“Sure. What would you like to know?”
“Everything.” He glanced at her with a warm smile and she gave a small inward sigh as she melted a little more. Their gazes tangled, and she looked away as the warmth rose and suffused her face. She fixed her gaze out the window, not sure if she could trust herself not to undo the seat belt and reach up and press her lips to his. She grinned as she realized she wasn’t sure which would surprise him most—the undoing of the seatbelt or the kiss.
“Everythingis a lot to cram into a half-hour drive.”
“Okay, begin with things you like.”
She smiled to herself as she remembered the rainbow which had emerged from the misty rain clouds over the harbor earlier that day. “I like rainbows very much.”
“Rainbows?”
“Yes, rainbows. You know, those things which stretch across the sky in colors which seem too impossible for nature.”
“Yes, I know what a rainbow is. A spectrum of light caused by dispersion of light in water droplets. And, actually, the colors are entirely possible in nature.”
She turned to him and saw a ghost of a smile on his lips. “You’re having me on! No one could look at a rainbow and think of science.”
“I didn’t say I thought of science. Just that it has a scientific explanation. Anyway, I can imagine you and rainbows,” he said, as they slowed behind a small car. He checked the rearview mirror.
“Don’t you like them?” she asked.
He shrugged as he changed gear and overtook the car. He didn’t reply until he had returned to the correct side of the road and was speeding along a stretch of straight road. “They’re okay. Actually, they’re pretty much the bane of my life at the moment.”
“How can rainbows be troublesome?”
“They appear where they shouldn’t. Anyway, I don’t want to talk shop. I’d much rather hear about you. Tell me about what’s important to you.”
“Ah, that’s easy. Family. I have a heap of brothers and sisters. You’ve met Gabe, one of my brothers.”
“The one who shoots me dirty looks?”
“That’s the one.”
“Ah, well, now I see why. He’s protecting you. That’s good. I like that.”
“Do you?” It seemed a curious thing to say.
“Yes. A brother should look out for his sister.”
“Yes, well, I have four brothers looking out for me. Well, strictly speaking, only two, as two of them are overseas. Max lives in Queenstown and seems to think it’s also his role in life to keep an eye on me. Honestly, you’d think I’m twelve, not twenty-one.”
She glanced across to find him studying her before he looked back at the road. “They love you and want to make sure you’re safe. It’s as simple as that.”
His voice had gentled and he cleared his throat as if trying to rid the emotion which had crept into him.
“It sounds as if you have a sister you care for.”
His eyes narrowed slightly and the muscles around his mouth tightened. “Yes.”
“Ah-ha! I thought so. I bet you make her life a nightmare.” She grinned but he didn’t.
“I hope not. Tell me about your sisters.”
She looked straight ahead at the road which twisted and turned its way around the harbor toward the exclusive restaurant, wondering why he didn’t elaborate.
“Lizzi is the eldest, and then Rachel. Both now very happily married with children. You’ll probably see Rachel if you hang around Akaroa. She and her husband and children are due back from the US next week. She’s a TV star, you know.”
“Oh.”
