Page 115 of Just Watch Me
Stop it. Not the point.Georgia met them at the door, and Zane said, “I’ll be with you in a minute, Georgie-girl. I need to talk to Nan and Geoffrey first, though. Where are they?”
“In Nan’s room, I think.”
“Go find them for me, will you? Tell them I’ll see them in the kitchen.”
They came in while Zane and Skylar were putting away groceries. He had the biggest fridge she’d ever seen in a house, and now she knew why. Zane shoved the last packet of meat inside and said, “Good. Let’s have a cup of tea and sit a minute.”
They did that in something like a sun porch, or maybe it was a breakfast room. In any case, it was lined with windows looking out over the pool and grounds, which appeared more like a posh tropical resort than ever in the winter sunshine. Zane started things off by saying, “Is this plan for the place of your own still a plan, or is it happening?” As usual, not beating around the bush.
“It’s happening,” Granddad said. He had hold of Maureen’s hand, and now, he looked at her. “We’ve found a place, and they approved our application yesterday. We want to help, but we need to build our own life while we have time.”
Zane waved that away. “It’s your business, not ours. But you’re still going to stay here when I’m gone?”
“Of course,” Maureen said. “And I’ll be here in the morning and afternoon even when you’re here, unless you’re not training. I’ll cook dinner, too, as I don’t want my mokopuna to starve. Geoffrey and I will spend time together during school hours and in the evenings. But we need this.”
“Understood,” Zane said. “OK, then. One more item to run by you, and then it’s time for that team meeting.”
There was something to be said for a man who was willing to take the bull by the horns.
They had the meeting in the family room, because it had the most couch space. Zane stood with Skylar in front of the assembled kids and elders—“We’ll be listening, not participating,” Geoffrey had said firmly—and thought,It’s getting the team on the same page, and you know how.
“Right,” he began. “Nan and Geoffrey have found their own place, and they’ll be moving in there.” He put up a hand when the inevitable chorus arose. “But they’ll still be helpingout their whanaus in the same way they always have. Nan will still be here while I’m gone, no worries.”
“Then what’s the point?” Scarlett asked.
“That they want some time alone together,” Zane said. “To be a couple. Which brings us to the other point. Skylar and I want that time, too, so here’s what we’re doing. I heard that you—my kids, that is—want time with me before I leave for Safa. I want time with you, too, so I’ll be here with you for the next four days. Eating dinner with you, doing Georgia’s reading with her, and so forth. Once you’re in bed, I’ll be going to Skylar’s for the night, and coming back for breakfast. Oh, and they won’t be joining us for tea tonight. You want your Dad time, and Finlay wants to spend time at home, so Skylar and I decided better not.”
That last bit didn’t distract anybody, because the objections and questions came in thick and fast. Skylar was quailing, Zane suspected, so he took her hand. Then he answered, “Because when two adults are having a relationship, they need time together.”
“Time to have sex, you mean,” Scarlett said.
“Yes,” Zane said. “That’s part of it. And time to talk to each other. To sleep together. To keep getting to know each other. It isn’t usual to spell that out so clearly for your kids, but here we are. I could sneak out, but what’s the point of that? Better to tell you up front. And when I’m home from Safa and I get that week off, we’re all going away for a holiday. Beach, we thought.”
“It’ll beSeptember,”Scarlett said.
“Which is why we’ll be going someplace warm,” Zane said. “Something to look forward to, eh.”
“I’m just waiting for the part where they all move in,” Scarlett said.
Finlay said, “Do you think we want that? We don’t want that!”
“We’re not making any decisions about that now,” Zane said, holding up a hand, “because we’re not ready for it yet. I’ll be there for you kids exactly as much as I can be, like always, and I’m sure Skylar will tell her kids the same. It’s change, and change can be hard, but it can be good, too.”
“When the quake hit and Finlay and Scarlett stepped up the way they did, especially before Zane came to help,” Skylar put in, “I was proud of both of you. I was proud ofallof you. I was also scared. I know adults don’t usually tell kids that, but I think they should. You should know that it’s OK to be scared. We can feel the fear and not have it stop us, and that’s what all of us did. When you stood on the pavement with me to look for your dad, Scarlett, and when you took such good care of Forrest, you didn’t let your fear stop you. When you kept all the kids together against the wall, Finlay, you were keeping your head. And when you comforted Scarlett when she was worried about her dad, you showed your heart. Allof you did so well that day, which is why I know we can manage this, too. We can work together and work it out. And I have something else to say, too, because I think it matters. I need to tell you a wee story to do it.”
“Go on,” Zane said. “I like your stories.” Scarlett may have rolled her eyes, but he wasn’t looking.
“When I was pregnant with Olive,” Skylar said, “I thought, ‘How can I have enough love, when Finlay has all of my heart?’ I asked a mum friend, I was that worried. Do you know what she told me?”
“No,” Olive said. “What?” The others actually looked like they were listening too, so that was good. Zane wouldn’t have had a clue what to say to make this better, but Skylar probably did.
“She told me,” Skylar said, “that a heart is expandable. Or maybe it’s not exactly that. A heart has heaps of rooms, that’s more like it. You can open door after door, and every doorwill lead into another room, like magic. And every one of those rooms is filled with love. That’s how a mum can love three kids from the bottom of her heart and still have love left over for more. For more kids, for her granddad, and for a man.”
Time for him to put in his bit, Zane decided. “That’s a good one, because it’s true. A man loves exactly the same way. He can even love his first wife after she’s gone and find room for another love.” He wondered if Skylar had realized yet that she’d said the L-word. Probably, and she was probably getting nervous about it, too. He’d deal with that tonight. They were moving too fast, maybe, but how else was he meant to lock her in, so to speak, before he resumed being gone all the time?
No risk, no reward.
“That doesn’t make sense, though,” Duncan said. “Hearts are just organs.” Proving that Duncan was Zane’s kid, because that was probably what he’d have said at eight, too.
