Just for Now (25 page)

“One of the mysteries of life,” Jenna agreed. “Fish tonight,
OK? Salmon. Finn’s favorite.” She smiled at him. “Cooked the way you like.”

“I’m a lucky man,” Finn told the others. “As you see.”

“Yeh, mate,” Kieran said dryly, standing up and beginning to
gather plates from the loaded table. “We’re getting the picture.”

“What d’you reckon today?” Finn asked Jenna. “Kieran and I
were planning to take the kids to Mission Bay, give them a bit more beach time.
Want to come with us? You could have a swim, wouldn’t have to worry about them.
Water’s still a bit cold, but you don’t seem to mind.”

“In my inappropriate costume?” she asked him tartly. “Are you
sure Kieran’s ready for the sight?”

“Oi. I already apologized for that. And you know why I said
it.”

“Heard about that,” Sarah remarked, scooping up jam and
butter containers. “You’re a fool, Finn.”

“Cheers,” he said ironically, lifting his mug to her. “You
wouldn’t understand. It’s a man thing.”

Sarah snorted. “Reckon I understand better than you think.
But Jenna. Let’s leave this boy’s mind in the gutter and move on to more
important things. I’m going to take my chance to do some shopping on High
Street. Want to come with me, keep me company?”

“Wow, two good options,” Jenna sighed. “Both sounding really
attractive. But no, thanks. I don’t want to tempt myself. I’ve bought a lot of
new clothes lately, thanks to somebody telling me my wardrobe needed an
overhaul. Anyway, I want to go for a run, as soon as I’ve digested all this
food. And I need to do some grocery shopping, finish the kids’ washing, start
on tonight’s pudding. I think I’d better hang around here today.”

“I was thinking gingerbread, with an apple-pear sauce and
homemade custard,” she mused. “That would go well. Everyone all right with
that? Anybody hate molasses?”

“I don’t think I’ve had it,” Sarah said, looking at Kieran,
who shook his head as well. “Gingerbread, I mean. Or even molasses, that I can
think.”

“It’s more American, I suppose,” Jenna explained. “Spicy and
dark. I’ve made it for people here, though, and they seem to like it.”

“We’ll give it a go,” Sarah promised. “You know these
boys’ll eat it. How do you make all this, Jenna, without gaining weight? That’s
what I’ve been wondering.”

“She never eats it herself. Didn’t you notice?” Finn put in.

“How can you do that?” Sarah wanted to know. “I couldn’t.”

“Easy,” Jenna assured her, standing up and carrying her
dishes to the dishwasher. “I can’t stop once I start. I know that about myself.
So I don’t eat sweets, period. That’s my amazing diet plan. And it works for
me. But I confess, I still love to make them.”

“And as I love to eat them, it’s working out well for me
too,” Finn noted. “Though I do try to restrain myself. Luckily, she feeds me
pretty well with the healthier stuff. As you’ve seen. But she lets me indulge my
sweet tooth too.”

Jenna laughed. “All this flattery is going to my head. But
if I don’t get busy, it’s going to be McDonald’s tonight, and my reputation
will be ruined. I’m going to say thanks for doing the washing-up, and get on
with it.”

Finn’s eyes followed her as she left the kitchen, and Kieran
looked at him in exasperation.

“Get your A into G, boy.” Kieran snapped a tea towel at his
brother-in-law. “If we’re taking the kids to Mission Bay, better get them
sorted. Because I’m not hanging around here all day watching you look at that
girl. It’s a bit sick-making, tell you the truth.”

“Kieran!” Sarah scolded.

“Nah, that’s OK.” Finn got up and cleared his place.
Somehow, he realized, he’d managed to finish off his eggs and bacon. He grabbed
a final slice of coffee cake, to the accompaniment of another caustic comment
from Kieran, before heading off to round up the kids.

He’d better have a swim himself, he decided. And a trip to
the gym later. Because with another couple weeks off before All Blacks training
started up again, and Jenna cooking like this, he really
was
going to
turn up unfit if he didn’t get his workouts. And he had a feeling that sex in
the bathroom wasn’t going to happen today.

“So,” Sarah said that evening, loading the dishwasher as
Jenna dished leftover roasted potatoes and kumara into a plastic container,
ready to become home fries the next morning. “Where are you going after this? I
know you said you were teaching in the new year, but you’ll be done here soon
after Finn’s back from the Northern Tour, eh. Before Christmas, he said. What
happens in between? Back to the States?”

“No. I haven’t gone back for a long time,” Jenna told her. “I’m
not sure what I’m going to do. Something new, hopefully. I haven’t spent nearly
enough time in the South Island, considering how long I’ve been down here. That
trip to Dunedin made me realize what I’ve been missing. I was considering looking
for an interim job over the holidays. Someplace where I could get away, though,
enjoy the summer. Do you have any suggestions?”

“I have a perfect suggestion,” Sarah said. “Come to me. To
us. We always need extra help at the holiday park during the summer holidays, specially
those two weeks starting on Boxing Day. But before that as well. It won’t be
glamorous,” she warned, “but seems like you don’t require that.”

“Motueka, right?” Jenna asked. “Is it nice?”

“Best weather in En Zed,” Sarah pronounced. “Nah, really.
It’s gorgeous. That’s why I’ve never left. People come from all over the world
to visit. Farewell Point, the Marlborough Sounds, Abel Tasman. You can put in a
day’s work, then be off to the beach. Borrow my car, when I don’t need it.
Sweet as. I can use you over Christmas especially, if you’re free.”

“I’m free. Nobody freer. And that’d be great.”

“Housekeeping OK?” Sarah asked. “Don’t want to deceive you
when I say it’s not glamorous. Doing the washing, cleaning the toilets and the
kitchen.”

Jenna laughed. “In other words, exactly what I’m doing now,
minus the cooking. Will there be someplace for me to stay?”

“Staff cabin,” Sarah assured her. “You’re sure? Should I
mark you down?”

“Please,” Jenna decided. “It sounds perfect.”

Sarah opened her mouth to mention that Finn and the kids
would probably be visiting over Christmas as usual, then shut it again. No
matter what Kieran thought, she was capable of some discretion. Because whatever
was going on between those two now, who knew where it would be by December. But
she liked Jenna in any case. And, she thought practically, she really
did
need
good help. Especially over the summer holidays. Jenna would be a Godsend.

“Thanks again,” Finn said the next day as the Land Rover
neared the Auckland Airport. “I appreciate you helping with the kids. And
bringing them up to me.”

“No worries,” Sarah said. “Good excuse to get away for a
couple days. Short as it was, that’s the last holiday we’ll have before March.”

“Good thing it wasn’t longer,” Kieran pointed out. “Because
Sarah spent enough yesterday. Give her another day, and she’d’ve been really
dangerous.”

“You’ll be at Mum and Dad’s for Christmas this year, right?”
Sarah asked Finn, choosing to ignore her husband’s remark. “No other plans?”

“Nah. No plans.”

“So he’s not making any plans that include Jenna, at
Christmas,” Sarah frowned as she and Kieran walked through the automatic doors
into the small domestic terminal. “Which is what she said too.”

 Kieran looked at her in surprise. “Were you expecting him
to?”

She shrugged. “I suppose not. It’s early days yet. But they
seem so right together. You didn’t see them at the wedding. I was sure I’d done
right, then. I hope I have.”

“Don’t think you had much to do with it,” Kieran scoffed. “They’re
living in the same house, and she’s bloody fit. I doubt it would’ve taken him
much longer to make that move, whatever you did or didn’t do.”

“You don’t think that’s all it is, though, do you?” Sarah
asked.

Kieran shrugged. “He wouldn’t be the first bloke. But nah.
Because remember, he likes her cooking too.”

“What d’you reckon we should do tonight?” Finn asked on arriving
home again. “Anyone want to walk over to Civic and choose a DVD with me?”

“The pub first!” Harry exclaimed. “And then a DVD.”

“What do you think?” Finn asked Jenna. “Do you fancy the pub
tonight?”

“Jenna isn’t going, though!” Sophie protested. “It’s Monday.
It’s Dad Time. Jenna doesn’t get to come.”

“Sophie!” Finn barked, his face thunderous.

“No,” Jenna put in quickly. “Sophie’s right. It’s Dad Time.
And
my day off.”

She got up from where she’d been sitting on the floor,
helping Harry with his puzzle at the coffee table. “What am I doing here? I’m
going to have words with my employer about unfair working conditions. I
completely forgot it was Monday.”

She was buttoning her blouse in her bedroom when she heard a
knock at the door.

“Just a moment,” she called as she zipped her skirt, then
added, “Come in.”

Finn stepped inside, shutting the door behind him, and stood
leaning against it. “Sorry,” he said. “I don’t know where that came from. Are
you OK?”

“I’m fine,” she said with a determined smile. “And Sophie’s
right.” She sat on the end of bed, patted the duvet beside her until he sat
down. “I should have seen this coming, so we could have talked about it before.
I blame you for distracting me, keeping me from thinking it through more
clearly.”

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“You’re Sophie’s world,” Jenna said gently. “And she’s been
the most important female in yours for years. That’s precious to her. And she isn’t
used to sharing you.”

“That’s rubbish,” he said angrily. “I’ve dated heaps.”

“Sorry,” he added hastily, realizing what he’d said.
“Shouldn’t say that to you. But I’ve been out with a fair few women these past
years. And we’ve never had this before.”

“And did you bring any of those women along, during your
special times with the kids?” she asked. “Any of them go to the pub with you on
Monday nights?”

“Nah,” he agreed, running his hand through his hair in
frustration. “I’ve always been careful about that. Specially as I’m gone so
much. I’ve tried to preserve that time with them.”

“And that’s a good thing,” she said. “That the kids have had
their Dad Time, and that you haven’t had them get . . . intimately involved
with everyone you’ve dated. Because getting attached, then having the person suddenly
be gone . . . that would have been difficult for them. Especially if it had
happened over and over.”

“What about Nyree, though? Sophie’s never said anything like
this about her. And Nyree’s been with us more than four years now.”

“And did she go along during Dad Time?”

“Nah,” he sighed. “She didn’t. Her day off.”

“Right. The boundaries were clearer. Besides, Sophie’s
sensitive. We’ve talked about that. She wouldn’t be able to tell you what she’s
sensing, but I’ll bet you something’s coming in over her radar. And she’s
reacting by trying to hold you closer. Hold you to her.”

“What’s the answer, then? I don’t form any attachments till
she’s out of the house? That’s not going to work for me.”

“You don’t have to do that. But we need to go slowly here.
For now, she needs to be reassured that she’s still important to you.
Especially right now, when she and Harry have been gone. She needs her special
time to reconnect to you.”

“It’s all right,
Finn,” she went on as she saw him
still looking troubled. “I understand. She isn’t rejecting me. She just needs
to know that her world’s still intact.”

“Not Harry, though,” he pointed out. “He doesn’t seem to be
having any problem at all with you.”

“He’s a boy. Girls and their dads . . . that’s different.
There’s bound to be some jealousy there.”

“It’s completely natural,” she hastened to assure him as he
frowned. “Even if there’s a mum in the picture. You’ve heard of Oedipus and
Electra, right? There’s a reason behind those myths. There usually is.”

“Right,” he said grudgingly. “If you think this is right. How
do you know this stuff, though?”

“What?”

He made an expansive gesture. “You know. Kids.
My
kids.
All that, that you just said. I reckon you’re right about Sophie. But how did you
know?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I just do. Why are you so
good at rugby? Plenty of people play it. But almost nobody else is as good at
it as you. Why is that?”

“Training,” he suggested. “Luck.”

“Talent,” she agreed. “And a whole lot of hard work. This is
what
I
do. What I’m good at. Too bad it doesn’t pay as well as rugby,
huh?”

“It should,” he said. “It matters more. Anyway. What will
you do tonight? Go to your friend’s?”

“No. She’s gone to Northland for the school holidays, with
her boyfriend and his family. I’ll find a movie of my own, I guess. A pub of my
own, too. Someplace to have dinner first.”

“No pulling,” he warned, reaching out to pull her close.

“I don’t need to pull, do I?” she asked, looping her arms
around his neck and smiling into his eyes. “With any luck, I can wander into
the wrong bedroom tonight and talk some big, strong man into groping me a
little. What do you think?”

“I reckon you can, at that,” he grinned, then bent to give
her a lingering kiss.

“Take the car, though, if you’re going into the CBD,” he
added practically as he got up to go.

“Nope. I want my glass of wine. Plus, I don’t like to park
down there. I’ll take the Link bus. And I’ll be back before eleven.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he promised. “Ready to do some of that
groping you’re so keen on.”

“You can do it,” Jenna encouraged from her spot a few meters
out from the side of the pool. “Come on. I’ve got you.”