CHAPTER FIVE
"Ecco Maremma"
"Hey Detective".
"Oh! Mr. Heeler... Are you and Miss Cattle alright?"
"Yeah... we are, very much so... We have news. A man, we think he is the assistant's husband, is limping away from the airport route, maybe towards north. He has the finding with him".
A woman at the back seat of the detective´s car, whimpered.
"Got the assistant with me already. Thank you... You OK?"
"Yep! Very much!"
Brando finished the call. Bandit's voice was somehow different... there was a kind of brilliance in it... what could have happened?
THIS EPISODE OF THE HEELERS IS CALLED: AT LAST
MOMENTS AGO:
The night couldn't be darker, and she was drenched to her very bones in rain. Only the road lamps gave a little bit of light. Her heart was racing as fast as her legs, prepared for the chase and … yes, for danger. Then, she heard him.
"MARRY ME!"
She stopped.
"Is he playing? He had asked me to before, but always in a teasing way..."
She slowly turned to look at him.
Something in his voice had sounded serious, definitive and yet sweet.
She wasn't too far away from him, so she still could see his expression clearly.
There he was, as drenched as she, the fur of his snout dripping with rain.
He got his hands open, it´s palms facing to her, as if offering something, or rather showing he got nothing more to offer. His eyes were full of determination and his smile... oh, his smile... no one ever had smiled in such a lovingly way!
Her heart jumped wildly.
"Oh, my! My! He´s not kidding!..."
"Marry me", he repeated, this time in a much softer way.
She ran to him; she ran so fast that her legs ached. And then, with a beaming smile in her face and happy tears; she jumped to his embrace, almost knocking the air out of him. He caught her in mid air.
She chuckled and filled his face with kisses.
Their tails were wagging wildly.
He smiled brightly.
"Oh, Chilli!", he said with a sigh, without putting her down.
"Would you take me as yours? Would you have me as your husband?"
She chuckled, or was it a happy sob?
"YES! Yes!" she said and kissed him again, this time on the lips.
He put her down and they embraced while looking into each other eyes.
Happiness was flowing through them in exhilarating waves.
"Oh! I almost forgot!", he said.
"This is yours!", he exclaimed while presenting a ring to Chilli, it was a plain gold band.
She smiled so prettily that Bandit heart almost stoped... for the fourth time in that night.
She presented her hand to him so he could put it on her finger, it fitted exactly.
"Uhm, love... this is not an engagement ring, but a wedding one...", she said, leaving a question suspended in the air.
He took her hands in his and smiled, getting closer enough for their foreheads to touch.
He looked at her in the eyes.
"That's because I already feel as bound to you as a husband should feel", he said.
She smiled in delight. "... Oh Bandit..."
He chuckled. "Besides, you dislike to much bling, and gold suits beautifully to your fur!"
"Yeah, that's true..."
A thunder could be heard above them.
"Maybe we should return to the car and see if we can turn it on, or to seek help if we need it", she said, a dreamy smile never leaving her face.
"And to call Brando, again", added he.
So, hand in hand, they walked towards the car, without any hurry, as if strolling in a sunny day.
"Hope I hadn´t fried Luna´s car beyond repair!", groaned Chilli.
"Hope WE, hadn't", corrected Bandit.
She smiled while looking at him.
"...Yeah, WE".
BRISBANE, PRESENT.
Chilli flipped a digital page on the tablet.
Her smile couldn't be brighter. She continued reading aloud.
"...So, in that way, Bandit learnt that he did not need to make things perfectly, for their love was just perfect in itself..."
PAST, ROME.
The car engine had not responded, so now they were waiting for their new friends to came with help. Hand in hand, snuggled up in the back seat.
"Sorry babe... I think I messed it up".
"Messed up what?"
"Well... this wasn't the way I had plan to propose to you... Rome has so much beautiful venues and yet I ended yelling under the rain after a close to death experience. I wanted to make it perfect, and, in the end, I didn't even got in one knee for you!"
"Bandit! It was perfect!"
He looked at her and chuckled softly, convinced that Chilli was a veritable saint.
"Your proposal had everything I could dream of", she said smiling. "That is, You and I".
PRESENT, BRISBANE:
Bandit took her hand in his, his eyes full of love and complicity.
She continued. "And Chilli learnt that no matter what could happen, she would always be first into Bandit´s heart".
PAST. ROME:
"I´m so sorry I frightened you! But he was going away with a piece of history!"
"He could have gone away with the Rosetta Stone, Excalibur and the Holy Grail, and yet I would choose your safety above them every time!"
She smiled to him.
"You, Chilli, are the world to me", he said caressing her cheek. "So please, don't you ever risk yourself that way again... no matter what".
"I´ll try..."
PRESENT, BRISBANE:
"The end", Chilli read.
"Bluey, hon! That was beautiful!", she exclaimed
"Really?!", said Bluey, wagging her tail at her mother´s praise.
"For real!", added Bandit. "Almost too good for an eighteen-year-old writer!"
"Yeah... too good and accurate... the part of your father and I at the hotel was almost too naturally written for a just eighteen young lady..."
"Aw, Mum!"
Bandit was quirking an eyebrow quizzically at his daughter.
"Don´t jump into conclusions, you two!", Bluey almost yelped. "There´s nothing too alien for imagination!"
"I´m just surprised you wrote that; we would never told you that kind of details... you didn't feel awkward?
"Uhm...a little bit, but I had to do it for the sake of the narrative... and we´re all adults here, anyway!"
A delicate voice stated: "Well, nope!"
"Biscuits!", groaned Bandit.
"Ohhh...yeah... Bingo you´re sixteen... I forgot!"
"How can you forget the age of your only sister, that´s so rude!", chuckled Bingo.
"Uhm... and how do you feel about my work?"
"About the scene you are discussing, no worries, I´m very mature for my age after all. About the work in general... ", said Bingo with airs of literary critic, "...I love it!"
"Thank you!" exclaimed Bluey while embracing her sister, the most important critic and counsellor in the world to her.
Bandit and Chilli smiled to each other, the bond between their daughters always had warmed their hearts.
"So", asked Chilli. "Will you show this to your creative writing teacher?"
"Mhhh... Dunno, its literally too close to home..."
"The story of your engagement it´s so exciting!", exclaimed Bingo. "Why you never told us about it when we were little?!"
"Because we almost got killed on it!", chortled Bandit.
"Yeah! Hotel escapades, car crashing and antiques stealing are not suitable for sleepy time tales!", added Chilli.
Bingo laughed. "It sounds perfect to me! You two could have been first class smugglers!"
"What?! No way!" exclaimed Bandit. "We´re not breaking the law in this household, young lady!", he said in mocking indignation.
"That´s why we didn't tell you back then, you two would imagine that we were some kind of action adventurers, and we didn't want to incentive you to hero worshiping us!", clarified Chilli.
"YOU didn't want it; I was rather ok with the hero worshipping part!"
Chilli rolled her eyes at Bandit´s comment.
"Well, you failed quite miserably at that", said Bluey, Bingo nodded.
"Yeah... We still hero worship you two".
"Awww kiddos..."
"Well, what will you show to your teacher, then? This is your homework after all", asked Bingo to her sister.
"I might come up with something else... poetry could do just right; one can turn anything into poetry!", said Bluey leaving her chair. "Come on Bingo! Help me to think!"
"Righto!"
The two young women left their parents room with their tails wagging, as overgrown pups.
Bandit and Chilli kept silence for one second, just looking into each other eyes.
"Chilli, thank you for saying yes to me that day..."
"I would have never said no to you, not in a million years..."
"...So, about Bluey´s tale... they lived happily ever after?", asked Chilli to Bandit, with a smile that was just for him.
"Yeah, they did. After many more adventures".