Just for Now: Escape to New Zealand Book Three Page 3

  “Cook extra the night before my day off,” she nodded. “Got it.”

  “If you don’t mind. They’d thank you.”

  “All right, then,” she decided. “Now go do whatever it is you need to do, and leave me to get on with it. Because it’s already one-thirty, and I need to unpack, and then get started here. Tell me where the primary school is, and when the kids get out, and I’ll pick them up.”

  “I’d appreciate it. I have some film from Saturday’s game I’d like to look over before practice tomorrow. And I’ve got a bit behind, being on my own with the kids. It’s five or six blocks away, is all.” He went to the computer set up on a desk in the kitchen and pulled up a map of the area. “Here. You can drive the Toyota.” He showed her where the keys hung on the hook. “I usually take the Range Rover. School’s out at three.”

  “I’ll walk. Now, really. Go watch your film. Because I’m going to need to open every cupboard here, and find my way around. And figure out what I’m going to fix you for dinner, so you don’t sack me my first night.”

  “No chance of that. Just so grateful you took the post, and that you’re here. And that I can go to practice tomorrow, and on to Hamilton on Friday, without worrying about what’s happening at home.”

  “Go get your dad, OK?” Jenna asked Harry that evening. “Tell him it’s dinnertime. And you and Sophie go wash your hands, please.”

  “OK.” Harry bounced off.

  “Sophie,” Jenna said more sharply, seeing the little girl still sitting at the table she and Harry had just finished setting, once again engrossed in her book.

  When she still got no response, Jenna went over and closed the book gently. “Dinnertime,” she said when Sophie looked up. “Go wash your hands, please.”

  Sophie got up with a sigh, still holding the book.

  “I’ll take this for now,” Jenna told her firmly. “Till after dinner.”

  “Nyree lets me read at the table, when Daddy isn’t home,” Sophie objected.

  “Well, first,” Jenna told her cheerfully, “he’s home tonight. And second, I’m not Nyree. Even when he isn’t home, I’m going to be talking to you at dinnertime. And I require my dinner partners to answer me.”

  Sophie gave another martyred sigh, but set off toward the bathroom to wash her hands. Jenna smiled and put the book on the corner of the bench. She understood the fascination. She’d been known to read at the table a fair bit herself.

  “Why are there only three places?” Finn asked in surprise when he came into the kitchen with Harry. “Aren’t you eating?”

  “I thought you’d want family time,” Jenna explained. “On the nights you were home.”

  “So you’d eat, when?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Afterwards, I suppose.”

  “This is one of those things I should’ve thought of,” he realized. “It didn’t come up with Nyree, because she only stayed for dinner on nights I was gone. But we’re not Poms, and I’m not comfortable with that. Unless you’d really rather not, I’d prefer that you eat with us. Please.”

  “Please, Jenna,” Harry put in.

  “That’s fine with me.” Jenna pulled together another place setting, then turned back to the stove where she’d been keeping the meat warm. “I didn’t have a chance to go to the store today, but luckily you had meat in the freezer.”

  “Steak,” Finn said with pleasure.

  “Easy dinner,” Jenna agreed.

  “What’s this?” he asked, picking up the bowl of sauce she’d set down between the platter of steak and the bowl of roasted winter vegetables.

  “Mustard butter. Try it on your steak and vegies. It’s quite tasty. Next time, I’ll buy some mushrooms and sauté them to go on top of it all. That’s the best.”

  “Quite nice as it is,” he agreed after sampling it. “So, Harry, how was school today?”

  “Bad. It wasn’t fair,” Harry complained. “Mrs. McMinn was wrong. But she wouldn’t even listen!”

  Finn looked at his son with surprise. “What happened? Did you get yourself in trouble?”

  “She was talking about dinosaurs,” Harry told him indignantly. “And she said Brontosaurus stayed in the water most of the time because it supported his weight. And that’s wrong!”

  “Ah. Dinosaurs. What’s the strength of that? He wasn’t in the water, then, after all?”

  “First,” Harry explained, “it’s Apatosaurus now. Everyone knows that. And they didn’t need to be in the water. People used to think so, but not anymore. But when I tried to explain, she said not to con . . . con . . .”

  “Contradict?” Jenna asked.

  He nodded emphatically. “She went crook at me. But she was wrong, Dad.”

  Finn looked at Jenna. “Teacher’s advice, please.”

  “How old is Mrs. McMinn?” Jenna asked.

  “Old,” Harry said. “And mean. Everyone calls her Mrs. McMean.”

  “Harry,” Finn said sharply. “We don’t call her that.”

  “She’s an older teacher,” he told Jenna. “Sixty or thereabouts, I reckon.”

  Jenna nodded. “A different generation. And she was right, when she learned her dinosaur facts,” she explained to Harry. “Apatosaurus used to be named Brontosaurus. But you knew that. And they did think, before, that his tail would have dragged on the ground, and that he stayed in swamps because the water supported his weight. All that changed some years ago with new discoveries, and now we know how Apatosaurus really lived. But Mrs. McMinn probably isn’t as interested in dinosaurs as you are. She learned those facts when she was younger, and she didn’t hear about the new information afterwards.”

  “But I should say, if it’s wrong,” Harry argued. “That’s science.”

  “It is,” Jenna agreed. “When new facts come up, scientists have to be able to change their minds. You’re right about that. But let’s think about Mrs. McMinn. She doesn’t like someone to tell her she’s wrong, during class. That makes her feel embarrassed. How else could you have explained it to her, do you think, that wouldn’t have embarrassed her?”

  Sophie spoke up. “You could’ve told her afterwards, maybe?”

  Jenna smiled at her. “That’s a good idea. Think how you feel, if your teacher tells you that you did something wrong in front of all the other kids. Isn’t that embarrassing?”

  Harry and Sophie nodded.

  “Teachers don’t get embarrassed, though.” Harry wasn’t ready to concede yet. “They’re grownups.”

  “Grownups get embarrassed too,” Jenna explained. “It’s much nicer if somebody tells you what you did wrong when you’re by yourself, isn’t it? So nobody else hears? Even for teachers.”

  “Even for footy players,” Finn put in. “A good coach tells a player the really bad stuff on his own. Nobody likes to be yelled at in front of his mates.”

  “Do you have a book that talks about Apatosaurus?” Jenna asked.

  Harry nodded. “That’s how I know. About Brontosaurus, and everything.”

  “Then,” she suggested, “maybe you can take it to school tomorrow. And when you get a chance, you can show Mrs. McMinn what you were talking about. We can look at it tonight, find the place and mark the page for you.”

  “What if she’s still angry, though, when I tell her?” Harry asked doubtfully.

  “Then that’s her problem,” Finn decided. “If you explain politely, and in private, you’ve done all you can. Because you’re right, I reckon. If you’re studying science, it’s important to get the facts right. Even if the facts change.”

  “What about you, Sophie?” he asked. “Did you get into a stoush with your teacher today, too? Let’s hear all the bad news.”

  “Nah,” Sophie shrugged. “It was boring.”

  “What’s your favorite subject?” Jenna asked. “Reading?”

  “Lunch,” Sophie said firmly.

  Jenna couldn’t help smiling. “Well, help me clear the table, you two, and we’ll have pudding. On that note.”

>   “You made pudding?” Finn asked. “What is it?”

  “Wait and see,” Jenna told him.

  When she set the apple crumble and homemade custard on the table, Finn smiled with appreciation. “Choice,” he said as he dug in.

  “Daddy loves pudding,” Sophie informed Jenna.

  “So I gather. Good to know. And now I need to know what you all like for breakfast. And when.”

  “We usually have Weet-Bix and toast,” Sophie said.

  “All right,” Jenna nodded. “Easy. Is that what you like best, too?”

  “Waffles!” Harry piped up.

  “We like lots of things,” Sophie told her. “But on school days, it’s usually Weet-Bix.”

  “We’ll try something special on Saturday, then,” Jenna decided. “What about you, Finn?”

  “You don’t have to fix mine if you don’t have time,” he said. “I have as much as I can manage to make.”

  “Eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, tomatoes,” she guessed. “And maybe sausage as well.”

  “If I can get all that,” he agreed. “But otherwise, just eggs and toast.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” she smiled. “And what you have in the fridge just now. I’ll go to the store tomorrow.”

  “I’ll shift money into your account for groceries and gas,” he promised. “You can keep track, and tell me how we’re going, if you need more. That work for you?”

  “It does. I’ll save the receipts and give you an accounting at the end of every week.”

  “Very businesslike.”

  “That’s the best way,” she told him. “In our situation.”

  Chapter 4

  “Sure you’re comfortable being alone with the kids again tonight?” Finn asked, coming into the kitchen where Jenna was preparing dinner on Sunday afternoon. “I may be out pretty late. I’ll have my mobile, of course.”

  “Yeah.” She smiled at him. “We’re good, got the routine down. I’ll get them to bed on time, as they were up late last night watching you. Check with them too, though, if you like. See how they feel about it.”

  He snorted. “Yeh, right. All I’ve heard lately is ‘Jenna says.’ Starting to give me a bit of a complex.”

  “Don’t worry. They’re crazy about you. Nobody’s going to be taking over that spot in their hearts.”

  The doorbell rang when Jenna and the kids were in the middle of a Balloon Lagoon game. She’d bought the board game the day before, and the kids had been clamoring to play it ever since, with the wet weather keeping them indoors.

  “Two frogs in!” Harry announced proudly as the carousel music ceased. He worked carefully to stuff two balloons into his basket.

  “Good work, buddy,” Jenna told him.

  “My turn!” Sophie was already reaching for the carousel to spin it.

  “Hang on,” Jenna admonished. “Your dad’s guest is here. Let’s say hello.” She got up from the floor where they’d been sitting to greet Finn’s date, stunning in a deep blue wrap dress whose neckline dipped in a deep V, the short skirt showing off long, shapely legs. As the blonde looked her over coolly at Finn’s introduction, Jenna wished she were wearing something more flattering than a T-shirt and jeans. Too bad the humidity had made her hair curl up again too.

  “I recognize you, don’t I?” she asked Ashley. “Aren’t you a presenter on TV3?”

  “I am,” Ashley answered, becoming a bit more animated. “That’s how Finn and I met. I was doing interviews when the All Black training squad was first named, talking to some of the new caps as well as the veterans. And, well . . . ” She shrugged modestly, put a proprietary arm through Finn’s and smiled up at him warmly.

  “Ashley came by before we went to dinner tonight because she has something for you,” Finn told Sophie and Harry, already dressed for bed in warm pajamas.

  “That’s right!” Ashley said in a too-bright, syrupy voice that set Jenna’s teeth on edge. Some people didn’t know how to talk to children, she reminded herself. No need to be judgmental.

  “I brought you each a pressie.”Ashley handed each child a gaily wrapped package.

  “Go on and open them,” she urged. “I know it’s hard to wait.”

  “Oh.” Sophie finished ripping off the paper and looked at the Barbie Fashionista doll, complete with necklace and flower-bedecked purse, in its plastic box.

  “She’s poseable, see?” Ashley told her, pointing out the jointed limbs. “And look, here are more outfits for her too. Won’t that be fun, to dress her up?”

  “What do you say, Sophie?” Jenna prompted.

  Sophie looked up, pasted a too-polite smile onto her face. “Thank you, Ashley. She’s very pretty.”

  “What did you get, Harry?” Jenna asked, anxious to shift the attention from Sophie’s less-than-genuine response.

  “A cricket ball,” he said, holding it out to her.

  “Lovely,” Jenna approved. She gave Harry a gentle nudge.

  He blinked behind his glasses and said, “Thank you very much, Ashley.”

  “I thought you could probably use another cricket ball,” Ashley told him. “My brothers were always losing them.”

  “That was very kind of you,” Finn said, looking a bit embarrassed. “We’d better get on now, though. I booked a table for eight.”

  He bent to give his children a good-bye kiss. “All right?” he asked Jenna.

  “Of course,” she assured him. “We’re playing a bit more, then off to bed. Have a nice dinner, both of you.”

  “It was a pleasure to meet you,” she told Ashley. The slender blonde smiled, but there was little warmth now in the blue eyes that looked back at Jenna.

  “Likewise.” She took Finn’s arm again and left the room with him, tanned legs making a spectacular show in the high heels.

  As she heard the front door close behind the pair, Jenna turned back to Sophie and Harry. “Pick up the wrapping paper and throw it away, please. Then take your presents into your rooms, unless you want to play with your doll instead of doing our game, Sophie.”

  “I don’t want to play with this,” Sophie told her, gathering up the wrapping paper and setting the doll and clothes onto the coffee table. “I don’t like Barbie.”

  “I noticed you didn’t have many dolls,” Jenna agreed.

  “Except Martha,” Sophie reminded her, referring to the baby doll who had pride of place on her dresser. “But Martha’s different. She’s like a real baby. I don’t play with her much anymore. I’m too old now. But I still like to look at her and change her clothes sometimes.”

  “Not interested in changing Barbie’s clothes, huh?” Jenna asked sympathetically.

  Sophie shook her head. “Barbie’s boring. All she does is go shopping and get dressed.”

  “Jenna?” Harry tugged at her hand, having deposited his wrapping paper in the kitchen rubbish. “I don’t like cricket. Do I have to play with this?”

  She laughed. “Poor Ashley. I guess she doesn’t know you two very well, huh?”

  “She’s talked to us heaps,” Sophie countered. “But I don’t think she really listens. She just wants Daddy to think she likes us.”

  “It was still nice of her to bring you presents,” Jenna admonished.

  “Nah, it wasn’t,” Sophie insisted. “Ladies always bring us pressies. They do it so Daddy will like them.”

  “What?”

  “They want him to kiss them,” Harry explained. “Ladies like kissing. But they never discuss like you do. They just smile like this”—he stretched his mouth into a horrible grimace—“and ask us if we like school.”

  “Lame as,” Sophie offered.

  “That’s not very kind,” Jenna admonished her. “And Harry, I hope they don’t look like that. That would be pretty shocking. If you don’t want these presents, we’ll take them to the hospital Op Shop next week and donate them, how’s that? That way, kids who do love Barbie and cricket, but can’t afford nice things like this, can have something brand-new.”

&
nbsp; “OK,” Sophie agreed, and Harry nodded.

  “Now,” Jenna said, “let’s get back to our game. We can manage a few more turns before bedtime.”

  She looked up, startled, when she heard the front door open. Closed her book and was getting up to leave the lounge when Finn stepped in.

  “Sorry,” she told him. “I thought you’d be home later. I’ll go on to my room.”

  “Nah.” He sank into one of the big leather chairs with a sigh. “Stay out here and talk to me for a bit. Is there any of that cake left?”

  “You saw that, huh?” She smiled. “Plenty left. Want me to get you a piece?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll get it. D’you want one?”

  “No thanks. I don’t eat that stuff anymore. My glass of wine is my treat.”

  He nodded and left the room, coming back a few minutes later with a huge slab of chocolate cake and a tall glass of milk.

  “Breakfast of champions,” she remarked.

  He laughed. “They don’t feed you enough at those flash restaurants Ashley likes. I’m starved.”

  He took a bite, then opened his eyes wide. “This is bloody marvelous.”

  “Thanks,” she said with pleasure. “American style. I like to remind myself of my roots sometimes.”

  “Going to have to watch my figure,” he said.

  “Seems to me you burn a lot of calories,” she objected. “It must be hard to keep the kilos on, in fact, training as hard as you do.”

  “I try to keep the weight consistent, not gain during the time off, not lose during the season. Too hard on the body otherwise, easier to get injured if you’re unfit starting out. But you’re right, it takes a lot of eating, specially for an AB.”

  “An All Black?”

  “Yeh. Long season,” he explained, stretching his legs out in front of him and taking another bite. “They break up the Super 15 season for these three test matches we’ve just finished up against England, then it’s back for three more rounds and, hopefully, the Super 15 playoffs. And then on to the Rugby Championship with the ABs again. Not to mention the Northern Tour. All the way from January till early December, without much layoff in there.”