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“Do you have children as well?” she asked Abbra.
Abbra’s smile turned wistful.
“We were never blessed with babies,” Abbra said gently. “When we came here, we thought it might ease the ache to be away from everyone.”
Charl nodded, placing a furry hand on his wife’s shoulder, as if in support.
“Then these four moved to the island next to ours,” Abbra went on, with a smile. “Turns out, being auntie and uncle to Ree-lah and Manx’s little ones has been a balm to us.”
“It’s like being a grandpa,” Charl boomed affectionately. “We get all the fun, but we don’t have to clean up after them.”
Abbra laughed, but Ree-lah shook her head.
“That is just inherently untrue,” Ree-lah said. “Remember all the cleanup you did when Manx and I were down with the flu? And the time when the vaca got out?”
The four of them laughed and Jhon figured those memories must have been moments when their friendship had grown closer. He wondered what bonds Ella might forge with them in the coming years.
“It means everything to us that the kids have all four of us,” Manx said, his voice deep with emotion. “We were lucky the day the gods saw fit to give us this opportunity.”
“So sentimental,” Abbra teased, though she was misty-eyed. “I think he’s angling for dessert. What do you think, Ella?”
The party went on from there with laughter and many, many stories. Jhon was pretty sure the others were just happy to have someone new to share their tales with.
And Ella appeared to be eating it up. She took obvious pleasure in hearing their tales, and accepting the occasional compliments about Bo.
Jhon watched her, wishing she could be his.
It wasn’t that she needed him, completely the opposite, as it turned out. She was doing just fine.
He wanted her to be his because he was proud of her easy smile, even among beings she might never have seen the likes of before today. He was proud of the confident way she cared for her new son.
And he was especially proud that when Rikkers came back and invited her to take a stroll around the perimeter alone, she declined.
Maybe next time, she told him, leaving him with a thoughtful smile as she headed over to see what the children were doing.
“Time to head home,” Ree-lah called to them.
“It’s so early,” Ella said.
“Best to get home before sunset,” Manx explained. “We all have plenty of work to do in the morning, and it’s not safe on the ground after dark. Always be sure to be on your island with plenty of time to spare.”
Jhon followed her as she thanked their hosts and then headed over to the chute.
It was only when she tapped the sensor that he remembered that they were going to be alone all night again tonight.
Don’t think about it, he advised himself darkly, knowing it was no use.
17
ELLA
Ella lay alone in bed that night, unable to sleep.
Her bed was as soft as a cloud, and the fireplace filled the room with warmth and a cheerful crackling sound. The view of the starry sky out the window was so beautiful that it almost didn’t seem real.
Bo had enjoyed his evening meal, and had gone to sleep contentedly hours ago. And presumably Jhon was having the time of his life patrolling her empty island.
Ella knew that him falling for her would have been too much to ask of the universe. And there was definitely something to his argument that he wasn’t supposed to do anything more than guard the child.
