Page 60 of Just Watch Me
Jess paid that the attention it deserved: none. She pointed a finger at Skylar and announced dramatically, “Zane Mahuta.”
“Shh!” Skylar couldn’t help that, but she didnotlook around in a guilty manner. David Sacklett was right there at the next table, and what was worse, he was eating lunch with Stacey Thompkins, who also taught Year One and fancied him. She raised her voice instead of lowering it, in what she considered some pretty brilliant thinking, and said, “Yeh, he was good out there, wasn’t he? How the All Blacks will go against France and Ireland, though—that’s the real question. New coach: yay or nay?” As if she had an opinion.
Jess was narrowing her eyes at her. Never a good sign. “The ABs have that flash new training facility in Wellington.”
“Do they?” Skylar did her best to make it airy. “Nice for them.”
Jess said, “Look into my eyes and tell me that you’re not going to Wellington to spend time with—” When Skylar made a frantic chopping-off gesture, Jess finished, “him.”
“I’m not going to Wellington to spend time with him,” Skylar said obediently. “I’m going to Wellington to spend time with his whanau. My granddad will be there for the full three weeks, so unless I reallydowant my kids to drive me mad, this seems to be the answer. And before you ask, he won’t even be there. Well, on occasion, on his days off, but he made a point of telling me that he hardly gets any days off, so you see …”
“So he invited you to join him at his flash holiday rental in Wellington,” Jess said, “because hedoesn’twant to spend time with you.”
“No. My granddad invited us, or possibly my granddad and Maureen—Zane’s Nan. Freely spending Zane’s money for all those extra groceries and so forth, but he honestly didn’t seem to mind. Probably because he knows his kids will have a better time if I’m there, and get out more, too. The oldies are a bit wrapped up in each other. And as I said, he won’t be there.”
“So you’re, what?” Jess asked. “The nanny? This gets worse and worse. If he actually wanted to spend time with you, you realize that he’d ask you out on a proper date. This sounds perilously like bang-maid territory to me. As somebody out there in the trenches, don’t be naïve. Read the room. If you just want his lovely body, go for it. But don’t expect more.”
“I don’t want anybody’s lovely body,” Skylar said. “Or I don’tjustwant it. I want true love.”
“And how’s that working out?” Jess said. “As you never go anywhere?”
Skylar pointed at her. “Hence Wellington.”
“Where you’ll meet … who? As you travel about with a bag full of snacks and six kids trailing behind? The way I read it, you want true loveandZane Mahuta’s lovely body and command presence, or the equivalent. Though honestly, who would be equivalent?” She’d lowered her voice, at least. “But not to be the nanny.”
“Yes,” Skylar said. “It’s that or nothing, I’m afraid.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Jess said. “My prediction is: you’re going to be the nanny. Reckon you’re like me with my romantic Northland holiday. Destined to live and learn.”
Skylar hadn’t protested, because it would only have sounded defensive. Now, she thought,I trust my instincts.Well, mostly. If she believed in her heart that she wasn’t the nanny, what did it matter if she looked after Zane’s kids as well as her own sometimes? She wasn’t any object of pity. On the contrary, she was an incredibly fortunate woman who, thanks to her granddad’s apparent romantic talents—who’d have guessed?—had been gifted an almost-free holiday. And never mind the perennially-absent, spoilt-for-choice Zane. So they flirted a bit down there, on those rare occasions when he was around. Possibly had the odd glass of wine. Couldn’t that just be fun? Even practice for a possible future romantic life?
Of course, the issues she encountered, once they arrived, were completely different from those she’d feared. Which was generally the case, wasn’t it? To begin with, when they collected their hire car, she found that it was a brand-new Toyota people-mover that seated eight. A pretty overwhelming vehicle, to be honest. It was perfectly acceptable that Zane had paid for it, though, because this way, she could take all six kids to the many places he wasalsopaying for them to visit.
She thought that until she drove out of the lot and realized how big the van was. Wellington streets were narrow, and this car was not. And then there was attempting to follow theGPS, and constantly finding herself in the wrong lane once they reached Wellington’s compact, hilly, and confusing CBD. Somebody had apparently passed a regulation that said square corners weren’t allowed, and the streets shot off in every direction. Did nobody else in the world object to having a maddeningly calm robo-voice saying, “Rerouting,” over and over again? She needed the GPS, and she also wanted to bash it with a hammer. It was cool and rainy out, but she was sweating.
“I think you’re over the line, Mum,” Finlay pointed out at that moment from the front passenger seat.
“I think you’re right,” she said in her calmest voice, “since we’ve been hooted at three times. No worries. I’m getting used to the car, that’s all. It’s much wider than ours.”
“It has the same number of seats, though,” Finlay said. “It’s notthatmuch wider.”
“Thank you,” she said, “for your soothing note of understanding.” You weren’t meant to be sarcastic with your kids, but sometimes, the temptation was just too strong.You are not going to scrape anybody’s car,she told herself fiercely, as she felt the sweat trickle down her back.Look at all the delivery vans and trucks on the road! This thing is wider than you’re used to, that’s all. Breathe, slow down, be cautious, and you’ll be fine.Of course, she was hooted at again by the driver behind her, who didn’t appreciate her new deliberate pace, but what did she care? She didn’t know whoever it was back there. It was Wellington, and she didn’t know anybody in Wellington.
Except her granddad, who met her at the front door of the big house on a hill when she’d finally brought the people-mover to a grateful stop and they’d all straggled up the sidewalk to the front door with their luggage, a bit weak in the knees in her case. She got a beaming smile, cuddles for his great-grandkids, and a pronouncement that, “Maureen and I can kick up our heels a bit now you’re here, eh. Brilliant.”
Not Cinderella. A fortunate woman.
Maureen said, “Show the kids to their rooms, you lot, and then show them over the place. Pity it’s raining, though the pool’s well heated, but the weather will soon change. It’s Wellington.”
“I want to swim in the rain,” Finlay said. “It seems like it would be exciting. Let’s get in before it stops.”
“It would be mysterious,” Olive agreed. “Like being in a story, or even being a mermaid.”
“It’s not mysterious,” Scarlett said. “It’s just wetter.”
“No swimming unless an adult is watching,” Skylar said. At the chorus of disappointment, she added, “But I’ll watch you for a bit, once everybody’s changed.” All her kids were fairly strong swimmers, even George, but she wasn’t compromising on this one. Fortunately, she’d been able to get the audiobook of her story from the library just before she’d left, which meant she could listen to itandwatch them in the pool. (She also could’ve painted the downstairs with that audiobook for company, but never mind.) She’d be doing her duty and holidaying at the same time. What could be better? She could even swim herself, for that matter. In the evenings, possibly, after the kids had gone to bed. The pool probably had lights under the water, right? Didn’t they usually? Swimming in the warm waters of a mysteriously glowing pool in the rain … maybeshecould imagine herself as a mermaid. Imagining was free, and it wasn’t even fattening.
“Let’s get into our togs, then!” George said. “I’ll race you, Georgia.”
