Page 18 of Bay of Plenty

“Nice job.” He climbed in and turned out his light. “Good night.”

“Night.” I turned to the window. Felt him rustling. Heard his sigh. I stopped breathing, rigid—what with the pillows and two bodies, there was so little room. God, this was uncomfortable. I quietly, slowly, tossed and turned for what seemed like ages, waiting for a sign that he was asleep so I could relax. I was so tired I could scream.

“Isla,” he said softly. “Don’t worry about making noises or talking in your sleep. Or… anything. For months, I slept with a male colleague who was a malodorous snorer.”

I giggled. “At least I don’t snore.”

“And I’ll get up early for a run to let you have your privacy.”

Chapter Eleven

Day One

But the nextmorning I woke to a rap on the door that was so early Declan was still sleeping on the other side of our pillow hillock.

Another rap. “Isla. It’s me, Mum. Hospital called. The specialist arrived extra early for the consultation. Apparently, her golf game got canceled. She’s waiting for us. I’ll bring the car to the front.”

“Just a sec.” I only had time to brush my teeth, splash water on my face, and change in the bathroom. Declan did the same. We met Mum in the front.

Declan bent down to her open window, his hand on the top of the car. “Okay if I come too?”

“Of course.” Mum waved to a couple of friends walking the beach and pointed at Declan climbing in the back. “Isla’s boyfriend,” she called airily.

“You’re my boyfriend,” I sang to Declan, so tired I felt a little silly.

“I’m your boyfriend,” he echoed.

There was something I liked about this guy. I hoped that helped, because we were off to the hospital to see my dad without getting any of our story straight.

*

Snow and another man were already there with Dad. The other man scowled at me. The face like a Picasso painting, the cauliflower ears, the crooked nose…Sarge.

I froze. I hadn’t recognized him because he dressed better, less like a rugby boofhead and more like an aspiring groovy dad.

“Boys,” Mum said. “This is Declan, Isla’s boyfriend, who’s flown all the way from London.”

Declan’s hand landed on my shoulder. I jerked. Could we pull this off?

Snow welcomed Declan like he was a stand-in for the head of the family and introduced Dad and Sarge as “the old geezers.” Snow regarded the older men fondly, like they were surrogate fathers. There followed a lot of back slapping and hand shaking between Declan and the two men, and a gentle handshake with Dad, who waved away questions about how he was feeling.

Declan must have sensed that Dad didn’t want to talk about himself, because he turned to Snow. “I’ve already heard you’re an incredible surfer. We’d love to take lessons from you.”

Ugh. I get horribly seasick. Also, is this how it’s going to go? He hasn’t cleared this with me.

“Yeah, nah, yeah, all good,” Snow said. “I’ve had a seven a.m. open up, eh? And I want to take you fishing sometime.”

“Ah, that is grand, so.” Declan used “so” like we said “eh.” His accent was suddenly very Oirish.

“Snow, we’d also love a wine tour if poss?” I asked. This was the perfect time to ask as Snow was clearly being magnanimous in front of Mum, Dad, and Sarge. I was also tryingto show Declan that I could make decisions without consulting him.

Snow thrust up his hands as if they were tied. “No can do, sorry, bloody health and safety regs.” Ha, good try, the old health and safety excuse. I wasn’t going to accept that at face value. I intended to find out what regulations he meant and either try to show he was mistaken or suggest a work-around. But it would sound petty to question him now. I’d leave it for later.

This triggered grumbles from everyone about the tyranny of health and safety. Sarge’s voice was the loudest.

“Talking of safety, you look like a big rugby man.” Declan focused on Sarge, who gave a stately head tilt. “What’s the story about these new safety rules in rugby? What do you reckon?”

Declan echoed Sarge’s hard-man stance, arms wrapped around himself, knees bent, legs apart. Though Declan was the taller of the two men, he made himself smaller, subservient.Ew.

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