Page 31 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars

Linc chuckles. “Best part of the day.”

“What was Elora like back then?” Zoe wants to know.

He smiles. “She was only ten when I arrived at the school,” he says. “She was a skinny little thing with glasses and braids.”

“Ugly as,” I say. I hated the way I was back then.

Joel and Fraser both frown. They don’t like me saying things like that.

Linc’s eyes are alight with memories, though. “You were cute as a button,” he states.

“I was precocious and sanctimonious,” I reply. “And I’m not saying that to encourage compliments. I know what the others thought about me.”

“You’re wrong,” Linc says. “You were the smartest kid at the school—we all knew that, so maybe that’s why others teased you. But that day, when we lay under the table and looked at the atlas—it was the first time anyone had talked about New Zealand like that to me.” He looks at Zoe and Hallie, who are watching him with a kind of wonder as he draws the curtain back on our relationship. “She told me all about Milford Sound, and how Maori had followed these treacherous pounamu trails through the mountain ranges, and the deadly avalanches they had to navigate. It’s true—I was prepared to scoff, but as she spoke, she fascinated me. I started coming up to the house every evening after that, and at the weekends, when it was raining. We’d go through the atlas, memorizing the strange names of all the rivers and valleys.”

“There are a lot of dirty ones,” I say. “Like Climax Peak.”

“Hooker Valley,” Joel says.

“Clit Route,” Zoe says, and giggles.

“I’m partial to Bald Knob,” Linc says, and grins as we all laugh.

Zoe asks Fraser and Joel something about Greenfield, and they begin telling her about the school and how our parents felt they could best serve God by helping young people who needed a place where they felt safe and that gave them a structured life with lots of outdoor activities.

But Linc looks at me and says quietly, “You were never ugly.”

I study the seam of his shirt sleeve, not sure what to say to that.

“You were cute as a button then,” he repeats. “But you’re beautiful now.” He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me toward him so he can kiss the top of my head.

I blush, but nobody else seems to notice. He releases me and lowers his arm again but shifts an inch closer to me so we’re touching.

I don’t move away.

Chapter Seven

Linc

After the chili, Elora brings out a few tubs of Ben & Jerry’s, and because we can’t be bothered to dish it up, we pick a tub, take a few spoonfuls, then pass it around. I’m sure other people might complain about germs, but there’s something intimate and relaxed about it, and it makes me feel welcome. The Bell family has always been like this, including me in their family rituals, and I’ve always appreciated it.

We talk for a long while about Greenfield and our memories of our school days. Zoe and Hallie seem to enjoy listening to the stories I have to tell about my time with the others. It’s only after a couple of hours that Zoe says, “Oh, Linc, I’m so sorry, I forgot to ask how the funeral went today.”

“It went,” I say. “I’m glad it’s over.”

“Bit of a shock, though,” Fraser says.

“What is?” Joel asks.

Fraser looks at him, then at me. “I thought… ah… sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I say, realizing Elora must have told him. “I saw my mum, and she told me that Don Green wasn’t my real father.”

Joel stares at me, while Zoe and Hallie exchange glances.

“I’m sorry,” Elora says awkwardly. “I hope you don’t mind me telling him.”

“Nah.” I didn’t expect her to keep it a secret from her brothers—they’re too close for that.

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