A:N not actually sure if anyone is reading this. If you are please review - so I know if I'm on the right track.
Identify
Sian picked up her jacket as Lloyd watched her. The disappointment on his face obvious as he fished out his car keys.
"Not pirates."
"No, Lloyd. Not pirates. Remember this is Aber not Barbados."
"But."
"And its autumn 2016 not 1516. Come on, let's see if we can get some answers before Delyth drags you off or the others get back." Sian ushered him out of the room as she spoke.
Xxxxx
Mared felt sick. Her imagination running wild as she watched for any sign that Tom hadn't been washed away by the current. Devil's Bridge had always scared her. Even as a little girl she had avoided it - then as a teenager she had wondered how she would get the strength to not throw herself into the swirling water below. She rested a hand on her churning stomach as a decidedly soaked Tom reappeared.
"Get out of the water!" Mared yelled. Tom shrugged.
"Got it!"
"Yeah? And pneumonia I bet." Mared shook her head. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"I'm ok." Tom smiled as he reached her. "Hey."
"We need to get you out of those wet clothes." She stepped back as he pulled his wet shirt away from his skin.
"Yeah. You have a point."
"I'm driving." She looked him up and down shaking her head as she did so. Tom nodded before following her back to the car.
Xxxxx
"Brian Thomas." Sian smiled as she left the old church hall that housed the local armature dramatic group. "Not exactly the sea fairing name."
Lloyd shrugged his shoulders. They still had a murder case but at least the victim had an identity.
"Yeah, reckon we should go and see the girlfriend? Sarah Roberts?"
"Yeah. She's bound to know something." Sian got into the drivers seat feeling more positive about the case than she had earlier. Lloyd looked back at the church hall wondering why anyone would want to kill a seemingly ordinary man like Brian Thomas.
Xxxxx
The cottage was freezing when Tom and Mared arrived. The small rental cottage was within eyesight of the destroyed caravan Tom had loved so much, but to Mared it was much more homely. The stone walls and minimal furniture mimicked it a coldness she knew Tom still had with him. She set about making tea as she instructed Tom to have a hot shower before changing clothes.
"Why?" He rubbed his wet hair with a tea towel. "Fancy joining me?"
"No, just don't feel like visiting you in the hospital."
She smiled as he kissed her quickly on the lips. She sighed, turning back to the small fridge.
"You could."
"Could what?"
"Come here to live. With Elin and the baby. If you want? I mean this place has three bedrooms. Small but." He shook his head as he realised he was babbling. There was something about Mared Rhys that reduced him to a bumbling teenage boy. Mared crossed the kitchen to him, resting a hand on his soaked shirt.
"I am not talking to you about this while you are dripping river water all over the floor." She kissed him as he pulled her to him, soaking her checked shirt as he held her to him. "Tom." She shook her head as he rested his forehead against hers.
"Now you're soaking too. Can't have you catching cold." He took her hand before leading her to the bathroom. Mared smiled as he led her through the small cottage.
"Tom." She gasped as he kissed her. His shirt clung to his skin as she fumbled with the buttons on the wet cloth. He paused. His hands resting on hers.
"We should be on duty."
"We are." He kissed her passionately before carefully moving them both into the shower. She gasped as the freezing water hit them - causing goose bumps on newly revealed skin as the cold water was replaced with hot.
"I'm not moving in until the emersion heater is fixed." She whispered as he chuckled against her skin. He pulled back looking into her eyes.
"Marry me."
"What?"
She wasn't sure she had heard right. Both hands rested on his bare chest as she looked at him. Tom sighed as the woman in his arms looked confused.
"Doesn't matter." He kissed her again as the ringing of his mobile broke the moment. Mared turned the water off as he grabbed the phone from the pile of clothes on the floor. "Sian, this better be good."
Tom sighed as he listened to the junior officer.
"Well? Pam?"
"We have a name. Lloyd and Sian have a suspect at the station." He began to dress as Mared retrieved her own clothes.
"Right, back to work it is." She towel dried her hair. "Oh and I meant it - about the heating."
Tom's lip quirked into a lopsided smile as he followed her out of the cottage.
Xxxxxx
