Last Chance Proposal by Barbara Deleo

who’d have to work out every day who and what to trust, was answering her question. Tears pricked sharp behind her nose but she forced them back.
    He cast his gaze downward and slowly stopped moving. A black hole sucked her in and she struggled with what to say next. Children were so fragile, so easily influenced by the adults around them and she prayed that she didn’t screw this up.
    She knew what it was like to have someone erased from your life—the sense of complete bewilderment, the emptiness that deepened and decayed inside. And the well-meaning people around you who’d poke and prod for a reaction.
    “Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said as she focused on his scarf. “Those are such great colors. I think they were probably some of your mum’s favorites.” The vibrant blues and greens shimmered in the sun. “They’re a bit like the paua shell your dad’s gone to get for you.”
    Jonty rolled his lips together and tilted his head to one side as he lifted his lashes to her. There was a spark she hadn’t seen before, and her stomach lurched.
    “And it looks silky. I bet it feels lovely on your skin.” Her fingertips pulsed with the need to touch. But she mustn’t scare him. Still holding the rope in one hand, his father at the end of it, he passed the scarf to her but didn’t let go. As she touched the fabric, a powerful sense of connection flowed into her. A knot of grief unraveled, hard and brittle memories disintegrated. Through misted vision, she smiled at him. He held the other end of the scarf in a chubby grip as the yacht gently rocked them. His lips lifted, and the breeze tossed his curls about. The simplicity of the moment wrapped around her and she willed it to go on forever. His childhood innocence and trust was touching a wound she’d never thought would heal.
    She paused, savoring the perfect memory. “I wonder if you’d like to go to the New Year’s pageant, Jonty? Your dad used to love being part of it. I know Louis’s been in it since he was six and he loves it. Maybe we could go to one of the practices with him.”
    A small frown pulled on Jonty’s face, so she knew he was listening.
    “Hey!” Cy’s voice carried clear across the water. Ellie let her end of the scarf drop as Jonty stood to look over the side of the boat.
    She shielded her face against the sun’s glare as she stood to join him. “Are you okay?”
    Two heads bobbed not far from them and Louis held something above his head. His thin voice carried high on the wind. “We’ve got your paua shell, Jonty. Man, it was so cool down there!”
    Minutes later, the two of them were at the boat and Ellie helped Louis climb the ladder attached to the side. He dripped a pool of water on the deck as he hopped from one foot to the other.
    “Cy said we had to get an empty one.” Louis panted as he pulled off his mask and snorkel, then turned the shell over and over in his hands. “He said we shouldn’t take anything that was alive. It was unreal. Fish coming right up to you and I even saw a big old lobster but Cy said we couldn’t take him!” He finished with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
    He handed the shell to Jonty. It was a chalky gray on one side and on the other, iridescent blue and green. Jonty turned it over and over as Louis chatted about all the things he’d seen and that Cy would polish the inside so it sparkled.
    Ellie dried Louis’s hair with a towel and marveled at his easygoing nature. It didn’t seem to bother him at all that the conversation was one-sided.
    “Can we have some of those cookies you brought, Aunt Ellie? I’m starving.”
    She laughed. “Sure, but get changed while you’re there so you don’t get too cold.” The younger boy followed Louis below deck while keeping hold of the precious shell.
    Ellie turned to see Cy’s smiling face at the top of the ladder and her pulse quickened. Water dripped from his hair and his skin glowed.
    “God, that was good,” he said. He hauled himself over