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lady replied after a moment’s hesitation.

“And I suppose those dogs are not hers either!” Grant cut through. “Look I know she is here. If she will not see me, I would like to see Peter Branson”

“Peter is not here either.” Came the controlled reply.

“Hell, he is not. I can see his car. Look lady if you do not open the gate and let me speak to either or both of them, I am going to climb over and come in. I don’t think Branson would like his neighbours to witness that, now would he?” Grant exploded

Seconds passed then he heard a click and the gate opened. He drove along the driveway, stopping along the entrance. The door unlocked and Branson stood at the entrance.

“Glad to know, you can be omnipresent.” Grant knew he was being sarcastic, but he no longer cared.

“What do you want Grant?” Peter was equally insulting.

“Look Peter, I won’t play games, where is Tizzy?” Grant asked

“How would I know?” Peter answered

“The fact that you have not even raised an eyebrow or shown any concern for her well-being, just proves that you know where she is. Peter, if she wants to stay here, I will not force her to leave, but I need to know she is ok. Hell Peter if she is on her own out there, anything can happen to her.” Grant was almost pleading.

“Come in.” with that Peter moved aside, his eyes never leaving Grant’s face.

Grant followed Peter into the formal lounge, his eyes being drawn to the huge portrait of a little girl. She was smiling at the lens, her brown hair blowing in the wind, and her cobalt blue eye, shining with mischief. Peter’s eyes followed his “My daughter.” he said

“No wonder you saw the likeness in Tizzy.” Grant replied. “Peter, Tizzy is not your daughter. I checked her bio-data. Tizzy is twenty-eight years; you said your daughter would be in her forties.”

“I know she is not. I have already told you, my daughter is dead.” Peter replied

“If you already know that, then don’t play with Tizzy’s feelings. She is very vulnerable at the moment.” Grant once again pleaded

“As you can see, Tizzy is not by my side, Grant. But if she ever turns to me for help, I will not turn her away, not even for you.” Peter clarified.

“Has she turned to you?” Grant asked, fearing the answer

Peter was silent for a few moments, and then he said, “Grant, if you were in my shoes, would

you answer that question?”

“I know she is here Peter, as are her dogs. Hell Peter, I refuse to lash out at you, but I am damn

close to losing my control. I know Tizzy is in love with me, just as I know I am with her. I will

not let her run from me or ruin things for us. Now I am going upstairs, I am going to find her and

I am going to take her home with me. And there is nothing you can do to stop that.” Grant began

walking to the door.

“No, but I can” the voice was the same as that of the lady on the intercom.

Grant looked at the woman who had entered. Graceful, elegant and immaculate, were the words that came to his mind. But what made her stand out, were her eyes. They were the same eyes, those unusual cobalt blue eyes. Grant looked at Peter. Peter looked at his wife and said

“You had already seen him at the restaurant, now let me introduce you to Grant Mallaby.”

Then looking at Grant he said, “This is my wife, Betty”

“Your wife?” Grant looked from one to the other “I am sorry, I seem to have misunderstood”. Quickly recovering from the shock, he looked at Betty, extended his hand and said, “I am very glad to meet you, so very glad.”

“I am sure you are. And a bit relieved if my guess is right?” she said, smiling back. Then looking at Peter, she gave him a wink.

“Why didn’t you tell me Peter?” Grant asked

“What and miss out on the most fun I have had in many years. No way in hell, mate.”

Peter was almost laughing.

“And Tizzy, has she been part of the ‘game’ as well.” Grant felt an utter fool

It was Betty that answered. “Grant, don’t be upset. So much has happened in this past week and both of us, Peter and I, are still reeling from the shock of it all. You don’t know the half of it yet. There is so much to tell you but we will let Tizzy do that.”

“And where is she?” Grant asked

Just then they heard the footsteps coming down the stairwell.

“Darling we are in the lounge.” Peter shouted. Grant looked at Betty to see her reaction to the endearing term. She seemed very comfortable with it. This is strange, he thought

“I am ready to leave. I’ll ring you once I have seen Gra..” and Tizzy stopped dead in her tracks at the entrance. If she was surprised to see Grant there, he was even more surprised at seeing her. There was not a sign of the old Tizzy in the woman who stood in front of him. He knew he had fallen in love with her already, but now she simply took his breath away. Peter too was stunned

to see the new Tizzy. Betty on the other hand was happy to see the reaction of both men.

Neither had taken a breath in over a minute. Grant gaped at Tizzy. Her hair had been brushed loose and hung in gentle curls about her shoulder. That much he remembered from the night he had spent holding her. But the rest, the rest was nothing like he remembered. She stood taller in her stiletto heels. The white georgette dress gently clung to her now visible curves. The pink flower in the material emphasised the blueness of her eyes. And those eyes! They appeared even larger outlined by the dark eyeliner. Her lipstick matched the colour of the flowers in her dress. Her, slim ankles were enclosed by the straps of her white stilettos. Grant’s eyes where then drawn back to her eyes. Was this Tizzy? His Tizzy. It just could not be!

Grant had always looked handsome, and he did that now too. But he had never looked at her that way before. As soon as she had read the e-mail, she had realised the great wrong she had done. She had found a man who so many women dreamed about. And more importantly found a person who loved her just as she was, with her stutter, her plainness, her awkwardness and she had thrown away her chance at happiness because of her insecurity and fear. It had been a unanimous decision that she should contact Grant immediately, but it had been her own idea to dress up as she had. She was going to surprise him. It was going to be her gift to him; for all that he had done for her. This was her mother’s dress, her mother’s bag, and Betty’s make up. And together they had created a new Tizzy. A Tizzy, who felt proud to walk beside Grant,

She had planned all that she would say, but now standing in front of him, she could not speak. She could not even breathe. She knew Grant was feeling the same way too, for he had not spoken a word either.

“Grant my boy, I was never looking for a daughter in Tizzy, because, I knew almost from our first meeting that I was looking at my grand- daughter.” Then seeing Grant’s shocked face, Peter continued “Grant Mallaby let me introduce you to Trizella Branson- McKenzie”

“When did you know?” were the first words that Grant addressed to Tizzy.

“This morn .ning, as soon as I saw my mother’s ph..photograph upstairs.” Her stutter, revealed her nervousness.

“You knew nothing until then?” Grant questioned further, but this time he was gentler.

Tizzy merely shook her head from side to side, afraid to speak in stutters again. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. So Grant thought she had planned this. That she had played some sort of game with him.

“Grant, Tizzy was as much an innocent player as you were. Peter wanted to find out your true feelings for each other and more importantly force you both to reveal it to yourselves. The only ones who knew anything were Peter, Becky, Roger and I.”

“Becky knew?” Tizzy and Grant said simultaneously

“No wonder she suspected you might be at Peter’s place.” Grant continued, then looking at Peter he said, “I should be wild with you, but I find I am actually grateful. We both might have missed finding each other without are very own cupids.”

“I am glad you feel that way. Now these cupids need some time to themselves too. We have had as much to deal with as you both. It isn’t every day that you rediscover your marriage and your grandchild, all in the one week. So, off with you both.” Peter grinned as he spoke.

“Grant, at the start, I said, I won’t let you take Trizella away from here. That was not entirely true. What I meant was, it is our dearest wish that you both marry in this home and that you take her away from here as your bride. We would like to do what we should have done for our own daughter.” Betty asked

Grant looked at Tizzy then said, “That is not a problem at all, but I not risking her running away again. I am going to organise things so that the wedding can be at the very first date possible. It could be next week, will you be able to manage that?” he asked Betty in return. Tizzy stood silently, noting that Grant had moved to her side when he used the words ‘run away again’, then she looked at him and knew she would never do that now. The Bransons were going to quit

running forever. Then she looked at Betty’s face. ‘Besides’ she thought ‘how can I take away the pleasure of organising the wedding from Grandee’.

Instead of being dismayed at the thought of a wedding in a week’s time, Betty had a sudden burst of enthusiasm pumped into her. Finally she was going to farewell a bride from this home. She had lost hopes of ever seeing that happen.

“A week! My dear Grant, if you had asked it of me, I could have had things ready in three days. But a week’s fine. We need that time with Tizzy.”

Tizzy kissed each of their cheeks. Grant kissed Betty’s cheek and shook hands with Peter. Suddenly Peter gave him a hug “I knew I always liked you for a reason. I know you’ll take care of her. If anyone loves her more than us, it is you.”

If Grant was embarrassed by the hug and the kind words he did not show it. But he did smile to himself at the thought that he had once considered Peter as a rival. Communication! That is the key to avoiding all confusion. He was going to make sure Tizzy always knew how he felt and what he thought from now on.

Then together they walked out into the driveway.

“My car or yours?” Tizzy asked, knowing what the answer would be

“Definitely mine – you will need to invest in a bigger car if you intend to drive me around.” They both laughed

Chapter 15

“Tizzy we need to talk. We can go to a café, but I really think either your place or