Just for Now (24 page)

“No livestock. And nobody else. The last thing I’d do is to
share you, or to hurt you. But cheers for the green light. You’ve just given me
something to think about, the whole drive home tomorrow.”

She sighed. “Yeah. Going back. I’ll be glad to see the kids.
But so sorry to leave this place.”

“We can come back,” he promised. “Another time.”

“And now.” He got up, pulled her out behind him, handed her
a towel. “We’re going to go inside, take a shower to wash off this chlorine. Sleep
for a bit. Till I wake you up because I need to do it again.”

“Dad!” Finn received the full force of Harry’s hug as the
boy charged through the security gate and into his arms. Finn gathered Sophie
in as well, then kissed Sarah hello, shook hands with Kieran.

“Good to see you both. Thanks for bringing them up. Flight
OK?” he asked as they waited for their luggage.

Kieran laughed. “Hour and a half. Can’t complain. Nothing to
what you do, bro.” He pulled a suitcase off the belt with a stocky arm. Years
of working outdoors had tanned and seamed his face, making him look older than
his 43 years. But the lines around his eyes and mouth were good-humored ones,
and Finn counted himself lucky in his brother-in-law.

“Those two behaved themselves, eh,” Finn asked, pulling off
Harry’s and Sophie’s suitcases as well.

“
Daddy,”
Sophie sighed. “We aren’t
babies.”

“Where’s Jenna?” Harry asked as they made their way to the
car park. “Isn’t she back from her holiday yet?”

“Nah, she’s home. Not enough seats in the car,” Finn pointed
out. “And she’s taking the chance to get her run in before everyone arrives.”

“Heard a lot about Jenna,” Kieran remarked from the back
seat where he was wrestling with seatbelts. “From multiple sources. Can’t wait
to see for myself.”

“Oh?” Finn glanced across at his sister, who smiled back at
him. “This’ll be your chance, then.”

Harry was out of the car as soon as Finn had pulled to a
stop and turned off the car, pounding up the steps ahead of the rest of them.

“Reckon he’s in love,” Kieran commented dryly. “She must be
pretty special.”

Jenna was at the front door then, gathering Harry in for a
hug, reaching for Sophie as well, laughing in delight. “Oh, how glad I am to
see you two. And Sarah. I’m so glad you’re here.” She embraced the other woman,
then greeted Kieran with a warm smile and a handshake. “Thanks for lending me
your wife to be my date last week. I had a great time with her. I hope I can
return the favor by making you comfortable for a couple days.”

“I understand this is your holiday,” she said as she showed
them to the guest room. “You’ve been here before, of course. So you know your
way around.”

“Never had flowers in our room before,” Sarah commented.

“Lunch in an hour or so,” Jenna promised. She looked out the
French doors, saw Finn already in the garden, dribbling the soccer ball with
Sophie. She smiled. Physical again.

“Did you have a good holiday?” Kieran asked Jenna after
finishing off the first half of his ham and cheese panini in a few juicy bites.
“Sounds like you’ve earned it.”

“I don’t know about that. But yes. I had a very good
holiday.”

“Where’d you go? Finn said you were staying on the South
Island,” Sarah said.

“Ah. Changed my mind, in the end.” Jenna felt the
treacherous color rising, did her best to sound casual. “I went up to the Far
North, to Doubtless Bay. Pretended it was summer.”

“I saw lots of dolphins,” she remembered, turning to Harry
with relief. “And orca, even. That was very cool.”

Harry’s eyes gleamed behind his specs. “Wow,” he breathed.
“A whole pod?”

“We counted four,” she agreed.

“We?” Sarah asked.

“Oh. I did a cruise, one day,” Jenna said. “Yeah. We saw
them.”

“Fancy that. Have you seen orca yourself, Finn?” Sarah asked
innocently. “Ever?”

“A few times,” he said blandly. “Always a treat, eh. Unless
I’m kayaking. Then I’m not too keen.”

“But I want to hear about what you kids did,” Jenna said
hastily, watching Sarah and Kieran exchange knowing glances. “How was the
farm?”

“It was so cool,” Harry said enthusiastically. “Nana and
Grandpa have barn cats, did you know that, Jenna? And one of them had kittens.
They were tiny, like this,” he held his hands out to show her. “And their eyes
were still closed! You can’t pet them, though,” he sighed. “That was sad.”

“And they have chickens,” Sophie put in. “Heaps of chickens.
They’re really silly. They have
beards.”

“Araucana,” Sarah explained. “And they are silly, but Mum
loves them. They do lay the most beautiful blue eggs. But they have these ridiculous
tufts of feathers on their faces.”

“We collected the eggs for Nana!” Harry told Jenna proudly.
“Every day. It was our job.”

“What kind of farm is it?” Jenna wondered. “I’ve never
heard.”

“Pears,” Finn put in. “It’s a pear orchard.”

“Really. Isn’t that a lot of work?”

“It is,” Sarah agreed. “Dad has some help managing it,
though. And they’ve been using a new scheme that’s going surprisingly well. Having
young people working for him. From all over the world, on working holiday
visas. They come and do anything from a week to a month or two. Four hours a
day in exchange for a place to sleep, and one big meal that Mum cooks. No pay,
unless they want to work a full day.”

“And that works?” Jenna asked in surprise. “Without any
training?”

“Yeh, it does, surprisingly. Dad says it’s the best
workforce he’s ever had. None of the problems he used to have, with casual
labor. They’re all bright, all keen. Finishing Uni, or taking a year out from
it. And those kids from Germany and Norway speak better English than the
Kiwis.”

“I can believe that,” Jenna decided. “Wow. I wouldn’t have
thought.”

“They’re really nice,” Sophie assured her. “I learnt how to
say Good Morning in different languages. D’you want to hear?” She rattled off
greetings in French, German, and something that Jenna decided must be a
Scandinavian language.

“Ohayou gozaimasu,” she finished.

“What’s that?” Finn asked in surprise.

“Japanese,” she smiled triumphantly. “There was a Japanese
girl there, Yuki. She taught me.”

“So when I go play in Japan, one of these years, you’ll be
one step ahead of the rest of us,” Finn said.

“Is that likely to happen?” Jenna asked, startled.

“That’s where the money is.”

“In
Japan?
They play rugby? Successfully?”

“Surprisingly. Can’t match up to the top sides, but heaps of
ticker. And more to the point, they’re willing to pay big bikkies for All
Blacks to come and play for a season. We call it the AB Superannuity Scheme.”

“Well.” Jenna got up, began to clear the table. “I guess
you’re right, then. Sophie’s got a head start.”  

Japan, she thought with a pang. Too far away.

“Hmm?” Jenna woke at the feeling of Finn’s big body sliding
against her, his hand moving over her breast. “Finn?”

“Hope so,” he murmured behind her as he pulled her closer.
“Unless you were expecting somebody else.”

“Everybody’s here, though,” she protested in a low voice.
“We shouldn’t.”

“We’ll be quiet,” he assured her. “Least I will be. May be a
bit of a challenge for you.” He rolled her, moved over her to kiss her. Stayed
there a while, enjoying the way she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull
him closer, the feeling of her hands in his hair, her generous mouth moving
under his.

“I may have to kiss you the whole time tonight, keep you
from making all that noise,” he said at last, propping himself on one elbow and
reaching down to pull off her nightgown. “Course, it’ll be a sacrifice. But I’m
willing to make it.”

“Is the door locked?” she asked. For all her concern, he
noticed, her hands were making short work of his T-shirt, and reaching now for
his underwear.

“Locked,” he agreed, moving to take her lower lip in his
mouth, give her a little nip there, his hand wandering again. “Any more
questions I can answer before I get started here?”

“Oh,” she sighed. “You’ve already started. And you know I
can’t think when you’re doing that.”

She was shaking by the time he laced his fingers through
hers and moved over her. He could tell that forcing herself to stay quiet had
been hard for her, and as erotic as he’d found it himself. Now, as he pushed inside,
he sought out her mouth again, smothering the moan she couldn’t help.

“You make me want you so much,” he told her softly, moving
slowly, listening to her sigh against him. “I tried to sleep without you
tonight, but I couldn’t.”

“I should say no sometime, I know,” she answered
breathlessly. “But I can’t. Every time, I want it more. You make me feel so
good.”

He bent to kiss her, took her up again, so slowly this time,
feeling her respond, the moment when she needed more. He kept her there a bit
longer, until she was moving hard against him, savored the sighs and moans he
took into his mouth, the urgency she couldn’t hold back now. Finally gave her
what she needed, felt her convulsing around him in response, the sweetness and
power of it, and found his own release, his mouth still locked over hers,
stifling both their voices as they cried out together.

Afterwards, he held her close to him, heard her breathing
change as she fell asleep again. Dropped off himself before waking, chilled, to
pull the duvet around them both. He remembered where he was, then. That he
couldn’t spend the night in her bed. He searched for his clothes, pulled them
on in the dark as she stirred into wakefulness.

“Nightgown,” she said sleepily, feeling around the floor for
it.

“Here.” He moved to her side of the bed, helped pull it over
her head. Leaned down to give her a kiss. “Thanks. Better than warm milk.”

“I could say the same,” she sighed. “Except you woke me up.
But it was worth it.”  

“Mmm. Good night.” One last kiss, then he got up to leave.

“Be quiet,” she urged him as he made his way to the bedroom
door.

“No worries. See you in the morning.” He unlocked the
bedroom door and left the room, easing the door quietly shut behind him. Took a
few steps toward the stairs, then swore inwardly as the bathroom door opened
and he made out his sister’s form.

She jumped with surprise, eyes not yet accustomed to the
dark. “Who is it?” she hissed, keeping her voice low.

“It’s me. Finn,” he sighed. “Just . . . ah . . . checking on
the kids.”

“Checking on the kids,” she said dubiously as he came up to
join her. “At two-thirty in the morning.”

“Thought I heard something,” he improvised. “Nightmare, I
thought.”

He could almost hear her disbelief coming across the space
between them. “Yeh, right. Going to bed now, though? Your
own
bed?”

“Course. See you in the morning. Jenna’s fixing something
special, I think.”

“Already did, I reckon,” he heard her say behind him as he
made his escape to the stairs and the privacy of his own room. He loved his
sister. But she really was the nosiest woman in the Southern Hemisphere.

“This is choice.” Kieran reached for another slice of the
pear- and dried-cherry-filled coffee cake, only to have Sarah slap his hand. “What?”
he protested.

“You’ll get fat,” she admonished him. “Two was enough.”

“Oi,” he complained. “Finn’s had three already. I saw. Bet
he’s not done, either.”

“Yeh, and when you’re playing rugby instead of spending the
day cutting the grass and unblocking toilets, you can have three too,” his wife
told him firmly.

“Would you like some more eggs, Kieran?” Jenna asked him
kindly. “They’ll be ready in a second here, along with another pan of bacon.”

“Am I allowed to have more eggs?” Kieran asked Sarah with
exaggerated concern. “Would that fit into my dietary program?”

“Eggs are allowed,” she pronounced.

“Thank you
so
much,” he said sarcastically. “And
thank you,” he told Jenna with genuine warmth as she brought the pan of
scrambled eggs and vegetables over to him. “Great tucker.”

“Thanks,” she smiled back at him. “Finn, what can I give
you?”

Kieran gave him an elbow in the side when he didn’t answer.
“Eyes glazing over, bro,” he muttered.

“Sorry,” Finn said hastily. “What did you say?”

“Can I get you something else?” Jenna asked him patiently.
“Eggs? Bacon?”

“Both, please. And then come sit,” he told her, pulling out
the chair next to him.

“May we be excused?” Sophie asked.

“Yeh. Go ahead,” Finn told his children. He thanked Jenna as
she refilled his plate, then watched her as she dished up her own meal and sat
down at last. She shouldn’t look so good dressed in gray yoga pants and a white
T-shirt. But the knit fabric clung in all the right places, the V-neck was almost
tight and just a bit low, her feet were bare, and the whole thing made him want
to take her back to bed right now. Well, maybe he would’ve let her finish
breakfast first, if there’d been a hope of sneaking her away. Which there
wasn’t, not with his sister looking knowingly at the two of them from across
the table, and his brother-in-law using his napkin to hide a smile.

Jenna wouldn’t agree to it anyway, he thought with an inward
sigh. Even if it were fast. In the bathroom, maybe. His mind began to explore
possibilities as he sat, absently chewing a strip of bacon, and watched her eat.

“Right. Washing-up.” Sarah got up and nudged Kieran. “Come
give me a hand.”

“I’ll do it,” Jenna offered. “As soon as I finish. My job.”

“Nah,” Sarah said robustly. “You didn’t sign on to look
after us. And I’m not used to anyone waiting on me. Brekkie was a treat,
though. Why does food always taste better when someone else makes it?”