Just Good Friends (7 page)

He began to reach a hand across the table to her, pulled it
back. “Right, next week. We’re off to Christchurch, and it’s a Saturday game,
which means we won’t be back till Sunday morning. Maybe we could go for a walk
Sunday afternoon.”

“You’ll be tired, though, I’m sure. I know we said once a
week, but if you’d rather come for a swim with me Wednesday morning next week
instead, that might be easier.”

“I was thinking about something easy, actually. Maybe North
Head, in Devonport. Have you been there?”

“No, what is it?”

“Originally a Maori pa. Then a defensive outpost, guarding
the harbor. Fun to explore. Beautiful views too, and a quick drive from here.
We can take a walk, go for a coffee at the Naval Museum afterwards. What do you
think?”

“Sounds fun. I’d like that.”

“Right, then. Give me your address, and I’ll pick you up. Two
o’clock Sunday suit you?”

“How about if I meet you here instead?”  

“You don’t want me to know where you live, is that it?” he
asked, brows raised.

“I learned that the hard way. Nothing against you. I just
try to follow a set of safety rules now.”

“You’re going to have to give me your mobile number, all the
same,” he said. “I’ll give you mine as well. Just in case something comes up.”

“You’re holding all the cards here anyway,” he pointed out
as she reluctantly complied. “All you have to do, if you don’t like anything I
do, is tell Hannah. Has Drew wrapped around her finger, eh. I do value my
career—and my good looks. Wouldn’t want either one spoilt.”

 “That’s what she said. Not in so many words,” Kate hurried
on when Koti looked surprised. “Just that the players were probably the safest
men around, for that reason.”

“Met somebody braver than me, have you? Tell me who it is
first, and I’ll let you know if he’s OK. And whether he has another girlfriend.
Hannah isn’t necessarily going to know about that.”

“No, of course not.” She frowned back at him. “I’m not
interested in dating right now, let alone getting involved with anyone. I’m not
exactly ready, in case you haven’t noticed. Let’s stop talking about my
non-love life and get back to the topic. How about if I meet you at your house?
I don’t know exactly which one it is, though.”

“How do I know you won’t stalk me?” he protested. “I don’t
tell people where I live either.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“No more ridiculous than my stalking you.”

“Back to Plan A, then. I’ll meet you here,” she decided.
“Outside the café. Two o’clock.”

“Right,” he said with a sigh. “Bring a torch. For the
tunnels,” he explained at her confused look.

“Oh. A flashlight. All right. See you then.”  

Kate slid into Koti’s car with a groan the next week. “Something
wrong?” he asked as he waited for her to fasten her seatbelt. “Fight something
that bit back?”

“Very funny,” she grumbled. “No, I took surfing lessons
yesterday. And they were hard. I’m so sore today, I can hardly move.”

“How’d you go, though?” he asked with interest.

“Terribly.” She shook her head with a rueful grin. “I
couldn’t manage to stand up on the board, no matter how hard I tried. I fell
off every single time, and had to swim to shore towing that useless surfboard.
Then paddle back out to fall off again. It was exhausting.”

“It’s not easy to learn if you don’t grow up doing it,” he
commiserated.

“Don’t tell me. You know how to surf too.”

“Course I know how to surf. You may not have noticed, but there
isn’t a lot to do in En Zed, other than spend time outdoors. Why do you think
we invented all those extreme sports? Not just because we’re strong and brave.”

“Not to mention shy and retiring, in your case. Don’t forget
that. But I do wish I knew the secret of standing up on that board. It was
pretty humbling. Everybody else managed at least once. The instructor was so
nice and patient. Although I’m sure he went home and laughed about me. He told
me to come back next weekend and he’d teach me again, even offered me a big discount
on a private lesson. Clearly I’m a hopeless case.”

He laughed. “No, that would be because he fancied you.”

“How do you know? You weren’t there.”

“No worries. I didn’t have to be there to know that. You
look good in your togs. He wanted another look, that was all. And maybe a bit
more.”

“You’re obviously very knowledgeable about these things. I
defer to your expertise.”

“May as well put my long experience of chatting girls up to
use,” he agreed. “Give you some insight.”

“And here we are already, at North Head,” he announced, as
they pulled through the open gates and wound around the circular drive to the
top of the hill. “Time flies when you’re talking about sex.”

“We weren’t talking about sex,” she said crossly as she
grabbed her bag and got out of the car.

“Course we were. You just didn’t realize it.”

“Whatever. I’d like to know how you’re hopping out of the
car so easily, when I can barely drag myself out,” she complained. “You’re the
one who played a rugby game last night. Why aren’t you lying on the couch
today?”

“I am a bit knackered, it’s true. Spent some time in the spa
this morning, once I got home. But walking’s the best thing for sore muscles.
It’ll be good for you too.”

“I’m sorry you lost last night. You played hard, though. I
was impressed. Congratulations on your try.”

“Thanks. Pity we didn’t win. You watched, eh.” 

“I have to admit, I’ve been watching all the games. It’s a
lot more interesting now that I know you guys, even though I don’t always
understand what’s going on. It seems so rough, though, with no padding. Aren’t
you bruised, after all those tackles? You hit the ground so hard. Not to
mention the other guys slamming into you.”

“Heaps of bruises under here,” he grinned, gesturing toward
his track pants and the ever-present hoodie. “Want to see?”

“And this would be flirting. Which is not allowed,” she
reminded him.

“Nah. You never said anything about flirting. Making a move
isn’t allowed. But I do my best flirting without touching.”

“I’m changing the subject now,” she decided. “Which path do
we go on here?”

“We’ll do the tunnels first. That’s everybody’s favorite.”

 “I can’t believe these are open like this,” Kate exclaimed
as they walked cautiously through the first labyrinth, using their flashlights
to navigate. “Aren’t they afraid of somebody getting lost or hurt, and suing?”

“You can’t sue here. Not allowed. That’s what we have the
ACC for.”

“What’s that?”

“Accident compensation. If you trip getting off the plane
from the States, sprain your ankle, you’re covered. All the way through to
major injuries.”

“So even if somebody’s negligent, you can’t sue them? That
doesn’t seem right.”

“They can be prosecuted, still. But you won’t get a payout,
other than having your medical and time off work compensated. You don’t get the
big money you would in the States. But the lawyers don’t take half of it
either. Just another way of doing it.”

“Seems to me,” he went on, as they stepped out into the
sunlight again, “that it makes life easier, all in all. When I’ve been to the
States, I’ve been gobsmacked by all the rules, the signs everywhere telling you
what you can’t do. And the waiver forms you have to sign before you do anything
at all. Here, we assume people can assess the risks for themselves, or for
their own kids. Mind you, some Kiwis still think we’re becoming too much of a
nanny state.”

“Really? How so? If they let people into these tunnels, I
can’t see how anyone could think that.”

“You have to realize that New Zealand was settled by people
far from anywhere, relying on themselves and their neighbors to get things done.
True for Maori, and for the European settlers as well. We’re normally pretty
orderly. But we don’t take kindly to being told what to do. Or what not to do.”

“You know, you’re more thoughtful than I realized,” she told
him as he came to a stop next to a gun emplacement looking out over the harbor.
“Kind of surprising.”

“Because a good-looking man can’t have a brain. All show, no
go. That’s what you mean. Prejudge people much?”

She flushed. “I deserved that,
I guess. I’d be angry
if a man said that about a beautiful woman. Here I am, having to apologize
again. Very uncomfortable. Put me out of my misery, please. Tell me what I’m
looking at here.”

“It’s a defensive outpost. Has been from the beginning, when
it was a Maori pa.”

“What exactly is a pa?”

“A fortified village. They lived up here. You can still see
the kumara storage pits—for sweet potatoes—dug into the volcanic craters around
Auckland. All these green hills you see,” he pointed to the horizon, “they’re
all volcanoes, and they were all pa. Because you always want to hold the high
ground.”

“And since Maori were always fighting each other,” he told
her with a smile, “that’s important. Like Scottish castles. Always on the edge
of the sea, or on top of a hill. Or both, like here. So you could see your
enemy coming. And have food and water stored to withstand a siege.”

“All right. And what about the guns and tunnels?”

“See what a view we have here? Not just across Waitemata Harbour,
but out through the Hauraki Gulf, towards the Pacific. Only way for warships to
get into Auckland.”

“Was it ever used? New Zealand’s never been attacked, has
it?”

“Too far away from everywhere. And too small,” he smiled
ruefully. “Not of strategic importance to anyone. Story of our lives. Since World
War II, it’s been a reserve. A park. And the guns are only fired when royalty
visits.”

“It’s a beautiful place, though. Can we walk to the top
now?”

“And around by the beach too. This is one of my favorite
spots,” he confided. “One of the best views of the City and the Gulf. You can
see so far out in every direction.”

“You were right,” Kate told him when they were sitting at
the Naval Museum’s café at the base of the hill after their walk, having
another coffee together. “I’m feeling a little better now. Less stiff and sore.
How about you?”

“Always good to take my mind off it, anyway,” he agreed. “That’s
the best painkiller. Do something else and forget about it.”

“This is such a beautiful spot anyway, the view of the water.
This whole city is, for that matter.”

“It is. Being from Cambridge, I appreciate it.”

“That’s inland, right?”

“Just a couple hours south,” he nodded.

“But you still grew up being on the water a lot? How could
that be?”

“Not very far away, is why. Raglan, one of our best surf
beaches, is only about an hour out. Not that big a place, En Zed.”

“I can’t imagine being able to really surf,” she sighed. “I
had these visions of getting good at it. I wasn’t expecting it to be so hard.”

“Want to go out with me next weekend, then? Since you won’t
have to fight me off and all. You won’t have to pay me either, in cash or
otherwise.”

“I’m still not sure you’re right about that. He was probably
just looking for another client. But you don’t want to spend your time teaching
me, do you? I don’t know how much fun that’ll be, if you’re a good surfer.
Which I’ll bet you are.”

“We need to have some kind of friend date. It may as well be
surfing,” he shrugged. “And I have a challenge now. Have to see if I can get
you standing up on your board better than that worthless instructor.”

“Where would we go? I’m not good enough to do anything hard,
I warn you. For that matter, I’m not good enough to do anything easy yet.”

“We’ll check the conditions, find someplace where the
surfing is good, but not too rough for you. Heaps of places to choose from
around Auckland.  You have all the West Coast beaches. Those are the real surf
beaches, the famous ones you’ll have heard of. They tend to be too wild for a
beginner, though, so we’ll miss those out for now. But the East Coast beaches, the
side we’re on here, are milder. Better when you’re starting off.”

“I’d like another chance to try. I didn’t realize this bet
came with surfing lessons,” she told him with real gratitude. “Maybe you’re
better at this friend thing than I gave you credit for. And can I ask you one
other favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Will you explain to me about your tattoo, next time? I’d
ask you to show me now, but I don’t want to cause any heart attacks from you
exposing your flesh in public, not with all these people around. I’d like to
know, though. About the meaning of it and all. I’ve felt really bad about what
I said the other week.”

“I was offended at the time,” he admitted. “But I realized
what you meant after you explained.”

“Your devastating gorgeousness overwhelming me,” she
clarified.

“Which you realize you’ve mentioned a fair few times now,” he
pointed out. “I thought I was the one meant to be obsessed with my looks.”

“There they are, though, staring me in the face all the
time. I have to get used to it, that’s all. Maybe I need to buy a poster of you
so I can desensitize myself. I’ll bet there is one, isn’t there? More than one,
maybe.”

“This is a boring subject. Are you ready to go?”

“If I’m going to buy my poster today, I’d better get in
there before the stores close,” she agreed.

Kate wasn’t laughing, though, when she talked to her parents
later that day.

“I hate to worry you,” Isabel Lamonica told her. The video feed
on Kate’s computer screen showed her mother’s own concern all too clearly. “But
I think you ought to know that Paul called us. At least we’re quite sure it was
him.”

“Oh no.” The familiar sick dread dragged her down again. “I
hoped he’d given up. What happened?”

“He called using another name and pretended to be your
supervisor. He said you hadn’t come in to work and weren’t answering your
phone. That he didn’t have your home address, because you must have moved. And
could I please give it to him so he could check on you.”