Page 131 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars

A bus is waiting to transport us into the city, and we find a couple of seats and settle in. It follows the peninsula, with the long inlet that is Otago Harbour on our left, then turns off into the city, heading inland.

“It has a Scottish heritage, doesn’t it?” Linc asks me.

I nod. “Maori, Chinese, and Scottish. Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, Dùn Èideann.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“Its Maori name is Otepoti.” I’ve read a lot about it, as I was hoping to study here at one point. It’s a student city, with the University of Otago only about twenty minutes’ walk from the Octagon—an eight-sided plaza filled with trees and lawns, as well as several cafés.

The bus drops us right in the middle, and Linc takes my hand while we have a look at St. Paul’s Cathedral, then wander along George Street and its malls, looking at the shops.

As eleven o’clock approaches, we head back to the Octagon toward Espresso Yourself.

Linc goes quiet as we near, and I know him well enough now to understand that he’s nervous. It’s obviously been a shock to him to discover that he has a real, normal family, but I think it goes much deeper than that. It’s as if it’s changed him on a molecular level, fundamentally altering how he feels about himself. It’s only now that I realize just how lost and lonely he must have felt all these years, abandoned by Don and Nancy, and convinced he carried the parasite of Don’s anger and vitriol inside him, like mistletoe.

We get to the café, and Linc stops for a second. I wait for him to gather himself, sliding my hand into his. It’s strange for once being the one with the confidence to walk into a place.

“Come on, sunshine,” I say, smiling. “Let’s go and meet your sister.”

I lead him into the interior. It’s all open plan which fills it with light and space, making it a little easier for me.

“She said she’ll be wearing a red tee,” he says, his gaze going immediately to a woman who’s sitting with a guy to one side at a table for four. She spots him and stares, then slowly gets to her feet. Her lips curve up, and I see her give a short laugh as she obviously recognizes her father in his features.

I lead Linc across to the table, as the guy beside her rises, too. He’s holding a baby, just a few months old. Linc and Claire study each other, both seemingly lost for words. She’s a pretty young woman, with hair like her mother—a tad wild and curly, and although she’s tried to tame it in a bun, strands tumble around her face and stick out from the bun like rogue mattress springs.

“You must be Claire,” I say, seeing that Linc’s tongue-tied again. “I’m Elora, Linc’s friend. We’re so pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Gareth,” the guy next to her says, holding out his hand to me. He’s a few inches shorter than Linc but about the same age, with dark-blond hair cut in a similar fade, and a neat beard. “She doesn’t normally lose the power of speech like this.”

I laugh. “Neither does Linc.” We shake hands, and gradually, Linc and Claire do the same, both looking bashful at their shared muteness.

“Sorry,” she says, “Gareth’s right, I’m not normally stunned into silence, but oh my God, you look so like Dad it isn’t funny.”

“And you look like your mum,” Linc says, releasing her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.” He looks at the baby in Gareth’s arms. “Edmund mentioned you’d had his first grandchild.”

“Yes, this is Lily, she’s three months old.”

“Your niece,” I say, and smile.

Linc blinks, clearly taken aback by the notion.

A waitress comes up with a menu, but I know there’s no hope of getting Linc to concentrate for long enough to read it, so I order us both a latte and a toasted bacon-and-egg panini. Claire and Gareth order breakfast and a second coffee, as apparently they’ve been here about fifteen minutes.

“She made us leave, like, half an hour early,” Gareth says, passing Lily to Claire as the baby begins to grumble.

“I was worried about traffic,” she protests. “Um… you don’t mind if I feed Lily at the table, do you?”

“Of course not,” Linc says.

Claire has a scarf around her shoulders, and she puts the baby to her breast while draping the scarf across her. Then she smiles at us. “I got here early because I didn’t want to miss you.”

“It’s a very strange situation,” Gareth adds.

“Tell me about it,” Linc says with feeling. “Less than a week ago, I had no idea that any of this was going to happen.”

“How did you find out?” Claire asks.

So Linc tells them the story, about coming back for his father’s funeral, his mother’s revelation, and deciding to try to find his real father, assuming it would be a long and arduous task, only for Edmund to be the first person he called.

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