Page 70 of Just Come Over
“Oh, bugger,” Hayden said again, sank onto a chair, and put his hands on his knees. “Zora.”
She looked at him, but told Rhys, “I heard crashing. I was coming to rescue you.”
“That was him tackling me,” Hayden said.
“It was me pushing you a bit,” Rhys corrected. “And I didn’t need rescuing,” he told Zora. “I am never going to need rescuing. Next time, when I tell you to stay outside,stayoutside.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but appeared to be at a loss. He said, “Yeh. Don’t say it. Pretend you listened, that you know I meant what I said, and that you’ll be doing what I say next time.”
“Lovely,” Hayden said. “Meanwhile, I’m sitting here, battered to a pulp, probably got bruises on my hip and my back the size of dinner plates, and is anybody asking after me? No, they are not. If my ribs have snapped and punctured a lung, tell Mum and Dad I loved them. What the hell were you playing at, Zora? Do you know how worried I’ve been? Why didn’t you have your phone? Where’s Isaiah?”
“Finn Douglas’s. I told you, the kids went to a friend’s overnight. Did you call the police?”
“No, thank God. I’d look a fool then, wouldn’t I?"
“What? My house has been burgled.”
“No, it hasn’t,” Hayden said. “At least not that I know. Or is that why you left?”
She sank down beside him and glanced at Rhys, who was still holding the shovel. He set it against the wall, sat down with the others, and said, “I think we’d better back up. Zora’s been with me. She’s fine. What exactly do you think happened, Hayden?”
“I think,” he said, looking fully aggrieved now, “that I got a text from my sister, later than she’d normally even be awake, that said,Help.And then I got a hangup call that I missed. I didn’t see either of them until I woke up this morning, and when I rang her back, and texted her, she didn’t answer. Over and over. Which alarmed me, because Zora always answers. Most reliable woman in the world. Then I rangyou,because she said the two of you were going out last night, andyoudidn’t answer, either. I got the bright idea to check her phone location and saw that she was here, so I called in to work to tell them I’d be late and drove forty minutes that should have been twenty in traffic snarled by the arms of Ursula, evil octopus queen, saw Zora’s van in the drive, rang her doorbell, checked her phone again, imagined her in here, hurt or worse, probably by you, I’ll just say, mate, because it didn’t look good, had about ten years taken off my life, kicked the door in—your door’s too easy to kick in, Zora—which I thought was pretty bloody heroic, found her purse and her phone on the kitchen bench, thought she was kidnapped, and lost ten more years. Andthen,in the midst of ringing the police, some arsehole came around the corner like Captain bloody America, punched me into next week, and probably broke my phone. Now, I’ll be missing a meeting I should be at, about unsafe baby food, he says virtuously, I’ll be hobbling for days, my sister’s fine, and I have gray hair. Other than that, though, my morning was wonderful, thanks.”
“You kicked down mydoor,”Zora said.
“Yeh. Points for me. Pulled a muscle in my groin. Thank youverymuch.”
“You should’ve stretched,” Rhys said.
“Excuse me? Before I kicked the door in to rescue my sister? Who the hell texts ‘Help’ to her loving brother and then waltzes off for the night without giving it a second thought?”
“I meant...” Zora was having some trouble going on. She glanced at Rhys, then away again. “I meant, help with myproblem.Nothelphelp. And I didn’t mean to leave my phone and my purse. I was a bit drunk, maybe. A bit upset.”
“Excuse me,” Hayden said, “that I didn’t adequately read the shades of nuance in your single-word message.” He rubbed his chest and winced. “Do you have a glass of water, two Panadol, and an icepack? I feel I deserve them. I’m sorry I thought you were a murderer, Rhys, which is handsome of me, under the circumstances. Also, the dress looks good.”
“The red one would’ve been better,” Rhys said. He got up and put his hand on Zora’s shoulder. “Stay there. I’ll get it. Cup of tea all around, I think. And unless you aren’t a lawyer anymore, Hayden, I’m guessing they’ll live with you being an hour or two late.”
Interesting, he thought, that for all his casual manner, Hayden was so concerned about both his firm and his sister. Interesting, and possibly touching, too, but not really surprising. Hayden had been there for all three days of Dylan’s tangi. Zora’s parents had come for one.
“It’s nearly eight,” Zora said. “We need to leave to get the kids in twenty minutes.”
“I could think,” Rhys said, “that you didn’t want a cozy chat with Hayden and me. And yet I’d swear you didn’t feel ashamed.”
She was flushing, now, and looking more than cross. She was looking, in fact, pretty bloody adorable, and he wanted to kiss her. It was going to be a long time before he got tired of kissing that sweet, soft mouth. She’d come in to rescue him, too, armed with her shovel, fierce as you like. He hated that she’d done it, but he appreciated it all the same.
Right now, her sweet mouth was saying, “I wasn’t planning on making an announcement. I was planning on keeping it to myself until I knew what it... what we...” She trailed to a stop.
“In that case,” Hayden said, “you should’ve taken your phone. Because I think you just announced. I also think that Rhys should volunteer to have your door frame replaced. Seems like the least he could do.”
“Already happening,” Rhys said. “Along with better locks, so some wanker can’t kick the door in. Seriously, though—well done, mate. Hang on. I’ll get that ice.”
He was sitting on the hotel bed in Sydney, like he’d sat on hotel beds ten thousand times on ten thousand nights, but for once, he wasn’t thinking about the next day. He was thinking about the text he’d sent Casey, via Zora, of the Air New Zealand plane out the window, painted all black with the silver fern along the side. He’d typed,On our way. This is the special plane they made for the All Blacks. We’ll have the same kind of seats you and I had, but we won’t make them into beds, because it’s only three hours. I’ll miss reading you your bloodthirsty dinosaur story tonight. Auntie Zora will read to you instead, but don’t make it too scary for her. Take good care of our rabbits. I expect to see four happy bunnies when I get home.
And the answer Zora had sent back, a few hours earlier.Casey says, “That’s just our book. It’s special. Auntie Zora reads me out of a different book. And Marshmallow still likes to be cuddled the most, but Isaiah and I are going to hold the other bunnies a lot so they get used to snuggling.”With a photo of Casey and Isaiah in Casey’s room, sitting on her new “castle” play rug and holding bunnies, that may have made his heart swell a little.
It had all made him smile then, and it still did. If your special book was the dinosaur book? You might have a special kid.
He needed to buy her some rugby gear while he was here in Sydney. New shorts and trainers from the Adidas store, maybe, because all the ones Zora had bought her were rubbish. Good for looking cute, maybe, but not up to any kind of serious work. And some for Isaiah as well. He could take them to the park on Sunday morning, once he was back, and get Casey started on some basic skills. Isaiah’s kicking wasn’t where it should be, either. They could work on that.
