Just Once More (Escape to New Zealand Book 7) Read online

  The organ was playing, and she was tearing up a bit. She put a hand through Hemi’s powerful arm in its sober black sleeve, and he turned to her.

  “Look at Hugh,” she said quietly. “He’s over the moon.”

  Hemi cast an eye over the tall, broad, bearded figure at the front of the church, standing rock-solid beside the shifting form of his little brother, his eyes steady on the back of the church. Watching for Josie.

  “He is,” Hemi said. “And he’s terrified.”

  She let out a shocked little puff of laughter, and he smiled, brought his hand up to squeeze hers. “As he should be,” he assured her. “He wants to do it right. Wants to be the man she needs. If he weren’t terrified, he wouldn’t care enough.”

  “We don’t need you to be perfect,” she said. “We just need you to be there for us, to hold us and love us, and let us love you.”

  “Yeh,” he said, his smile all for her now. “I know. But he’s just learning.”

  The music swelled, and Hugh’s sister was walking towards him, her face intent, and Reka’s own heart turned over to see Hugh smile at her, make the effort to encourage her.

  “He’s a good man,” she said under her breath.

  A squeeze from Hemi’s hand was her reply, and the congregation was standing, because here came Josie.

  She choked up a little more, because Hugh’s face…he looked like everything he needed in this world was walking towards him. And when Josie reached him, and he lifted her veil over her head and smiled down into her eyes, and she smiled back up at him…it was a very good moment.

  The congregation took their seats again, and the service began. Just like Reka and Hemi’s own, of course, because every Church of England wedding service was exactly the same.

  There was a reason you went to weddings, though. All that new young hope, that pledging of faith—it reminded you why you’d done it, and that you’d do it again. If you were one of the lucky ones, and she was. She could feel it in the press of Hemi’s arm against her hand, the suspicious sheen in his eye, and was filled with an uprush of gratitude for her good life, and her good man.

  There were funny moments, too, which was good, or she’d have spent the entire brief service crying. When the priest asked Hugh the questions, and he answered, “I will,” and his voice rang out through the little building like he was on the rugby pitch. More than one person jumped, and a ripple of laughter swept through the congregation. Hugh laughed a little too, Josie smiled back at him, and Reka guessed that that had meant something, and was glad for them that it did.

  And when it was time for Hugh to put the ring on Josie’s finger, and Charlie was meant to produce it—that was a moment and a half. Hugh turned to his brother with a nod, the boy pulled the band from the breast pocket to which his hand had strayed throughout the ceremony—and dropped it.

  It rolled. Of course it rolled. The faint sound echoed through the church, then came to a stop when the ring did. Where, Reka couldn’t see.

  “Sorry.” That was Charlie, his voice anguished. “I’m sorry.” He was on his knees, searching frantically.

  “No worries,” Hugh said. He’d already crouched down beside his brother, was hunting at the edge of the altar, running a big hand along the floorboards.

  He pounced, and in the next moment, was standing up, facing the congregation with a white grin splitting his darkly bearded face, holding the circle of gold aloft.

  Some clapping and cheering broke out, and Hugh dropped a hand to Charlie’s head, tousled his brown hair, and then he was turning back to Josie, taking her left hand in his.

  When he spoke, nobody was laughing anymore.

  “Josie,” he told her, his voice ringing out once more, strong and sure, “I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you.”

  Reka didn’t think there was a dry eye in the house. Not Hemi’s, and certainly not hers.

  “Great wedding,” Kate said a couple hours later, sitting back from the table and taking a final bite of cake. “Too bad Hannah’s missing it. She’s a sucker for this stuff.”

  Koti laughed. “And you’re not, eh. Too tough. And yet I could swear I saw a tear or two there.”

  “Could be,” she conceded.

  “Reka went through an entire pack of tissues,” Hemi said with satisfaction.

  “And handed you one,” she pointed out, which got a laugh from everybody.

  “It was beautiful,” Kristen said. “They looked so happy.”

  “They did. And I may have teared up a bit there too,” Koti admitted. “After yesterday…” He sighed. “I guess I’m still emotional. I’ve never played a test match as tough as that in my life, and I never will. And I’m not sure that I haven’t changed my mind about getting you pregnant again,” he told Kate.

  “Too late,” she said. “I have a feeling you’ve done the damage.”

  He stared at her. “You can’t know that yet.”

  “No?” she said. “You wait and see.”

  He looked stunned, and everybody else was smiling.

  “We won’t ask when,” Hemi said. “We’ll show a bit of delicacy.”

  “So many weddings,” Reka said. “It made me wonder, what happens to the Yaris now? I saw it behind Drew and Hannah’s garage the other day,” she told Kristen. “A bit small for mum and baby, you reckoned?”

  “Yeh,” Liam said, his arm as usual around the back of Kristen’s chair. “Time to retire it.”

  “It happens,” Reka said. “Though for me, it took three babies.” She looked at Hemi. “But I won’t hold that against you.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Kate was holding up a hand. “The Yaris was yours? But I got it from Hannah.”

  Reka looked at Hemi, and they were both smiling.

  “Because we weren’t allowed to say,” Hemi said. “Drew bought it from me to give Hannah when she moved to En Zed. Didn’t want her to know where it came from. Or, more likely, how much it cost him. She tended to get a bit stroppy about her independence in those days, eh.”

  “Those Yank girls can be like that,” Koti said with a grin, which made Kate elbow him in the side.

  “Rightly so,” she told him. “You’d have run right over me otherwise.”

  “Never,” he pronounced. “Never, ever happen.”

  “So you had it first, Reka,” Kate said. “And then Hannah, and then she loaned it to me, and then I got…done with it.”

  “And then she loaned it to me,” Kristen said.

  “And me,” Ally piped up from beyond Kristen. “I got a speeding ticket in that car. Probably the only one it’s ever seen.”

  “Yeh,” Reka sighed with satisfaction. “That little car seems to be a bit of a charm, doesn’t it? Almost hate to see her sell it. It’s like…the Sisterhood of the Traveling Toyota. Makes you wonder where it’ll turn up next.”

  “Because surely,” Hemi said, “there’s another pretty girl out there somewhere holding a boarding pass for New Zealand. And another All Black just waiting to take a fall.”

  The End

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  Turn the page for a Kiwi glossary.

  A few notes about Maori pronunciation:

  The accent is normally on the first syllable.

  All vowels are pronounced separately.

  All vowels except u have a short vowel sound.

  “wh” is pronounced “f.”

  “ng” is pronounced as in “singer,” not as in “anger.”

  ABs: All Blacks

  across the Ditch: in Australia (across the Tasman Sea). Or, if you’re in Australia, in New Zealand!

  advert: commercial

  agro: aggravation

  air con: air conditioning

  All Blacks: National rugby team. Members are selected for every series from amongst the five NZ Super 15 teams. The All Black
s play similarly selected teams from other nations.

  ambo: paramedic

  Aotearoa: New Zealand (the other official name, meaning “The Land of the Long White Cloud" in Maori)

  arvo, this arvo: afternoon

  Aussie, Oz: Australia. (An Australian is also an Aussie. Pronounced “Ozzie.”)

  bach: holiday home (pronounced like “bachelor”)

  backs: rugby players who aren’t in the scrum and do more running, kicking, and ball-carrying—though all players do all jobs and play both offense and defense. Backs tend to be faster and leaner than forwards.

  bangers and mash: sausages and potatoes

  barrack for: cheer for

  bench: counter (kitchen bench)

  berko: berserk

  Big Smoke: the big city (usually Auckland)

  bikkies: cookies

  billy-o, like billy-o: like crazy. “I paddled like billy-o and just barely made it through that rapid.”

  bin, rubbish bin: trash can

  bit of a dag: a comedian, a funny guy

  bits and bobs: stuff (“be sure you get all your bits and bobs”)

  blood bin: players leaving field for injury

  Blues: Auckland’s Super 15 team

  bollocks: rubbish, nonsense

  boofhead: fool, jerk

  booking: reservation

  boots and all: full tilt, no holding back

  bot, the bot: flu, a bug

  Boxing Day: December 26—a holiday

  brekkie: breakfast

  brilliant: fantastic

  bub: baby, small child

  buggered: messed up, exhausted

  bull’s roar: close. “They never came within a bull’s roar of winning.”

  bunk off: duck out, skip (bunk off school)

  bust a gut: do your utmost, make a supreme effort

  Cake Tin: Wellington’s rugby stadium (not the official name, but it looks exactly like a springform pan)

  caravan: travel trailer

  cardie: a cardigan sweater

  CBD: Central Business District; downtown

  chat up: flirt with

  chilly bin: ice chest

  chips: French fries. (potato chips are “crisps”)

  chocolate bits: chocolate chips

  chocolate fish: pink or white marshmallow coated with milk chocolate, in the shape of a fish. A common treat/reward for kids (and for adults. You often get a chocolate fish on the saucer when you order a mochaccino—a mocha).

  choice: fantastic

  chokka: full

  chooks: chickens

  Chrissy: Christmas

  chuck out: throw away

  chuffed: pleased

  collywobbles: nervous tummy, upset stomach

  come a greaser: take a bad fall

  costume, cossie: swimsuit (female only)

  cot: crib (for a baby)

  crook: ill

  cuddle: hug (give a cuddle)

  cuppa: a cup of tea (the universal remedy)

  CV: resumé

  cyclone: hurricane (Southern Hemisphere)

  dairy: corner shop (not just for milk!)

  dead: very; e.g., “dead sexy.”

  dill: fool

  do your block: lose your temper

  dob in: turn in; report to authorities. Frowned upon.

  doco: documentary

  doddle: easy. “That’ll be a doddle.”

  dodgy: suspect, low-quality

  dogbox: The doghouse—in trouble

  dole: unemployment.

  dole bludger: somebody who doesn’t try to get work and lives off unemployment (which doesn’t have a time limit in NZ)

  Domain: a good-sized park; often the “official” park of the town.

  dressing gown: bathrobe

  drongo: fool (Australian, but used sometimes in NZ as well)

  drop your gear: take off your clothes

  duvet: comforter

  earbashing: talking-to, one-sided chat

  electric jug: electric teakettle to heat water. Every Kiwi kitchen has one.

  En Zed: Pronunciation of NZ. (“Z” is pronounced “Zed.”)

  ensuite: master bath (a bath in the bedroom).

  eye fillet: premium steak (filet mignon)

  fair go: a fair chance. Kiwi ideology: everyone deserves a fair go.

  fair wound me up: Got me very upset

  fantail: small, friendly native bird

  farewelled, he’ll be farewelled: funeral; he’ll have his funeral.

  feed, have a feed: meal

  first five, first five-eighth: rugby back—does most of the big kicking jobs and is the main director of the backs. Also called the No. 10.

  fixtures: playing schedule

  fizz, fizzie: soft drink

  fizzing: fired up

  flaked out: tired

  flash: fancy

  flat to the boards: at top speed

  flat white: most popular NZ coffee. An espresso with milk but no foam.

  flattie: roommate

  flicks: movies

  flying fox: zipline

  footpath: sidewalk

  footy, football: rugby

  forwards: rugby players who make up the scrum and do the most physical battling for position. Tend to be bigger and more heavily muscled than backs.

  fossick about: hunt around for something

  front up: face the music, show your mettle

  garden: yard

  get on the piss: get drunk

  get stuck in: commit to something

  give way: yield

  giving him stick, give him some stick about it: teasing, needling

  glowworms: larvae of a fly found only in NZ. They shine a light to attract insects. Found in caves or other dark, moist places.

  go crook, be crook: go wrong, be ill

  go on the turps: get drunk

  gobsmacked: astounded

  good hiding: beating (“They gave us a good hiding in Dunedin.”)

  grotty: grungy, badly done up

  ground floor: what we call the first floor. The “first floor” is one floor up.

  gumboots, gummies: knee-high rubber boots. It rains a lot in New Zealand.

  gutted: thoroughly upset

  Haast’s Eagle: (extinct). Huge native NZ eagle. Ate moa.

  haere mai: Maori greeting

  haka: ceremonial Maori challenge—done before every All Blacks game

  halfback: No. 9 in rugby. With the first-five (No. 10), directs the game. Also feeds the scrum and generally collects the ball from the ball carrier at the breakdown and distributes it.

  hang on a tick: wait a minute

  hard man: the tough guy, the enforcer

  hard yakka: hard work (from Australian)

  harden up: toughen up. Standard NZ (male) response to (male) complaints: “Harden the f*** up!”

  have a bit on: I have placed a bet on [whatever]. Sports gambling and prostitution are both legal in New Zealand.

  have a go: try

  Have a nosy for…: look around for

  head: principal (headmaster)

  head down: or head down, bum up. Put your head down. Work hard.

  heaps: lots. “Give it heaps.”

  hei toki: pendant (Maori)

  holiday: vacation

  honesty box: a small stand put up just off the road with bags of fruit and vegetables and a cash box. Very common in New Zealand.

  hooker: rugby position (forward)

  hooning around: driving fast, wannabe tough-guy behavior (typically young men)

  hoovering: vacuuming (after the brand of vacuum cleaner)

  ice block: popsicle

  I’ll see you right: I’ll help you out

  in form: performing well (athletically)

  it’s not on: It’s not all right

  iwi: tribe (Maori)

  jabs: immunizations, shots

  jandals: flip-flops. (This word is only used in New Zealand. Jandals and gumboots are the iconic Kiwi footwear.)

  jers
ey: a rugby shirt, or a pullover sweater

  joker: a guy. “A good Kiwi joker”: a regular guy; a good guy.

  journo: journalist

  jumper: a heavy pullover sweater

  ka pai: going smoothly (Maori).

  kapa haka: school singing group (Maori songs/performances. Any student can join, not just Maori.)

  karanga: Maori song of welcome (done by a woman)

  keeping his/your head down: working hard

  kia ora: welcome (Maori, but used commonly)

  kilojoules: like calories—measure of food energy

  kindy: kindergarten (this is 3- and 4-year-olds)

  kit, get your kit off: clothes, take off your clothes

  Kiwi: New Zealander OR the bird. If the person, it’s capitalized. Not the fruit.

  kiwifruit: the fruit. (Never called simply a “kiwi.”)

  knackered: exhausted

  knockout rounds: playoff rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, final)

  koru: ubiquitous spiral Maori symbol of new beginnings, hope

  kumara: Maori sweet potato.

  ladder: standings (rugby)

  littlies: young kids

  lock: rugby position (forward)

  lollies: candy

  lolly: candy or money

  lounge: living room

  mad as a meat axe: crazy

  maintenance: child support

  major: “a major.” A big deal, a big event

  mana: prestige, earned respect, spiritual power

  Maori: native people of NZ—though even they arrived relatively recently from elsewhere in Polynesia

  marae: Maori meeting house

  Marmite: Savory Kiwi yeast-based spread for toast. An acquired taste. (Kiwis swear it tastes different from Vegemite, the Aussie version.)

  mate: friend. And yes, fathers call their sons “mate.”

  metal road: gravel road

  Milo: cocoa substitute; hot drink mix

  mind: take care of, babysit

  moa: (extinct) Any of several species of huge flightless NZ birds. All eaten by the Maori before Europeans arrived.

  moko: Maori tattoo

  mokopuna: grandchildren

  motorway: freeway

  mozzie: mosquito; OR a Maori Australian (Maori + Aussie = Mozzie)

  muesli: like granola, but unbaked

  munted: broken

  naff: stupid, unsuitable. “Did you get any naff Chrissy pressies this year?”

  nappy: diaper