Just for Now (4 page)

“Harry,” Finn said sharply. “We don’t call her that.”

“She’s an older teacher,” he told Jenna. “Sixty or
thereabouts, I reckon.”

Jenna nodded. “A different generation. And she was right,
when she learned her dinosaur facts,” she explained to Harry. “Apatosaurus used
to be named Brontosaurus. But you knew that. And they
did
think, before,
that his tail would have dragged on the ground, and that he stayed in swamps
because the water supported his weight. All that changed some years ago with
new discoveries, and now we know how Apatosaurus really lived. But Mrs. McMinn
probably isn’t as interested in dinosaurs as you are. She learned those facts
when she was younger, and she didn’t hear about the new information
afterwards.”

“But I should say, if it’s wrong,” Harry argued. “That’s
science.”

“It is,” Jenna agreed. “When new facts come up, scientists
have to be able to change their minds. You’re right about that. But let’s think
about Mrs. McMinn. She doesn’t like someone to tell her she’s wrong, during
class. That makes her feel embarrassed. How else could you have explained it to
her, do you think, that wouldn’t have embarrassed her?”

Sophie spoke up. “You could’ve told her afterwards, maybe?”

Jenna smiled at her. “That’s a good idea. Think how you
feel, if your teacher tells you that you did something wrong in front of all
the other kids. Isn’t that embarrassing?”

Harry and Sophie nodded.

“Teachers don’t get embarrassed, though.” Harry wasn’t ready
to concede yet. “They’re grownups.”

“Grownups get embarrassed too,” Jenna explained. “It’s much
nicer if somebody tells you what you did wrong when you’re by yourself, isn’t
it? So nobody else hears? Even for teachers.”

“Even for footy players,” Finn put in. “A good coach tells a
player the really bad stuff on his own. Nobody likes to be yelled at in front
of his mates.”

“Do you have a book that talks about Apatosaurus?” Jenna
asked.

Harry nodded. “That’s how I know. About Brontosaurus, and
everything.”

“Then,” she suggested, “maybe you can take it to school
tomorrow. And when you get a chance, you can show Mrs. McMinn what you were
talking about. We can look at it tonight, find the place and mark the page for
you.”

“What if she’s still angry, though, when I tell her?” Harry
asked doubtfully.

“Then that’s her problem,” Finn decided. “If you explain
politely, and in private, you’ve done all you can. Because you’re right, I
reckon. If you’re studying science, it’s important to get the facts right. Even
if the facts change.”

“What about you, Sophie?” he asked. “Did you get into a
stoush with your teacher today, too? Let’s hear all the bad news.”

“Nah,” Sophie shrugged. “It was boring.”

“What’s your favorite subject?” Jenna asked. “Reading?”

“Lunch,” Sophie said firmly.

Jenna couldn’t help smiling. “Well, help me clear the table,
you two, and we’ll have pudding. On that note.”

“You made pudding?” Finn asked. “What is it?”

“Wait and see,” Jenna told him.

When she set the apple crumble and homemade custard on the
table, Finn smiled with appreciation. “Choice,” he said as he dug in.

“Daddy loves pudding,” Sophie informed Jenna.

“So I gather. Good to know. And now I need to know what you
all like for breakfast. And when.”

“We usually have Weet-Bix and toast,” Sophie said.

“All right,” Jenna nodded. “Easy. Is that what you like
best, too?”

“Waffles!” Harry piped up.

“We like lots of things,” Sophie told her. “But on school
days, it’s usually Weet-Bix.”

“We’ll try something special on Saturday, then,” Jenna
decided. “What about you, Finn?”

“You don’t have to fix mine if you don’t have time,” he
said. “I have as much as I can manage to make.”

“Eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, tomatoes,” she guessed. “And
maybe sausage as well.”

“If I can get all that,” he agreed. “But otherwise, just
eggs and toast.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she smiled. “And what you have in
the fridge just now. I’ll go to the store tomorrow.”

“I’ll shift money into your account for groceries and gas,”
he promised. “You can keep track, and tell me how we’re going, if you need
more. That work for you?”

“It does. I’ll save the receipts and give you an accounting
at the end of every week.”

“Very businesslike.”

“That’s the best way,” she told him. “In our situation.”

“Sure you’re comfortable being alone with the kids again
tonight?” Finn asked, coming into the kitchen where Jenna was preparing dinner
on Sunday afternoon. “I may be out pretty late. I’ll have my mobile, of course.”

“Yeah.” She smiled at him. “We’re good, got the routine
down. I’ll get them to bed on time, as they were up late last night watching
you. Check with them too, though, if you like. See how they feel about it.”

He snorted. “Yeh, right. All I’ve heard lately is ‘Jenna
says.’ Starting to give me a bit of a complex.”

“Don’t worry. They’re crazy about you. Nobody’s going to be
taking over that spot in their hearts.”

The doorbell rang when Jenna and the kids were in the middle
of a Balloon Lagoon
game. She’d bought the board game the day before,
and the kids had been clamoring to play it ever since, with the wet weather
keeping them indoors.

“Two frogs in!” Harry announced proudly as the carousel
music ceased. He worked carefully to stuff two balloons into his basket.

“Good work, buddy,” Jenna told him.

“My turn!” Sophie was already reaching for the carousel to
spin it.

“Hang on,” Jenna admonished. “Your dad’s guest is here.
Let’s say hello.” She got up from the floor where they’d been sitting to greet
Finn’s date, stunning in a deep blue wrap dress whose neckline dipped in a deep
V, the short skirt showing off long, shapely legs. As the blonde looked her
over coolly at Finn’s introduction, Jenna wished she were wearing something
more flattering than a T-shirt and jeans. Too bad the humidity had made her
hair curl up again too.

“I recognize you, don’t I?” she asked Ashley. “Aren’t you a
presenter on TV3?”

“I am,” Ashley answered, becoming a bit more animated.
“That’s how Finn and I met. I was doing interviews when the All Black training
squad was first named, talking to some of the new caps as well as the veterans.
And, well . . . ” She shrugged modestly, put a proprietary arm through Finn’s
and smiled up at him warmly.

“Ashley came by before we went to dinner tonight because she
has something for you,” Finn told Sophie and Harry, already dressed for bed in
warm pajamas. 

“That’s right!” Ashley said in a too-bright, syrupy voice
that set Jenna’s teeth on edge. Some people didn’t know how to talk to children,
she reminded herself. No need to be judgmental.

“I brought you each a pressie.”Ashley handed each child a
gaily wrapped package.

“Go on and open them,” she urged. “I know it’s hard to
wait.”

“Oh.” Sophie finished ripping off the paper and looked at
the Barbie Fashionista doll, complete with necklace and flower-bedecked purse,
in its plastic box.

“She’s poseable, see?” Ashley told her, pointing out the
jointed limbs. “And look, here are more outfits for her too. Won’t that be fun,
to dress her up?”

“What do you say, Sophie?” Jenna prompted.

Sophie looked up, pasted a too-polite smile onto her face.
“Thank you, Ashley. She’s very pretty.”

“What did you get, Harry?” Jenna asked, anxious to shift the
attention from Sophie’s less-than-genuine response.

“A cricket ball,” he said, holding it out to her.

“Lovely,” Jenna approved. She gave Harry a gentle nudge.

He blinked behind his glasses and said, “Thank you very
much, Ashley.”

“I thought you could probably use another cricket ball,”
Ashley told him. “My brothers were always losing them.”

“That was very kind of you,” Finn said, looking a bit
embarrassed. “We’d better get on now, though. I booked a table for eight.”

He bent to give his children a good-bye kiss. “All right?”
he asked Jenna.

“Of course,” she assured him. “We’re playing a bit more,
then off to bed. Have a nice dinner, both of you.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you,” she told Ashley. The slender
blonde smiled, but there was little warmth now in the blue eyes that looked
back at Jenna.

“Likewise.” She took Finn’s arm again and left the room with
him, tanned legs making a spectacular show in the high heels.

As she heard the front door close behind the pair, Jenna
turned back to Sophie and Harry. “Pick up the wrapping paper and throw it away,
please. Then take your presents into your rooms, unless you want to play with
your doll instead of doing our game, Sophie.”

“I don’t want to play with this,” Sophie told her, gathering
up the wrapping paper and setting the doll and clothes onto the coffee table.
“I don’t like Barbie.”

“I noticed you didn’t have many dolls,” Jenna agreed.

“Except Martha,” Sophie reminded her, referring to the baby
doll who had pride of place on her dresser. “But Martha’s different. She’s like
a real baby. I don’t play with her much anymore. I’m too old now. But I still
like to look at her and change her clothes sometimes.”

“Not interested in changing Barbie’s clothes, huh?” Jenna
asked sympathetically.

Sophie shook her head. “Barbie’s boring. All she does is go
shopping and get dressed.”

“Jenna?” Harry tugged at her hand, having deposited his
wrapping paper in the kitchen rubbish. “I don’t like cricket. Do I have to play
with this?”

She laughed. “Poor Ashley. I guess she doesn’t know you two
very well, huh?”

“She’s talked to us heaps,” Sophie countered. “But I don’t
think she really listens. She just wants Daddy to think she likes us.”

“It was still nice of her to bring you presents,” Jenna
admonished.

“Nah, it wasn’t,” Sophie insisted. “Ladies always bring us
pressies. They do it so Daddy will like them.”

“What?”

“They want him to kiss them,” Harry explained. “Ladies like
kissing. But they never discuss like you do. They just smile like this”—he
stretched his mouth into a horrible grimace—“and ask us if we like school.”

“Lame as,” Sophie offered.

“That’s not very kind,” Jenna admonished her. “And Harry, I
hope they don’t look like that. That would be pretty shocking. If you don’t
want these presents, we’ll take them to the hospital Op Shop next week and
donate them, how’s that? That way, kids who
do
love Barbie and cricket,
but can’t afford nice things like this, can have something brand-new.”

“OK,” Sophie agreed, and Harry nodded.

“Now,” Jenna said, “let’s get back to our game. We can
manage a few more turns before bedtime.”

She looked up, startled, when she heard the front door open.
Closed her book and was getting up to leave the lounge when Finn stepped in.

“Sorry,” she told him. “I thought you’d be home later. I’ll
go on to my room.”

“Nah.” He sank into one of the big leather chairs with a
sigh. “Stay out here and talk to me for a bit. Is there any of that cake left?”

“You saw that, huh?” She smiled. “Plenty left. Want me to
get you a piece?”

He shook his head. “I’ll get it. D’you want one?”

“No thanks. I don’t eat that stuff anymore. My glass of wine
is my treat.”

He nodded and left the room, coming back a few minutes later
with a huge slab of chocolate cake and a tall glass of milk.

“Breakfast of champions,” she remarked.

He laughed. “They don’t feed you enough at those flash restaurants
Ashley likes. I’m starved.”

He took a bite, then opened his eyes wide. “This is bloody
marvelous.”

“Thanks,” she said with pleasure. “American style. I like to
remind myself of my roots sometimes.”

“Going to have to watch my figure,” he said.

“Seems to me you burn a lot of calories,” she objected. “It
must be hard to keep the kilos on, in fact, training as hard as you do.”

“I try to keep the weight consistent, not gain during the
time off, not lose during the season. Too hard on the body otherwise, easier to
get injured if you’re unfit starting out. But you’re right, it takes a lot of
eating, specially for an AB.”

“An All Black?”

“Yeh. Long season,” he explained, stretching his legs out in
front of him and taking another bite. “They break up the Super 15 season for
these three test matches we’ve just finished up against England, then it’s back
for three more rounds and, hopefully, the Super 15 playoffs. And then on to the
Rugby Championship with the ABs again. Not to mention the Northern Tour. All
the way from January till early December, without much layoff in there.”

He shrugged, dug into the cake again. “Have to stay fit to
make it all the way through, specially at my age. Loads of protein. And the
occasional chocolate cake doesn’t go amiss either.”

“Anything special you want, just ask,” she assured him.

“Can you cook salmon? I had it at Kermadec tonight, and it
was pretty good. But such a mingy wee bit, just left me wanting more.”

“Of course I can. I’ll get some from the fish market
tomorrow,” she promised. “Enough so you can eat as much as you like. I have a
good way to cook it. You sear it, and serve it with a glaze of balsamic
vinegar, honey, and orange juice. Pretty tasty. If you really want it two days
in a row.”

“I would. Sounds delicious. Not sure how much the kids like
salmon, though.”

“Plenty of leftovers from tonight, since you weren’t here,”
she said. “They can have those if they’d rather.”  

“Cheers for that. Anyway. What are you reading?” He glanced
at the book she’d laid on the couch next to her.

“Guilty pleasure.
Jane Eyre.
” She showed him the
cover. “One of the few books I haul around with me.”