Just for Now (3 page)

She noticed his assessing look. She could say with fair
confidence that he wasn’t seeing anything glamorous enough to give him pause.
At least the weather, and her hair, had cooperated. But she was afraid the
plaid skirt and loose jumper didn’t do much for her. She’d wanted to appear
serious, but she suspected she might have crossed the line into dowdy territory.
That was probably good, though. She didn’t want him to think she was trying to
appeal to him, or stalking him.

Because she
had
looked him up by now, of course. Not
a movie star after all, but New Zealand’s closest equivalent. A star player for
the Auckland Blues and a senior All Black, a member of the country’s international
rugby team. No wonder he had women applying to live in his house. He would be a
major matrimonial prize, even with two kids.

“Believe me, being a Year One teacher isn’t very glamorous
either,” she assured him now. “And I actually like to do those things, odd as
it may seem. I do have a few questions, though. Where is Sophie and Harry’s
mum, if you don’t mind my asking? Would I be handling visits with her?”

“Nah. She passed away a few years ago. It’s just me.”

“Oh,” she replied, taken aback. “I’m so sorry.”                      

“You’d have respite help, though,” he hastened to point out.
“Because I’ll be gone a fair bit, as I said. Aussie, South Africa, as well as
traveling in En Zed. Argentina and Europe as well, later in the year. The last
trip, the Northern Tour, that’s a full five weeks. There’d be extra pay, of
course, when you were with the kids all the time, and we’d make sure you got
your days off. Nyree’s cousin helps out with that.”

“That sounds fine. About cleaning, though, I did want to
tell you that I believe in kids doing some chores. Not to make my life easier,”
she smiled. “It’s always easier and quicker to do it yourself, as I’m sure you can
imagine. But I don’t think it’s good for children to have someone picking up
after them. I’d be expecting them to keep their own rooms tidy, and to help
with clearing the table, taking out the rubbish, those sorts of things.”

“Fair enough. Because I do worry about that, them becoming
spoilt. I didn’t grow up with all this.” He gestured around him at the historic
villa, restored to gleaming, if comfortable, perfection. “I can’t pretend we’re
short of a dollar, but I try to make sure they appreciate what they have, and
that they know how to work. And as I’m gone so much, I’d need your help with
that. I don’t think Nyree’s had them doing much for themselves.”

“I’d say that you’ve both done pretty well, though,” she
said, “based on what I’ve seen of them. It sounds like you and I are on the
same page there. What about cooking? Anything special I should know, or any
questions you have? I’m a pretty reasonable home cook, I think, but not a
gourmet one.”

He laughed. “Don’t think any of us would appreciate gourmet
cooking. I take a fair bit of feeding, I should tell you, when I’m home.”

 “That works for me. I like my cooking to be appreciated.”

“Does this mean you’ll take the job?”

“I’d love to,” she decided. “When do you want me to start?”

He looked a bit harassed. “Today, if you can. You don’t have
a car, is that right?”

“That’s right. I’ve been traveling light. Just me and a
couple bags. And yes, I can start today. I’ll just go back and pack up.”

He exhaled in relief, then stood up and shook her hand. “Take
a taxi back here, and I’ll reimburse you. I’ll be home the next couple days, at
least. That’ll give you some time to settle in, before you’re on your own with
the kids. And Jenna. Thanks.”

“This is your room,” he told her a couple hours later, setting
her bags down inside the bedroom door. “Sorry there isn’t an ensuite. You’ll
have to share a bath with the kids, I’m afraid.”

“No worries. I’ve lived in New Zealand for seven years now,
remember? I know about sharing the bath.”

He smiled. “I confess, I’ve never understood the American
fascination with bathrooms. Why everybody in the family needs their own.”

“I agree with you, actually. This will suit me fine.” Jenna
looked around the comfortable room. A queen bed with nightstand sat against one
long wall, while French doors opened onto one of the villa’s many brick patios,
the garden showing green beyond. Closet and drawer space wasn’t overly
abundant, but she didn’t have many clothes anyway. And a desk and chair, she
saw with pleasure, would provide her with her own workspace.

Finn scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “Nyree doesn’t live
in all the time. So this is all a bit new to us, too. We’ll have to work it out
as we go along, I reckon.”

“She just stays over when you have games?” Jenna guessed.

He nodded. “But as we’re into the All Black part of the
season now, more travel, this way seemed better. Let me show you the rest of
the house.”

He began to conduct her through the grand old villa, and she
saw with relief that the ground floor contained a small powder room as well as
the large full bathroom with its original, massive clawfoot tub and separate
shower. That was the one part of sharing bathrooms that could be a problem with
young children, she suspected.  

“Sophie’s room.” He opened the door to the bedroom across
the hallway from her own. It was decorated in a pleasant mint green, with
accents of yellow and white. “Nyree helped us choose the colors a year or so ago,
when Sophie wanted something more grown-up.”

“You did a good job,” she said admiringly. “And it’s easy to
see where Sophie’s interests lie. Besides the obvious clue of the bookshelf. Soccer
posters, and the All Blacks.” She looked more closely at the framed poster of
the team doing the haka, the pre-match Maori challenge so strongly associated
with New Zealand rugby. “Where are you?”

She looked where he pointed at his image, taller than most
of the players, near the middle of the front row. “Wow. Prominent. And I have
to say, you look pretty mad. Scary, too.”

He smiled. “My game face. I try not to show that around the
house too much, scare the kids.” He led her out of the room, opened the next
door. “Harry, obviously.”

Jenna laughed. Harry’s room was painted a light blue. But
the walls were nearly obscured by maps and posters of animals taken from
wildlife magazines and the
National Geographic
, and low shelves held
collections of large and small animal figurines. She saw a farm set, a jungle
set, and plenty of dinosaurs. Another set of shelves held Legos, she was glad
to see. So Harry had more than one interest, after all.

“And finally,” Finn told her, opening the door of the room
next to her own. “Guest room.”

“Do you have a lot of company?” she asked. “Entertain a lot?
I should have asked that sooner. I don’t have much party planning experience,
but I could try.”

He smiled ruefully. “Other than the occasional birthday
party for the kids, or my family coming up for a visit, I’m not much for that.
One of the benefits of being a single dad, I reckon. Nobody expects anything.”

“Oh,” he realized. “I should say. I’m up the stairs here.”
He led the way up a carpeted set of stairs at the end of the hallway, and into
a large bedroom and ensuite bath set at the top of the house, with large
windows offering views over the neighboring houses and trees. “Not that you’ll
need to do anything with this. The cleaners come on Fridays, and they keep it
from getting too disgraceful.”

“I’d say you’re very neat,” she told him. “Hard to imagine
this ever getting disgraceful.” Other than a book on the bedside table, the
room was almost painfully orderly.

“I don’t like clutter,” he admitted. “I can live with the
kids’ things,” he went on hastily. “Toys, and that. Not rigid about it, I hope.
But I like my own space to be clear.”

She nodded. Help the kids straighten up before he got home,
check. She wasn’t worried about the kitchen. She knew she’d be keeping that
clean.

“Kitchen and laundry?” she asked now. “And we should talk
about what you like to eat.”

“Had this all redone ages ago, the first year we lived here,”
he told her when they were standing in the huge, sunny kitchen, with a large
rectangular table set into the windowed nook at one end. “Nyree consulted.” He
smiled. “I should say, Nyree
planned.”

“Well, Nyree did a great job,” Jenna said. “Anyone could
cook well in this kitchen.”

Nyree planned? she wondered. Not his wife? She viewed the
modern appliances and granite countertops with approval. “Now. Favorite foods?
Likes and dislikes?”

“I like pretty much everything. Not too fond of Brussels
sprouts and cauliflower, but that’s about it as far as vegies. And any kind of
meat. I eat heaps of that, I should warn you.”

“I can imagine. OK. I can work with that. What about the
kids?”

“They’ll eat most things. Except what I cook.” He made a wry
face. “They’re not keen on my efforts. I’m not either, tell you the truth. We
end up at the pub a fair bit, when Nyree hasn’t cooked. Or eating leftovers.”

“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.”