A/N RECAP - Alice is having a stressful time of it recently, Nomsa and Caroline are determined to get Alice married within the next 18 months and are men hunting, 13 year old Rosie has turned up claiming that Alice is her mother and finally Danny Alice's ex husband has turned up out of the blue too…..ah drama drama drama! Never a dull moment haha

Once Alice entered the house she heard Nomsa and Caroline making excuses for her odd behaviour, one part of her wanted to go out there and demand that they stop, she didn't have to explain her behaviour to anyone especially…..she shook her head, the only thing stopping her would be having to look at him again.

She was finding it hard to believe that he was actually here! She stopped by the shower and heard Rosie in there so she went into the kitchen to brew some coffee. He Hadn't changed a bit. Well, he'd filled out abit, he'd always been tall and gangly but the weight gave him a more balanced look. His eyes, they were the same moss green they had always been, clear and guileless so much so that he couldn't ever lie to her, his eyes gave him away every time. When they'd been together she had wanted to fall into them and stay there. His smile too, how could she have forgot how heart stopping his smile was…Oh God what was she doing? This wasn't a time for a stroll down memory lane! She had to get rid of him! It was bad enough having her kid sister here who was trying to wreck her life but her ex husband? That was just the icing on the cake, this was all liable to blow up in her face unless she sorted it and soon! The only solution was he had to go, Rosie too and the everything would go back to normal…..well after she convinced the two thorns in her side that she didn't need to be married! As she thought that Nomsa and Caroline entered the kitchen, an inquisitive gleam in their eyes.

"They can't stay here!" Alice said pointing to the door cutting off any questions they had.

"What do you mean they can't stay?" Caroline asked crossing her arms. "They've booked and paid….."

Alice saw her stance and knew that when it came to matters of the bookings she didn't have a leg to stand on. Caroline was all for the guests are always right even if they are wrong…..but this was her ex bleeding husband! "I don't care, refund them, they cannot stay here!" enunciating every word.

Nomsa studied her, "So you do have history with one of them? Danny is it?"

Alice closed her eyes and measured her breathing, "No, I just want them gone."

"Without a valid reason that is impossible." Caroline informed her.

Alice glared, "Look I own fifty percent of this place and I'm fully within my rights to remove people from my land!"

"Alice what is this about?" Nomsa asked softly, the woman they saw in front of them was never this emotional. Alice was always in control of how she felt, recently though they had seen her lose it too many times. "The last time we saw you this worked up was when you literally threw one of our customers from the land for hitting his wife."

Caroline paled, "Is that it? Is he an ex who mistreated you?"

"No, nothing like that Caroline." Alice assured rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Well?" Nomsa and Caroline asked together.

Alice bowed her head and sighed. "Just forget I said anything, I need to see to Rosie." and Alice left them in the kitchen wondering what on earth was going on.

Danny was pacing uncontrollably in his hut, he stopped every so often, looked up towards where he thought the house was and began again, after all these years…..

"Ok who is she and don't give me any of your I knew her in the past rubbish." Leon asked.

Danny looked at his business partner, he was short with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. They had came over here looking for a game reserve to buy into. He had a teenage son named Max who was in boarding school. Danny was glad he didn't have to interact much with Max….

"Danny?" Leon asked again, "Who is she, disgruntled ex maybe?"

Danny shook his head and got back to pacing. She used to be so much to him….now she was just annoying, infuriating….too bloody beautiful! He shook his head again. "We have to go!"

Leon looked at him like he was crazy, "Not possible my friend." Leon told him going in the fridge and removing a can of pop. "We'll lose our deposit, plus I kind of like it here."

Danny halted, "I can't stay here with her!" his eyes flaming.

"Oh so its YOU who are the disgruntled ex?" Leon chuckled. "One night stand and you wanted more? Did she stand you up? There's loads of possibilities."

An image of Alice in her white dress filled his mind, quickly followed by the way her face contorted when she was angry, the way she would look at him at those times….. "I knew her in the past, its complicated."

"Ahhh." Leon said knowingly. "Complicated generally means messy." popped the tab on his drink, took a gulp and lay down on his bed. "Look mate, we're looking to buy into a business right? Well all you have to do is avoid her or better still say you're sorry, kiss and make up."

Danny crossed his arms. "I have nothing to say sorry for!" he snapped. She had walked out on him! She broke his heart! She had sorted out the divorce without even asking him if they were going to try to work it out!

"That's subjective, see I bet she sees things very differently. I'm not leaving, we've planned this too long." Leon told him bluntly. "You can go if you want."

Danny looked to the house again, "Of all the places in all of Africa I come here? To the one she owns. What are the odds?" in the past they had spoke about doing something like this together, he never actually thought….what? That she couldn't do it? Alice could do anything she set her mind to.

He sat down on his bed and put his face in his hands. There had never been a time when he hadn't loved her, even at the very end when he knew his marriage was dying he could have done anything to keep her with him, anything….

"You must have done something really bad to her to make her this angry at you…." Leon murmured breaking Dannys train of thought. "Mind you she's passionate, you can feel it. I wonder what it would take to really get her going…."

Danny narrowed his eyes not liking the jealousy he felt at someone talking about arousing Alice's passions. He had been an outlet for those once upon a time.

Leon noticed his face change and roared with laughter, "I knew it!" slapped his leg almost bent double. "She was a girl you were sweet on who knocked you back!"

Leon knew nothing! Once upon a time there had been a time if he asked Alice for anything she would have found a way to give it to him, all her firsts were his too. They had known each other inside out. It was when they lost all that that their marriage began to die. She had known he was keeping something from her and accused him of lying to her, accused him of not being able to trust her. From their wedding day they had promised to always love each other, always be there no matter what. How childish were they? They should have known not to make promises like that, they were impossible to keep.

"So what's you do wrong Danny? Tell me so I get her." and Leon wiggled his eyebrows.

"She likes arrogance." Danny drawled. "Act like the big man and you'll get her."

"Won't be hard…." Leon grinned then looked at him. "If you want I'll leave her alone." he must have picked up on at least a little bit of tension on Danny's part.

Danny pillowed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, "Alice and I are dead and buried…."

"So…."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore!" and Danny closed his eyes thinking of the past, of how arrogant he acted when they first met and how she seemed to pursue him from that day…..

15 years ago

It was 6am and Danny was dressing after his shower. He wasn't looking forward to delivering his newspapers this morning, because it was Sunday and they were going to be heavy….at the thought his bruised and aching ribs began to throb. As always no marks left anywhere people would see…Danny wouldn't know what he would say ifpeople saw them, he was over 6 foot, more than big enough to be able to take care of himself…. Rubbing his aching body he left his room picking up his high visability bags as he went.

After reaching the kitchen he grabbed the juice from the fridge and poured himself a glass and downed 2 painkillers hoping to dull the pain. After gulping his juice he rested his forehead against the fridge waiting for the pills to take effect. When the pain dulled slightly he figured this was the best he could hope for and he left his house to make the trek to the shop. As he walked he heard someone call his name, he turned to see Alice jogging towards him in jeans, a blue jumper her hair tied back. The first thing he did was check his watch, it was six thirty! What was she doing up at this time?

"Hey." she said smiling as she caught up to him, not even out of breath.

"Hi." he replied. "What you doing up so early?"

"Same as you, getting a paper." jiggled the money in her pocket.

"At 6am?"

She shrugged, "That's when you do it."

He smiled at her, "Yeah but this is my job."

"What can I say?" she asked. "My dad likes to read the news before its history."

Danny couldn't resist her eyes so full of humour and laughed, he felt his ribs protest and clutched them instinctively.

Alice frowned, blue eyes concerned "You ok?" and went to check his side.

Danny took a step back and wrapped an arm around that side. "Fine, I just…I fell out of bed this morning and hit my ribs." his mind fumbling for a moment.

"You know the moral of that story?"

"What? don't fall out of bed." he drawled.

"Nope, don't get in bed, you're obviously drawn to the floor." and she smiled at him widely.

He returned the smile, "I guess so." and they began to walk towards his shop. "If you want I'll drop off your paper for you, go back to bed, its early." he told her.

Alice shook her head. "Since I owe you three favours I could do this for you, for a week or two."

Danny looked at her sideways, "Or you're just trying to steal my job." he retorted playfully.

"He's onto me!" she declared dramatically, then grinned slowly. His breath caught, she looked so gorgeous he thought he was going to pass out….

"Hey Danny, you kind of need to breathe you know." she reminded.

He exhaled and his cheeks reddened.

"Anyway…" she said carrying on where they left off. "It was just an idea. I might need you with me for the first few days as I don't know the route. What do you think?"

He was quiet a moment before he spoke, "Would you consider me arrogant if I thought you were just looking for reasons to spend time with me?"

"Yes." she replied and looked at his as they walked. "But you'd be right."

His eyes widened and his cheeks reddened further, she was one of the most forward girls he had ever met!

"Can I help you then?" she asked nudging his arm.

He didn't deny her so she took it as an affirmative and smiled.

They arrived at the shop and he walked in, holding the door open for her. "Morning Andy." he said and walked up to the papers and began sorting them. "This is Alice, she'll be helping me a little while."

Alice waved and the man smiled at her, "No problem Danny."

Danny and Alice stood side by side, "You know I was only joking about the three favours Alice, you don't owe me anything." and picked up fifteen people newspapers.

"How many mail on Sunday?" she asked.

"Seven."

She counted them out, "I know I don't but well…you did save me from a fate worse than death and I'm grateful." and smiled at him again.

Danny saw the smile and his resistance was crumbling, her smile was just breathtaking! He looked at Andy who was nodding. "Fine, ok, you win!"

"For the next four weeks…." she began.

"Four?" Danny shook his head, "Two, at most!" he negotiated.

"I'll meet you in the middle, for the next three weeks I'll help you with your paperbound, see I'm not doing it alone, hence the three weeks."

He looked at her for the longest time and shook his head, "You do know I can't say no to you!" he told her.

Alice grinned, "Never admit that to a woman, it'll be your undoing." and while he sorted his papers into bags she bought two bottles of pop.

"Alice I'll get them." he said as she took them to the counter.

"Nope. I owe you a bottle of lucozade remember?"

He glared at her.

"And I know you'll take it coz you can't say no to me!" her eyes dancing with amusement.

He had a quick retort but it died when he saw how happy and animated she looked. He let it lie and picked up one of the bags, groaning when his sore ribs protested, funny he had forgot the pain when she was near.

"Wow Danny that must have been some fall." Alice remarked.

Andy looked at them, "You hurt yourself again Danny? You're a walking accident!"

"What can I say?" Danny murmured, "I'm clumsy." he went to pick up the other bag but Alice halted him and took it.

"Alice….." he began.

"I'll carry this one, I'm not as weak as I look." and she picked it up slinging it over her shoulder. "I have hidden muscles, they are so good even I can't find them!" she laughed, "But seriously you are sore."

She smiled at him so sweetly he felt the air in his body begin to disappear, this time he remembered to breathe.

"Lead the way" she asked and slid his bottle into the front of his bag.

Danny hadn't moved as he relived the memory it had been one of his favourites of them due to its simplicity. It was just two kids hanging out, none of the complications that being in a relationship brings. She had smiled at him so often that morning and every time he saw it he felt like he'd had the wind knocked out of him. She had been so perfect back then, so kind, so giving. Her smile had this way of making him feel better, especially when…..he broke off his thoughts. He never ventured too far back into those memories, in them he felt like he was nothing, worthless, useless….he jumped from the bed startling his friend. "I'm going for a walk."

"Don't go too far." Leon called as he walked down the steps of the hut. "We've been invited for tea remember."

Danny shrugged and began to move faster towards a random walking trail.

A/N Danice's story seems to be unfolding little by little hmmmm Dannys home life didn't sound pleasant, but where did young Alice fit in with that?
Sorry for the lack of update, illness and busyness are evil! Anyway next chapter is a short one but things start heating up very soon! Thanks for reading x