Broken City

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

“Hold still, Jan, there’s a gazillion buttons on this dress.”

“But it is so worth all your trouble, Deet.”

Jan smoothes her hand down the bodice of her red dress lovingly.

“And Mari said that she would ask Ryder to send around his mother’s rubies for me and her sapphires for you.”

“Which, being as he’s such a good boy, is exactly what he did,” drawls a deep voice.

“You ever heard of knocking, Ryder?” I ask.

“Heard of it, yes, but it’s not something I practice—it has the irritating consequence of alerting people to my presence, besides Dec brought me up.”

Ryder isn’t wearing a tuxedo tonight but a brilliant white dinner jacket.

“Have you seen the beds, they’re great!”

Dec takes a running jump and lands spread-eagle on the four poster.

“You should have seen the bed at the last place we were in, Dec, you could have fitted five or six people in them they were so big,” Jan tells Dec.

“What an interesting idea to be sure,” grins Ryder placing two velvet jewellery cases on the bed.

“Don’t be too long will you girls—I’m hungry.”

We wait until he has left the room before we open the boxes. Nestled against the interior of Jan’s is a pair of long ruby and diamond chandelier earrings and a thick matching bracelet. Mine contains a necklace and bracelet, large flashing blue stones surrounded by diamonds and linked together to make a chain.

“You know, I’m getting too used to this,” remarks Jan turning her head so that the earrings catch the light and sparkling brilliantly.

As we walk down the stairs I can hear Tom and Rye talking together in low easy tones over the rustle of our dresses.

“Contrary to a deep rooted belief that nothing could have been worth the wait, it appears I’m wrong,” smiles Ryder. “You were quite right Tommy, the tanzanite’s are a much better match for Deeta.”

I see Tom’s head jerk sharply around to bend a frown on Ryder, but Rye doesn’t seem to notice, he raises his eyebrows and grins.

“You’re looking very red tonight, Jan.”

Jan tucks her arm through his.

“Aren’t you just a darling to say so? You look like a waiter!”

I hear Ryder laugh as they walk through the door and out on to the pavement, Tom takes my hand and pulls it through his arm.

“How did Dec take the fact that he couldn’t come tonight?”

“He asked me if I’d leave Jak Dane mouldering at home while I went off to save the world. I told him that eating dinner hardy qualified as saving the world but it wasn’t until Mari showed him how to work the video library that he consented to stay.”

Tom smiles and bends down to tuck the train of my dress into the car.

“Are we going to have to leave Tom here or is there enough room for him and your dresses?”

“It’s alright I’ll sit on the roof, Rye,” laughs Tom.

~~~~~~~~

The pavilion is filled with music and people, their muted chatter both loud and yet quiet, as we enter something of a hush falls and a tall gentleman with grey hair and vivid blue eyes comes forward, his hand out stretched.