Page 6 of Possession Under the Southern Stars

I close my eyes for a moment, shutting out the image of kissing Hallie Woodford. “Absolutely n-not.”

“All right.” I can’t tell whether she’s furious or smiling. She’s passionate about the museum and New Zealand history and I like her a lot, but she’s in her fifties, and she tends to think she’s my mother. “I’ll forward you the tickets when I get the email,” she says. “Thanks for coming in, Hallie.”

“That’s okay, nice to talk to you.”

Whina ends the call.

I sit there for a moment, studying my phone where it sits on the coffee table. Hallie doesn’t say anything.

Eventually, without moving my head, I lift my gaze to hers.

“You all right?” she asks.

I nod.

Her lips curve up a little. “So,” she says, “we’re off to Bethlehem? Seems appropriate just after Christmas. Do I need to travel on a donkey?”

Normally I’d laugh, but right now I’m so confused my brain won’t function. The last thing I want to do is go away with Hallie Woodford on a business trip. How do I get myself into these situations? I need to tell her she can’t go… but I saw her eyes light up when Whina mentioned that the museum would buy her a dress. Knowing Sebastian Williams, it’s going to be a do to remember—what woman wouldn’t like to dress up and go to the ball?

But then she says, “I can’t believe we’ll be able to see the letters,” and her eyes sparkle, and I realize that’s what she’s looking forward to—the archaeology.

Oh, I think I’m in love.

“Fraser?”

We both look over as a voice sounds from the doorway to see my PA, Louise, standing there with a baby in her arms.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “I thought you’d be alone.”

“That’s okay.” Hallie gets to her feet and goes over to Louise. “Aw, he’s so gorgeous! Look at those little booties!” She laughs as he kicks his feet.

“Gaz reckons he’s going to be a fly-half,” Louise says, and Hallie giggles.

“What are you doing in here today?” I scold.

“I want to print out the Heritage New Zealand report,” she says. “Whina said she’d like it ASAP and I didn’t manage to get it done on Friday, so I typed it at home. I’ll just put Junior here in his stroller and then I’ll only be a few minutes and I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Give him to me,” Hallie says, “I’d love a cuddle.”

“Thanks.” Louise offloads her baby, then disappears into her office, and soon I hear the printer whirring as she starts it up.

“Hello, Sunshine.” Hallie smiles at the baby boy in her arms. “Let’s go and look at the seagulls, shall we?” She walks across my office to the window and turns to show him the birds wheeling in the air, then she glances over her shoulder and says, “You can carry on if you want.”

“I’ll wait,” I say. “I’m just going to send a text.”

I pick up my phone, but when she turns back to the view, I lower it, captivated by the image of her singing softly to the baby as she rocks from side to side. The baby stares up at her as if she’s his guardian angel, and I understand how he feels. There’s something about this girl I can’t put my finger on. She’s not classically beautiful, she’s not model thin, she’s not quirky like Zoe, or as pretty as Elora with her golden hair. But there’s something inside her that lights her up like a Christmas tree. Herspirit, her soul, whatever you want to call it… like now, while she’s looking at the baby—an inner switch has been flicked, and she’s smiling, and she’s positively glowing. She’s stunning.

Louise comes back into the office. “Here you go,” she says, handing me the report. “I’ve emailed it to you to forward on to Whina because I thought you might want to add a few notes when you’ve read it through.”

“Thanks. I appreciate you doing that, even though you shouldn’t come in on your day off.”

She shrugs. “I like showing Bib-bab around the museum. He loves the geological exhibit with the volcano spewing out all the lava.”

Hallie chuckles, kisses his forehead, and hands the baby back to his mother. “I’d do the same if I had kids,” she says. “I think it’s good for them to grow up going to museums and art galleries. I hate it when you see kids tearing around without any respect for history and archaeology.”

That’s it. I need to put an end to this now before I take her in my arms and kiss her senseless.

“I have a few phone calls to make,” I say briskly, getting to my feet.

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