“Well, thanks.” Another deep breath. “So that’s my story. There was no reason for me to tell you all this today. Why did I even do it? It doesn’t have any bearing on whether we come visit your whanau in Wellington.”
“Doesn’t it?” He considered that. “I think you wanted to set the record straight. To let me know that you’re like me. A self-contained unit. An independent actor. Or something like that.”
“Yes,” she said.“Yes.I don’t need anything from you. I don’twantanything from you. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Oh,” he said, “I could have to worry about you.”
“What?” She’d turned her head now, at least.
“Don’t you think,” he said, keeping it gentle with a major effort, “that there’s something going on here? With us?”
“Oh. I …” She trailed off.
“And I’d like to see where it goes. Wouldn’t you?”
She went rigid. He could see it. He said, “We don’t have to take anything away from each other. You don’t have to prop me up, and I don’t have to prop you up. Trees can stand together, can’t they?” He felt stupid the moment he’d said it. What did trees have to do with anything? “I mean,” he blundered on, “that they can be straight, and strong, and all that. And still be, uh, trees together.” He closed his eyes, then grinned and opened them. “Help.”
“Your metaphor’s running away with you,” she said, but she’d lost the tension. In fact, she was nearly laughing.
“Yeh,” he said. “Not my strong suit. You should hear my after-match chats with the media. But still. Come to Welly, and we’ll see how we go. What do we have to lose?”
“You’d have to pay, though. Other than the airfare, of course. I truly can’t afford those activities, and they’re not cheap.”
“You’d have to mind the kids sometimes,” he countered, “though I’ll have some stern words with Nan about that. I’d say we’d be even.Includingthe airfare. How much would it cost if I had a nanny down there?” he decided to throw in.
“A nanny?” she said, looking … shocked? Hurt? He obviouslyshouldn’thave thrown that in.
“No,” he said firmly. “A welcome guest. But I’m pretty sure you’ll end up with the kids a fair amount, and airfare seemslike the least I can do. A hire car, too. You’ll need it,” he decided to add, “when you take the kids anywhere. Six kids. So that’s settled. What other objections can I mow straight over?”
“First,” she said, “you are not paying our airfare. That’s ridiculous, and I’m not your nanny and don’t want to be.” Which was what he’d thought, wasn’t it? So why was it bothering him? “And second,” she went on, “the school. The rules.”
“Bugger the rules. It’s an experiment. You like experiments. Georgia told me so. I won’t even be around most of the time. Also, it’s Wellington. Even if we do slip and fall off that high horse, who’s to know?”
22
THE ADULT IN CHARGE
The closer they got to their holiday, the more the back of her mind kept nagging at her. Specifically, that agreeing to this adventure was a risky and stupid decision in—oh, so many wonderful ways, especially in the way that she wasnotequipped for a fling with a rugby star who smiled warmly at her over expensive champagne. A rugby star whose whanau was enmeshed with her own, too, so there’d be no avoiding him after said fling was over.
But then, she’d literally be keeping her distance while she was there, wouldn’t she? Or he would. Zane wouldn’t evenbethere most of the time, and when he was, he’d be focused on his kids. And as for school? As long as nothing happened in the sheets, nothing would happen in the streets. She was quite proud of that poetic thought. And her sense of pride would keep her from succumbing anyway. She didn’t want to feel “good enough to sleep with for a bit.” Not again. And, yes, as Jess had felt free to say, her standards probablywereimpossibly high.
Telling Jess had been interesting, as you’d expect. At first, Skylar had merely said brightly, “We’ll be spending the firstpart of the holidays at home, then we’re off to Wellington for ten days or so.” They were eating lunch, but Skylar had brought bread, cheese, and pickle this time, along with a couple of feijoas. There were only so many bean-and-grain lunches a woman could eat, and feijoas were healthy! Full of vitamins and fiber.
“How are you managing that?” Jess had asked with no tact at all. “Never tell me you can afford it. Ten days in Wellington, of all places? What’s next, Queenstown, for some heli-skiing? You’ve probably booked a backpacker’s with the kids,afterpaying through the nose to fly down there. I can’t believe what they’re charging now for a one-hour flight, and you’d be paying for four of them. You’re telling yourself it’ll be educational, andI’mtelling you that you’ll all come back with bedbugs. I know you’re the Queen of the Positive Outlook, but I’m not, so here’s advice from the Real World: find somewhere else instead. Northland, now … no spendy flights, and if you drive far enough, you can stay for less than you’d think. Taupo Bay. Mangonui. Like that. Of course, there’s nothing much up there, so there’s that.”
“Which means,” Skylar said, “that the tourists will be looking to those same places for their getaway. The solitude is the point. How many people do you see pictured in the tourist brochures? Unless they’re paddling a kayak or going across a swing bridge, just about none.”
“They’re kayaking in July, are they?” Jess asked. “Though the weather will probably be heaps better than in Windy Welly. You’d be trapped in some shonky bach with your kids and your granddad, though, especially if it rains, and you can say a fond goodbye to your dishwasher, too. Consider me the voice of experience.”
“Ah,” Skylar said. “Nothing like a disaster story. Tell.”
“I got taken up there once for a ‘holiday’,” Jess said. “I’ve put that in quotes, because it was August and he fished theentire time. Turns out I was there to cook the fish and do the washing-up, and the place probably cost him forty dollars a night and smelled of mildew. He couldn’t understand why I wasn’t bowled over by the romance of it all. We ended up having a row after three days of that, and I took the bus home. On the plus side, the whole thing only cost me thirty-five dollars for the bus, plus a bit for groceries, because if you think there was a restaurant up there, or even a café, you’re dreaming. Still, holidaying out in the wop-wops with the flax plants and beaches is infinitely less dear than being in the city, especially in winter, because nobody else wants to go. Collecting shells, now:there’sa fun and cost-free hobby. With fish and chips to follow, if you want to drive to find them, for a true gourmet stay. Follow me for more free life advice.”
“So I’ll have an awful time if I take the kids somewhere close and cheap,” Skylar said, “and go bust if I take them to Wellington? Yeh, that’s helpful, thanks.”
“I’m just saying,” Jess said. “Unless …” She sat up straight. “No. You wouldn’t.”
Skylar eyed her warily. “I wouldn’t what? I probably wouldn’t, whatever it is. I never do, do I?”
