Page 90 of The Player in New Zealand

“Is it too much?” Iris whispered. “If you really don’t want us here, that’s okay.”

“No, no, I’m happy. We didn’t say anything because we didn’t want to make a big deal about it. I thought that there was no way you’d be able to come. Especially since it’s going to be a half-hour ceremony and no party. It’s a long way for you to fly.”

We pulled back and swapped huggers. Nina squeezed me extra hard. “Look,” she said, “I know you can’t play favorites with sisters. If you invite one of us, you have to invite the other, and yada yada. I already have the leg up since we work together.”

I didn’t technically work with or for Nina and Tane, but unofficially, I was very involved in Dry & Draught. I created the menus and often went with Nina while meeting with vendors. All this around myotherjob, working at a restaurant on the harbor. Patience had been the key, and after five weeks of jobless living with Tane, I’d gotten a call offering me a position as an events bartender—if I could get to the location in an hour.

It wasn’t a complex job, mostly beer and wine, but I got to balance it with menu creation for Dry & Draught.

When Nina stepped away, I realized they weren’t the only ones in the hallway. Hemi and a tall Latino man—Rico, I assumed—stood off to the side, Hemi talking animatedly about something. Yes, Hemi wasanimated.

Iris leaned in. “Nina’s husband is such a talker.”

I looked at Nina. “Did you hear that? Your husband’s a talker?”

“He talks to me all the time, Claire. I think he’s a little intimidated by you.”

I got hugs from both men, and then we were called into the office for the official ceremony. It was in English and Maori, and since I didn’t have any flowers, I had my hands entwined with Tane’s as we listened and said our I do’s.

The officiant, a heavyset woman with a moko kauae on her chin, said something in Maori that she didn’t translate. But she didn’t need to. Tane followed instructions and swept me up into a firm and chaste kiss.

* * *

“So you flew allthe way here from Phuket. Was it worth it?” I teased Iris.

She shoved my shoulder, causing me to teeter on the barstool at Dry & Draught. After the very short ceremony, we’d reconvened at the bar to celebrate.

“We’re staying a week—well, only five more days, because we’ve been here for two. And I don’t just want to see the ceremony. I want to see the life you’ve built here.” She gestured around at Dry & Draught. “Look at everything you helped create.”

“Wait, you’ve been here two days already? What have you been doing?” I took a sip of a nonalcoholic white wine. I hardly ever drank wine, but it seemed like a good thing to do while wearing a fancy lace dress on my wedding day.

“We’re staying with Nina, of course.”

I rolled my eyes. Those two were thick as.

Okay, maybe I still had paperwork to fill out before I was officially a Kiwi, but I was starting to think like one.

“And I had to buy appropriate clothes,” she continued. “Rico and I are pretty much beach bums. All I do is attend school online while Rico surfs or kiteboards, and then we usually go to the beach or walk around the Old Town. I didn’t have anything wedding-appropriate.”

I looked her over. Iris wore a pale floral wrap dress, sensible flats, and a chunky turquoise necklace. Her hair, black like mine, was pulled back in a low bun, whereas mine was just getting long enough to brush the tops of my shoulders. It was too short to ponytail, too long to stay back.

Iris was getting a certificate so she could teach English in Asia; she and Rico were hoping to move to Japan. The classes and the lifestyle were working pretty well; she also had a glow about her. And I told her so.

“Well,” she said, leaning in and dropping her voice, “you have a certain glow too. Look at us, the two Bailey sisters. Who would have thought?”

I smiled, and looked down the bar. Rico was next to Iris, and across from him, behind the bar, was Tane. We were tucked away in our own little corner while Nina flitted around, running things so we wouldn’t have to. Hemi had gone back to their house to pick up the girls and Emily and bring them back to the bar, where we were going to order takeout for an early dinner before things got crowded.

Tane had rolled his sleeves up, showing off those thick forearms I loved so much. He laughed at something Rico said, and tipped back his glass of beer for a sip. We’d discovered some much better nonalcoholic beers now that we had stronger connections to nonalcoholic producers. Stocking an entire bar’s worth of drinks opened doors.

Tane caught my eye and winked at me. My husband. He moved toward me and leaned over for a kiss. My charming sister whooped loud enough to startle some nearby guests and I shushed her.

“I have a wedding present for you,” Tane said. “Or, the idea of a wedding present.”

I gave him a little side-eye. “I thought we said no presents.”

“You can say no if you want. But I reached out to the guy who did my most recent tattoos, and he’s still operating here in Wellington. He’s pretty confident he can take a look at your tattoo and design akirituhi—that’s a Maori-style tattoo for someone without Maori blood—to cover your old one up. If you want.”

I swooned. “Aw, that would be amazing. Thank you, babe.”

Forks and glasses clinked around us, started by Nina, who stood behind Tane. We kissed again.

Emily burst through the front door, Hemi and girls in tow, and began enthusiastic hugs and kisses for us all. My new family moved over to a lounge area where the adults could chat and the girls could play on the low tables.

Iris was right: Look at everything I’d built. I’d come to New Zealand frustrated, broke, and running.

Now I had more family than I’d ever imagined, a husband I loved, and soon, when I was officially here on a spousal visa, I would quit the events job and work here full-time. At the bar Tane and I had built together.

And I was going to go home with a hot rugby player every night for the rest of my life.

I haven’t seen my best friend in ten years. That massive crush? Still alive and well.