had a change of heart. Oh god, Jamie was right, he had given her so much.
She looked around, trying to see him through the crowd, but she couldn’t locate him.
‘I need to find him,’ Isla muttered and Melody and Jamie started trying to scan the crowds too. ‘Jesus, he shouldn’t be this hard to find, he’s got a gold cape and tiny green shorts on.’
She stopped and waited for the villagers to file past her. He had been behind her at the beginning of the parade so it was likely he was still there. Several Supermen strolled past, a Luke Skywalker, a Captain America, a Thor, a Captain Kirk. Jabba the Hutt wobbled into her as he waddled past with an apology but there was no sign of Robin anywhere. The end of the parade tailed past her and frantically she moved back through the crowd, heading for the beach. Where the bloody hell was he?
She reached Sunshine Beach and scanned the crowds. Hundreds of people from other villages and towns had turned up for the event and the beach was packed as everyone waited for the fireworks. She spotted Melody holding Elliot, talking and laughing with him. She raced over to them. ‘Where’s Leo?’
‘Looking for you,’ Melody said, hopelessly.
Isla groaned with frustration. Why couldn’t the bloody man just stay still for once?
‘He went that way,’ Jamie pointed and she moved through the crowds in that direction as the mayor took to the podium and started talking about how wonderful they all looked.
She saw a flash of a gold cape in front of her and she quickly moved that way but when she got there it was gone.
The mayor started counting down to the fireworks and the crowd joined in. As they reached zero, fireworks exploded in the night sky above them, silver, gold, blues and red, but Isla was barely aware of any of it.
The crowd shifted slightly in front of her and she saw Leo desperately looking around for her. She stopped in her tracks and then his eyes snapped to hers. For a moment they just stared at each other and then they moved together. He put his hands on her shoulders, holding her so she couldn’t get away from him again. Fireworks exploded above them, filling the cold darkness with warmth and light.
‘Look, last night, I was an idiot—’
She interrupted what he was going to say by placing her fingers on his lips. She suddenly didn’t need to hear it.
‘Jamie told me,’ she swallowed down the emotion clogging her throat. ‘He told me everything. And yes, if you think for one second that the judge could throw out the adoption because of you, then you are an idiot. You are the most incredible man I have ever met and one day you will see what I see. Until then I’m going to keep reminding you.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said against her fingertips.
‘I am too. We are in this together. When things get tough, we’ll be there for each other. No matter what we face, we face it together.’
He nodded. ‘I just wanted to protect you and Elliot and I reacted in the way that I thought was best but it turned out to be the worst. I swear, there’ll be no more running away. I love you both so much and I’m going to spend every damn day of my life trying to prove to you how much.’
She smiled. ‘You can start by kiss
ing me.’
As the fireworks reached a crescendo above them, he bent his head and did just that.
Epilogue
Isla watched the snow falling outside, the tiny flakes glittering in the inky darkness as they floated and twirled in the early evening sky. It hadn’t really started to settle yet, but a lot more was due overnight. For the first time, as far back as Isla could remember, they really were going to experience a white Christmas. Elliot was beyond excited. They planned to build snowmen tomorrow on Christmas Day and go sledging. Leo had spent the last few days building Elliot the best sledge Isla had ever seen.
Isla leaned back on Leo’s lap and rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her on top of her head and ran his finger over her engagement ring. She smiled – soon she would have another ring on that finger.
She looked over at her wonderful family, who were chatting or playing happily with Elliot and Marigold. It had been a fantastic day with the people she loved the most.
Life couldn’t be more perfect right now. In the last few months she had found a complete peace that she’d never known she needed.
The adoption hearing had been over very quickly, the judge delighted to make the adoption official, and Leo had stood by her side throughout.
Isla had been horrified to see Sadie sitting at the back of the courtroom. Sadie had actually taken their original offer of twenty-five thousand the day before, so Isla had presumed she’d left the country already. To see her there was a surprise to say the least. On seeing Isla clock her at the back, Sadie had stood up, given her a warm smile – the first she’d ever shown her – and a nod as if to say she was happy for them. Then she turned and left, never to be seen again. Rumour had it that she was going to New Zealand; it had made Isla a little happier to think she probably wasn’t returning to Jim.
