Just for Now: Escape to New Zealand Book Three Page 15

  “What are you reading us next?” Harry asked with his usual enthusiasm.

  “I thought, since Sophie enjoyed Fantastic Mr. Fox so much, I’d read Matilda to you. I’m going to see if I can get it from the library this afternoon. If you both help me clean up after dinner, we can get started early.”

  “We’ll help,” Sophie promised.

  “Do I get to listen too?” Finn asked. “I like the way you read.”

  “Of course you do, if you flatter me like that, and if that’s the way you want to spend the last bit of your time off. Be warned, I might make you help clean up too.”

  “Think I could run to that,” he agreed. “As this is meant to be your own day off.”

  “You’re right. But this is actually pretty selfish. I’ve been wanting to read it again myself. It’s one of my favorites.”

  She remembered what a revelation it had been the first time she had read the book. Her own third-grade teacher had recommended the Roald Dahl story, seeing something of Matilda in Jenna’s quiet, bright eight-year-old self. TV dinners. Literally and figuratively. They’d made Jenna, like Matilda, a reader and a cook in self-defense, which was why the book had always resonated so powerfully with her. Too bad she’d never had superpowers. She’d magically flown from her chaotic upbringing into this life, though. And that was something in itself.

  “Well,” she said as Finn pulled the car to a stop outside the villa after dropping Sophie and Harry at school.

  “Well,” he grinned back at her. “Here we are.”

  He hopped out, began pulling bags from the back of the Range Rover, and she went to help him.

  “Reckon we’ve got a choice here,” he said, making his laden way up the villa’s front steps. “You could start your time off. Or you could go upstairs with me.”

  There was nothing she wanted more right now. She wrestled with herself as she pulled out her key to open the front door, preceded him inside.

  “I’m really tempted,” she admitted at last, pulling Harry and Sophie’s bags from the pile he tossed into the middle of the entryway floor. “But I was right, last night. Bad idea. So I’m going to get the kids unpacked, start the washing, and then I’m going to go for a run. And I must regretfully decline your kind invitation.”

  He sighed. “I was afraid that was going to be the answer.”

  “Remember, I have my volunteer day tomorrow.” Time to move on. “Rescheduled. Miriam’s coming in the morning. She’ll take the kids to school, but I’ll be back to fix dinner.”

  “I’m remembering. Can I ask you for a lift to the airport Wednesday morning, though?”

  “Oh. Right. Because you’ll be driving the Toyota back again after the wedding,” she realized. “Sure. I can do that.”

  “Thanks.” He watched her heading down the hallway with a sigh of regret. She was probably right. It was probably a bad idea. But it felt like such a good one.

  “How was the volunteer day?” he asked her the following evening. She had at least joined him as usual for her glass of wine, he’d been glad to see. No jumping her, he reminded himself sternly. Or he was going to lose any chance he had, and find himself minus a nanny as well.

  “Good. We worked on maths. And I had a great moment. There’s this one little girl, Fa’alele. Samoan, obviously. Very quiet, very overwhelmed, new arrival. I’ve been working with her on her reading, before this. She’s been struggling. So today, like I said, was maths. And she sailed straight through it. She did all the addition and subtraction, so I tried her on multiplication. And she got that too!”

  “Multiplication? How d’you do multiplication in Year One?” he objected.

  “It’s all more concrete,” Jenna explained. “You don’t use the abstract numbers. You use picture cards, and counters. ‘Tane has three kete. If there are four kumara in each kete, how many kumara does he have?’ Rather than three times four.”

  “And she got that?” he asked, impressed.

  “Yes!” He watched her face light up as she recalled the moment. “I tried her with a bunch of them. She has a real mathematical mind. It was so exciting.”

  “I can see that,” he agreed. “Think Harry’d have a hard time with that problem.”

  “He’s more verbal,” Jenna said. “Bright at maths too, but it’s not his strongest point.”

  “And how’s my mate Ian?” Finn asked with a twinkle.

  “Stiff,” she admitted. “Still a bit offended, I’m afraid. He asked about you today. Sarcastically. He blames you.”

  “Me?” he asked, touching his chest and opening his eyes wide in mock alarm. “What’d I do?”

  “Exist,” she said with a sigh. “He thinks I have . . . other interests. That he can’t measure up.” She smiled. “Probably true.”

  “Could be that trip to Dunedin’s going to be a good thing after all, then,” he said. “Four weeks off before AB training starts up again. And the kids with their grandparents for a week. Fancy a bit of company on your holiday?”

  She smiled ruefully. “Always a mistake for me to sit with you and drink wine. I keep getting myself into trouble. In a couple months, when we’re done with this . . . Ask me out, and I’m not going to be saying no. If you still want to.”

  “I’ll want to,” he assured her. “No worries. I want to so much right now. Can’t tell you.”

  “Time for me to go to bed, then.” She got up, scooped up his beer bottle together with her wine glass. “Before I change my mind.”

  “Got all the info you need?” he asked her from the passenger seat the next morning. “About packing the kids up, and all?”

  “If not, I have your sister’s number. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Right. Glad you’re staying for the game, anyway. Should be quite a contest. Everything at once, eh. Final game of the Rugby Championship, and if we win it, we’ll have the trophy as well. And I get to play it in Dunedin, in front of all my rellies. Always a treat when your family’s there.”

  “And even better when you win, I’m guessing.” Jenna glanced over her shoulder as she merged onto the motorway.

  “Too right. We’re ready to get stuck in, though. We’ve had some pretty good intensity this week. Everyone knows they need to step up another level with Drew out. Course, we’ll have to see how we go on the night.”

  “I’m confident,” she told him. “If you have anything to do with it.”

  They drove in silence for a few miles. “It’s really not right,” she mused at last.

  “What isn’t?”

  “Violence shouldn’t be attractive. Right? It must be my Neanderthal brain or something. Why am I looking forward to watching you so much?”

  “Well, that’s good news. Another reason to win, eh.”

  “Sadly,” she told him with a sigh, “it doesn’t even seem to matter. It’s just the effort, and the sweat. And the hits,” she admitted. “I’m not proud of it, but there you are.”

  His grin grew as he watched her steer the car into the Departures lane, pull up to let him out.

  “Have a good game,” she said. “Play hard. And I guess maybe I’ll see you Saturday before I leave. Or after my holiday, if not.”

  He unfastened his seatbelt, leaned across the center console, and put a hand behind her head. “Saturday morning,” he promised. He pulled her more closely to him and closed his mouth over hers. Felt himself falling into the sweetness of her mouth, the taste of her.

  He broke away at last, smiled into her eyes. “I’ll do my best to appeal to your Neanderthal brain.”

  “You do that.” She smiled mistily back at him. “I’ll be watching.”

  He got out of the car reluctantly, grabbed his duffel from the back seat. Slammed the door shut, then leaned in through the open passenger window for a final word.

  “We’re not going to be waiting till December,” he informed her. “Fair warning.”

  Chapter 18

  “Auntie Sarah!” Sophie called out as they came through the gate into the unassum
ing Dunedin Airport on Friday afternoon. She ran to the tall, rangy woman and gave her an enthusiastic hug. Harry wasn’t far behind to add his own greeting. “Where’s Uncle Kieran?”

  “Back at home,” Sarah told her, laughing as she pulled both children close. “We didn’t have enough people to work, in the end, and one of us had to stay.”

  She straightened up as Jenna approached, held out a hand. “You must be Jenna. Thanks for bringing these two down to see us.”

  Jenna wasn’t used to feeling short, but Sarah topped her by a good three inches. It was easy to see that Finn’s height was a family trait. “No worries,” she assured the other woman. “I was glad to do it. And I get to stay over tonight, go to the game as well. I’m looking forward to that. I want to see the results of all that extra time Finn’s been putting in this week.”

  “Heard about that. That Drew’s ankle’s still crook,” Sarah agreed. “I’m sorry to hear it for his sake, and the team’s. But I’ll admit that, as a sister, it gives me a good thrill—and a fair dose of the collywobbles for his sake—when Finn’s the skipper. And being able to see it live tonight will be pretty special.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Jenna said again. “Though I may have to ask you to take Sophie’s place as my rugby tutor.”

  “I’ve been teaching Jenna all about footy,” Sophie told her aunt. “She didn’t know much about it before.”

  “That’s putting it charitably,” Jenna laughed. “But Sophie’s an excellent teacher.” She rested her hand on Sophie’s head as the little girl beamed with pride.

  “We don’t get to go to the game tonight with you, though,” Sophie told her aunt with disappointment. “Too late, Dad said. We have to stay at the hotel with Nana instead.”

  “The weekend will be busy enough, with the wedding on Sunday,” Jenna told her. “And you can watch the game on TV with your Nana.”

  “It’s not the same, though,” Sophie scowled. “It’s not fair. Just because Harry’s too little. I’m not. I didn’t fall asleep last week.”

  “I know it’s disappointing, but your dad said no,” Jenna reminded her. “And I agreed with him. Can you give me a hand with this luggage, please?”

  Sophie still looked mutinous, but didn’t protest further, grabbing a wheeled case and moving toward the carpark with the others.

  “Thanks for the lift,” Jenna told Sarah as she climbed into the front seat of the Toyota people mover. “I hope it isn’t putting you out. I could have hired a car as well. Then Finn could have used it after tonight.”

  “Dunedin’s not what you’d call a sprawling metropolis,” Sarah said dryly. “We can walk nearly everywhere we’ll want to go from the hotel. Finn knows that. Besides, I couldn’t wait to see my favorite niece and nephew.”

  “We’re your only niece and nephew, Auntie Sarah,” Harry piped up from the back seat. “So that’s silly.”

  “Like I said. My favorites.”

  “Are Nana and Grandpa here yet?” Sophie asked. Jenna was grateful that she seemed to have put aside her disappointment over missing the game, at least for the time being.

  “At the hotel, waiting for you,” Sarah promised. “And they asked me to invite you to join us for dinner,” she told Jenna. “They’re quite keen to meet you.”

  “Me?” Jenna asked in surprise.

  “Seems they’ve heard a fair bit about you from their grandchildren, these past months. And from Finn, I gather.” She cast a quick glance at Jenna. “You’ve made an impression.”

  “That’s nice to hear. I’d enjoy having dinner with all of you.”

  “You may change your mind once you know how many that is,” Sarah grinned. “Most of the family’s here for the wedding, as well as all Ella’s family and friends. And everyone who could manage it got here early to go to the game tonight. It’ll be a bit of an open slather, I’m afraid.”

  “Sounds fun,” Jenna said determinedly.

  “We’ll meet at six, then, in the lobby,” Sarah told her as she pulled into the hotel carpark. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “How ya goin’?” Sarah asked as they began the trek to Forsyth Barr Stadium that evening after dinner, their large family group just part of the happy throng headed that way, many wearing All Blacks apparel or carrying the distinctive black flag with its silver fern, some even having decorated themselves with white and black face paint in honor of the occasion.

  “You were right,” Jenna admitted. “Fun, but a little overwhelming. I’m going to have a job remembering everyone’s name.”

  “Finn said you’d been a teacher. You must have had some practice remembering names.”

  “True. More challenging in the pub, though, than in a nice orderly classroom.”

  “Why are you doing this now? Being a nanny, I mean,” Sarah clarified. “Bit overqualified, aren’t you?”

  “I’m taking a year off,” Jenna explained. “I’d been living in Wellington since I moved to New Zealand, and never even got around that much. I knew I wanted to live someplace else, but I wasn’t sure where. So I traveled around the North Island for a while, working in cafés, staying in backpackers’ hostels, looking for somewhere to settle. I tried New Plymouth, Rotorua, a few other places. I ended up in Auckland, because . . .” She shrugged. “Because everyone ends up in Auckland, right? I was visiting a friend there when I saw Finn’s advert. I was missing working with kids, and the timing was right. It seemed like a fun thing to do, just for now. I like to cook, and Finn’s an appreciative audience, let me tell you. I’ve never cooked for anyone who ate that much, or enjoyed it as much as he does. I love that.”

  “How’ve you found it, other than that?” Sarah asked. “Sounds like a dead bore to me. How does my baby brother rate as an employer? Besides eating so much. Didn’t realize that was such an attractive trait.”

  “I realize it may not be everyone’s cup of tea,” Jenna laughed, “but I do like it. I was born with an extra domesticity gene, I guess. And it’s hard for me to imagine Finn as anyone’s baby brother. It sounds so funny.”

  “Well, I’m seven years older,” Sarah conceded with a grin. “So I do remember when he was a baby. He didn’t come into the world wearing those size fifteen boots. But come on now, tell me. How’re you going with him?”

  “Great. Although we didn’t start off too well, when I first interviewed. He thought I was after his money. Or maybe it was his body.” Jenna giggled, then slapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry. Getting a little too relaxed here, I’m afraid.”

  “Thought you were having a go, did he?” asked an amused Sarah. “Not really that surprising. He may not be much in the looks department, but he doesn’t actually break the looking glass. I know he’s had more than his fair share of girls interested. It’s being an All Black, I reckon.”

  “I didn’t mean . . . I wasn’t saying he wasn’t good-looking,” Jenna said, horrified. “He’s very attractive. I mean,” she stumbled, “I’m sure he does. That he has. Oh, dear.” She gave up. “I’m just digging myself in deeper, aren’t I?”

  Sarah laughed. “Yeh. You are. No worries.”

  Interesting, Sarah thought as they entered the stadium. She’d been suspicious when her mother had told her how often Finn had mentioned Jenna’s name during his phone calls. And now that she’d met her, she was definitely wondering.

  “Nice,” Jenna told her as they found their seats in the rapidly filling stands of the modern covered stadium. Sold out this evening, she’d read, despite Dunedin’s small population. “Very comfortable, isn’t it?”

  “It is now,” Sarah agreed. “But it used to be known as the House of Pain, before the new stadium was built a few years ago. Because the ground was so shocking to play on. And because the Highlanders, including Finn then, were famous for dealing out a good hiding to teams unfortunate enough to come down here to play. Still hoping for a good hiding tonight, of course.”

  “I noticed that the crowd’s pretty lopsided,” Jenna agreed.

&n
bsp; “Nothing Kiwis like better than dealing to the Convicts,” Sarah agreed with satisfaction. “Not even beating the Poms.”

  They stood and cheered with the rest of the crowd as the All Blacks ran out onto the field behind Finn. Jenna’s heart swelled to see him on the field and projected on the large screen overhead, features set in the hard, determined lines he assumed for every game, big body rock-solid under the skintight black jersey.

  “Phew.” Jenna sat back down again as the crowd subsided following the national anthems and the emotional haka. “It’s only my second time seeing that in person. But even on TV, it gets me every time.”

  “Me too,” Sarah admitted. “And I’ve watched them do it for years. Don’t think it does the Aussie boys any good either.”

  Jenna thought back to the way the Wallabies had lined up, hands on each others’ shoulders in their gold and green jerseys to face the aggressive black wall. “Do you think it actually scares them?”

  “It should do,” Sarah told her. “As the ABs have won about seventy percent of the test matches they’ve played against them, from the beginning of time.”

  “There’s that much difference?” Jenna asked in surprise.

  “Where did you say you’ve been living recently?” Sarah wondered.

  “It’s true,” Jenna admitted. “I’ve been here more than seven years now, and I’m a permanent resident. You’d think I’d know more about rugby.”

  “I’d think, yeh. If you ever plan to apply for citizenship, reckon you’d better educate yourself. The ABs rank first in the world nearly every year, by a fair margin.”

  “I know much more than I used to,” Jenna assured her as the Australian team lined up to kick off. “Thanks to Sophie.”

  And Finn? Sarah wondered. They didn’t talk much during the continuous action that followed, except when Sarah was forced to explain a penalty or point of strategy that had eluded Jenna. She couldn’t tell for sure, but Sarah was reasonably certain that Jenna’s eyes were mostly on Finn, whatever else was happening on the field, and suspicion began to grow into certainty.