Page 17 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars

“That makes sense.”

We sip our coffee. Outside, I can hear faint sounds of the city—traffic, a siren in the distance, the hoot of a car horn—but in here it’s quiet.

“What do you have planned for the next few days?” she asks.

“Nothing, actually. I thought I might catch up with Joel and Fraser while I was here.”

“I don’t understand why they didn’t tell me you were coming. We were all so close as kids. They should have known I’d want to see you.”

“Did you? Want to see me?”

Her brow furrows. “Of course.” Her face flushes, but with anger rather than embarrassment, and she leans forward and puts her cup on the coffee table. “How can you ask that? I wasn’t the one who walked away.”

“I hardly walked away,” I reply, amused.

She’s breathing fast. “What do you mean?” she demands.

“That night, when I kissed you. What did you think happened?”

“Dad sent me to my room,” she says. “It was late, so I went to bed. When I woke next morning, Dad said you’d left the night before, just packed up your things and walked out.”

Anger pools in my stomach. “You’re kidding me?”

She shakes her head. “I thought you’d text me or email me. But I never heard anything. So I assumed you didn’t want to hear from me.”

Oh, holy fuck. I hadn’t realized. She honestly doesn’t know. I feel as if I’ve been punched in the gut. “Lora…” I say, “I didn’t just walk out. Your father took me away.”

She stares at me. “What?”

“That night, when you went to your room. He went ballistic.”

“Yeah, I know that. Fraser and Joel told me.”

“Well, he made me pack my things. Then he drove me to another deacon in Kaikoura and left me there. A few days later, he told me he’d found a place for me with TAG18 in Egypt. He paid for a flight to Sydney, and his friend took me to Christchurch airport.”

Her jaw drops. “You’re kidding me.”

I shake my head. “On the journey to Kaikoura, your dad told me I’d abused his friendship by touching his daughter, and said he’d never forgive me for it. He said if I ever contacted you again, if I came within a mile of you without his permission, if I called you or messaged you in any way, he’d call the police and have me banged up for being a pedophile.”

She goes scarlet. “I was fourteen! I wasn’t prepubescent! It was an innocent kiss—why does everyone talk as if it was something sordid?”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Lora. I wasn’t stupid, I knew you were only fourteen, and I had no intention of doing anything untoward, but I didn’t see anything wrong with a kiss. We were close, and it seemed like a natural transition for me at the time to move from friends to something deeper.”

She blinks, clearly shocked.

“I didn’t understand why he was so furious,” I continue. “Now… I suppose I can sort of see why, but back then I was incredibly upset and angry. I was a complete mess when I got to the airport, and for weeks afterward. But I respected him, and so I kept away. And I’m guessing he told Joel and Fraser to keep up the ruse, to make it easier for you to move on.”

“To make it easier for him, you mean.” Her eyes blaze. “So I wouldn’t be upset with him.” Tears spring into her eyes then. “All these years… I thought you left me and didn’t look back.”

“I did nothing but look back, for a long time.” I touch my neck ruefully. “This was my first tattoo. Angel wings refer to someone you’ve lost. And I missed you… and Joel and Fraser, and all the other kids at the school. It was my home for four years. I was devastated to be sent away.”

She presses her fingers to her lips. “After everything you’d been through,” she whispers. “How could he do that to you?”

“He thought of me like a son, and you were his only daughter. He trusted me to treat you like a sibling. He thought I was trying to corrupt you.”

“I should have been so lucky.”

That makes me laugh. She gives me a sulky glare. “Sorry,” I say. “But that was quite funny.”

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