Just Once More (Escape to New Zealand Book 7)

by Rosalind James

  “Yeh, well,” Reka said, as aware of the undercurrents as Hannah was, Hannah could tell, and making it clear where her own loyalties lay, “the maternity and kids’ wear that 2nd Hemisphere’s doing now, those were Hannah’s lines. The ones she started for them, her ideas. Of course they jumped at it, because she has the perfect platform for it. They’d have been fools not to. And being the marketing brain she is, didn’t take her a minute to think of getting all us WAGs to do some modeling. Which we’re not obligated to do,” she said pointedly for Hannah’s benefit, “but which, astonishingly, we all do anyway. Nothing serious, just a day in the studio with the kids, a video for the website. Everybody loves an All Black, and they even love an All Black’s kids. May not want to know that an All Black has a partner, of course, but I don’t mind reminding them, especially as it doesn’t hurt the team either. Glam up, get the full makeup on, look like an actual WAG for a day. Not to mention remind the female population that these fellas do have partners and kids, just in case that slips their minds. I don’t mind doing that, either. I don’t mind doing that at all.”

  Hemi laughed. “Maybe you want to make your point a little clearer, sweetheart. Somebody down in Hawkes Bay may not have got it. I think you were a bit…what was that thing Hugh wasn’t? Oh, yeh. Subtle.”

  “Just as long as you got it,” she said.

  “Oh, I got it,” he assured her. “No worries. I got it a long time ago.”

  “Why anybody’d want to see the softer side of sportsmen at all,” Finn put in, “still baffles me, but they seem to all the same. The mums seem to, at least, and the mums are the ones buying the clothes, and it helps Hannah and Emma, so…” He shrugged. “It’s all good, far as I’m concerned. Jenna always looks pretty. And Sophie likes it all right. Harry, now…he’s not too keen. But he does it anyway, every time, when Jenna asks him. A man will do just about any mad thing for the woman he loves, eh.”

  “So that’s it,” Hannah told Ally. “That’s my other baby, my product lines. They’re my ideas, and I love them. And I don’t want to just be a name on them. I mean, I want to be able to put my name on them, my stamp, not just…Drew’s name. I want to know that I’m still involved with them, still directing the strategic planning, at least, even though people like Emma are the ones doing the real work, designing the clothes, and others are doing the day-to-day marketing stuff I can’t manage anymore. But I need to know for myself, at least, that it’s real.”

  Ally nodded. “Sounds completely reasonable to me.”

  “It should,” Nate said. “Seeing as Ally’s got plans to open a gym of her own pretty soon, and I already know Mako and I are going to be putting in some pretty frequent appearances.”

  “Nate,” Ally protested. “I can volunteer you. I can assume you. I may have to actually ask Liam. You don’t just get to tell him.”

  “Nah,” Liam said with a grin. “When the skipper asks, it’s not a request. That’s how it works. Thinking you may be able to get a pretty good turnout for your grand opening, Ally. And not just from the Hurricanes.”

  “We’ll all come,” Kate promised. “When is it?”

  “Getting way ahead of myself,” Ally said, holding up a protesting hand and laughing, but looking so pleased. “I just got my diploma. I mean, just last week.”

  “And she’s got a whole plan already,” Nate said proudly. “Going to happen soon enough. Good investment, eh. I tried to invest in my brother’s feed business, got told off in no uncertain terms. Good thing I saved my money, because feed and grain, or girls in climbing harnesses?” He sighed with satisfaction. “One of my favorite things to look at, and Ally’s got all kinds of plans to attract women to the gym. I can see my presence is going to be required early and often. Observation, supervision, that’ll be me.”

  “Oh, yeah, buddy,” Ally told him. “You try it. You just try it. More than one thing climbing rope’s good for. And two can play this game. I seem to remember a man or two I’ve enjoyed seeing in a harness myself.”

  Everyone was laughing now. “She’s got your number, mate,” Koti grinned. “Got one of those fierce ones myself. You’re toast.”

  “I know it,” Nate sighed. “Succumbed to the inevitable quite a while ago. No escape once that thunderbolt hits you, try as you might. And I tried. Tried so hard I almost succeeded, and wasn’t that a bloody nightmare. Not making that mistake again.”

  Everyone got quiet for a bit at that, because they all remembered. It hadn’t been possible to miss.

  “We all stuff up,” Liam said, his voice quiet in the dusk that had fallen softly over the garden as they’d sat and talked.

  Hannah reached for the matches, but Drew put a restraining hand on hers, got up and walked around lighting citronella candles to keep the mozzies at bay.

  The soft glow lit the faces around the tables as Liam continued. “We all make mistakes,” he said. “The difference is what happens next.”

  “When the people you love suffer for your mistakes, though,” Nate said, and there was no humor at all in his voice now, “that’s the killer, eh.”

  “You’re not the only one who knows about that either,” Liam said.

  “Not the only one at all.” The rasp of Finn’s voice now, through the gloom. “Just about every man at this table could tell a tale. Mako’s right. Luckily, women have forgiving natures.”

  “But long memories,” Reka said, breaking the somber mood and making everyone laugh. “She’ll forgive you, but she’ll remind you. That’s the price.”

  “Too true,” Hemi sighed. “But ah, well. It’s worth it.”

  “Pretty clear that Toro’s well and truly taken over that captaincy now,” Drew said with a grin down the table at his replacement, seeing the familiar intensity changed to something else now, something looser. Calmer. Nate was beginning to relax a bit in the job, it was clear, at the end of his second season. Finding out that it was possible to have a laugh with his teammates, past and present, and still be the skipper.

  Only Drew, of all the men here, fully understood the burden Toro was finally able to lay down. That niggling worry that the selectors had made a mistake, that he wouldn’t be up to the job. The dark fear that came at two in the morning, that you couldn’t share with anyone.

  Although he suspected Toro might be able to share it with Ally. Koti was right, she clearly did have his number. And that support, even if it were unspoken…that mattered. Knowing you had somebody in your corner, win or lose.

  It was obvious to Drew, at least, that the selectors hadn’t made a mistake. In fact, his opinion had been asked, and he’d given it. Never the biggest player, Toro, but nobody was speedier, or had faster reflexes. He had the quality of every world-class halfback, and had it in spades: the ability to read the game, to change on the fly, to communicate what you saw to the backs, to spur the attack.

  A ferocious tackler, too, with heart and courage to burn. Most nines had to be taken off partway through the match, couldn’t sustain the pace for the full eighty minutes. Not Toro. He played smart as well as hard, and then there was that x factor. The driving will to win, to excel, to push his performance higher that inspired everyone around him. Which was why he was the skipper.

  No matter that the sting was still there when Drew looked at the captain—no longer even the new captain—and knew that that was what he was. The captain. The skipper. No matter that Drew might still wish it were him. Wishes weren’t horses, and nothing stayed the same. Life rolled on, and a man had to roll with it, and his own life was good. It had been good before, and now it was better.

  “You’ve moved me straight off my course, mate,” he told the other man now. “Getting Hannah more help, remember?”

  “All right,” Reka said promptly. “Tell us what to say, and we’ll say it.”

  “Little kids,” Drew reminded her. “New baby. Job. That it’s important to keep up with it, and that she needs more help to do it. Not to mention that I need her too. Can’t have her being too tired even to
talk to me when I come home. Selfish, eh.”

  “Right,” Reka said. “All that. You need more help to do it, Hannah.”

  “I could’ve done that,” Drew complained. “Come on. Bring something new to the table here. I’m counting on you girls.”

  “I’ll try,” Jenna said. “I’m pregnant too, but not as pregnant as Hannah. And I’ve got a little one too, but not as little as Hannah’s. And I’m not trying to stay involved professionally right now. So I’m pretty well qualified to talk. I need help. I can’t do it by myself. Or I could, but I’d be exhausted. I’m fairly domestic, too—”

  “Yeh,” Finn said. “Fairly.”

  She smiled and continued. “But even I know that kids aren’t little forever. And whatever Finn thinks, I don’t actually want six. Eventually, you run out of babies. And at some point, when the…the hormones settle down, I guess, it’s good to have something of your own, but that something’s got to be there for you to do. I’m a teacher, and so is Reka. We can go back to that later if we want to, once our kids are older. It’s not a hard thing to jump into again. But other careers are harder to do that with. Better to have continuity, I’m sure.”

  “Money of your own doesn’t come amiss either,” Kate said bluntly. “Let’s be honest. A little power outside the relationship. And let’s face it, inside the relationship too.”

  “Wow. Yep,” Ally said. “That’s it. I knew we needed to come to this party.”

  “We are getting down to it tonight, eh,” Nate said. He truly had got comfortable. Talking at Drew’s table, and that was good, because there were some divided loyalties here still, and that needed to be put right. This was the perfect opportunity.

  “I don’t think it’s as important for us,” Nate went on, “as it is for you girls. That power thing, I mean. We know you have power, job or no, money or no.” He got some nods of assent over that. “We’re all clear on that one.”

  “Not easy being the parent when you’re doing it alone half the time,” Finn said. “Or just being on your own half the time. Pretty sure all of us appreciate that.”

  “But still,” Kate insisted. “Still. I need something that’s…mine. Mine to do.”

  “Which brings us back to the point, doesn’t it,” Drew said. “Which is that if you’re going to do that, do a job of work outside of home, or even at home, and you’ve got kids, you can’t do it without help.”

  “I’ve got help,” Hannah said.

  “More help. You don’t have a mum to live with you, or next to you, or whatever it is that some of them have. Which means you need something else. Nobody’s going to think less of you for it, at least nobody who counts. No extra bonus points for scrubbing your own toilets, and who cares if somebody else cooks dinner, long as it gets cooked? I always had somebody to cook my own dinner, do my washing-up and my washing, for that matter, before I met you. And scrub my toilets as well. Nobody ever asked me if I was a good enough man because I did. Let alone a good enough dad. Never had to justify it at all. If it helps you work better, and you can afford it, why the hell not? Giving somebody who needs it a job, so you can do your own job. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Good one, mate,” Hemi said quietly.

  “Yeh, thanks,” he said. “Been thinking about that one.”

  “Yeah,” Kate said, sounding a little belligerent. “Why is that? How come nobody ever asks you guys how you’re juggling parenting and rugby? And yet Hannah got asked, you bet she did, in that last totally softball interview. Suddenly, there it is, every time.” Her hand hit the table. “Bang. ‘How do you manage it all? I’m sure our viewers would love to know.’ I never, ever saw a post-match interview with you, Drew, where they said, ‘So how are you managing to fit in your travel schedule with your family responsibilities, Drew?’ Why is that?”

  “No idea,” he said, a bit taken aback, but that was Kate. “That’s what I’m saying. Not fair, and not the way I see it.”

  “Look what you’ve stumbled into, Nate,” Reka told him. “You may want to take Ally and run right now.”

  “Nah,” he said. “She’s already there, no worries. In fact, probably a relief to her.”

  “It is,” she confessed. “I thought I’d have to be some…rugby wife, or something. Whatever that is. I didn’t have a clue, other than knowing Kristen. And seeing Hannah some, but Hannah’s pretty intimidating.”

  “I am not,” she said.

  “You are,” Kristen said. “You totally are.”

  “But I’m…” She struggled with it, and Drew smiled a little, because he knew what they meant, even though he saw the real woman beneath. “I’m nice.”

  Everyone laughed at that. “And that’s worse,” Kristen said. “How you’ve got it all down. That’s what Ally’s saying. How hard you are to live up to. Just like that show said. How you do all that, and make it look so easy.”

  “But it’s not easy,” Hannah said. “Of course it’s not.”

  “Which is great to hear,” Ally said. “That it’s not easy, but you make it work. Because I’ve got some things I want to do myself too. I’m awfully glad I’m not the only one who thinks that’s important.”

  “Nah. Kate’s the other one,” Koti said, and everybody laughed.

  “Well, WAGs are people too,” Reka said staunchly. “And we don’t spend our days at the spa, no matter what some people may think.”

  “So we good?” Drew demanded of Hannah. “Before Kate gets out the placards and organizes the march? We got this sorted? We’re going to get somebody set up to come in here every day so you can get back on your feet again, and eventually get back to work, when you’re ready? Make it look easy for everybody? Because you just heard them. You’ve got a reputation to live up to. That’s your…your thing. What you’re selling.”

  “That’s my brand?” she asked. “Being superwoman?”

  “Well, yeah,” Kristen said. “One half of the Superpower Couple. Sir Andrew and Lady Callahan.”

  “If that’s your brand,” Drew said, “can’t tarnish it, can you? Can’t have you looking all tired and frazzled during that interview, or having you miss a deadline on one of those launches. We’d better get somebody hired before my mum goes home, I’d say. I’ll do the interviewing myself. Whatever it takes.”

  “Scare them to death,” she said.

  “Told you. I don’t use the Laser Eyes on women. So we good?”

  “Single-minded, that’s what you are,” she sighed. “In front of everybody, too.”

  “Marshaling my forces,” he agreed.

  “When you put it like that, it sounds silly,” she said. “It’s real, the pressure to do it myself. But…maybe you’re right.”

  “We know you’ve all got dreams too,” he said. “You girls support us in ours. Why’s it so hard to believe we want to help you do the same? What’s wrong with getting you the help you need to do it?”

  “All right,” she said. “You’re definitely right. Is that what you want to hear? And yes. Let’s do it. Because how can I argue with that?”

  He sighed with satisfaction. “I’m right,” he informed the table. “I’m definitely right. And we’re doing it my way. You can all leave now. We’re done here.”

  “Drew!” She laughed. “No.”

  “When we met Hannah, mate,” Hemi informed him, “that first time, Reka and me? We wondered if you could do it. Well, she wondered. I know you better. Now we’ve all seen how, I reckon. And we’re all impressed.”

  “Wasn’t easy,” he said.

  “So let’s hear it,” Reka said.

  “Let’s hear what?” he asked cautiously.

  “We heard Finn and Jenna’s story today,” she said. “And we all know Kate and Koti’s, since Koti, as usual, managed to perform for an audience. Some of these fellas even got themselves on tape doing the deed. Including Hemi,” she said with a laugh. “At least, I’m pretty sure there were some photos taken. And Liam, and…wait, Koti too. That was you carrying Kate down Queen Street,” she t
old Koti. “We weren’t surprised at that. Not a bit.”

  “She had a blister,” he said, his grin flashing through the gloom. “I parked too far away, and that ring wasn’t going to buy itself. No choice.”

  “Hmm. We’ve got a bit of a Maori thing going here,” Reka said. “You Pakeha boys need to step up your game. Guessing you didn’t carry Hannah through the CBD, Drew, or sing her a song in a café either.”

  “Nah. It was a café, actually. But a bit more private, you’re right.”

  “And?” she prompted.

  “What? You want me to tell all of you? Why would you be interested?”

  “I’m not,” Koti said. “If we’re voting.”

  “Be quiet, Koti,” Reka said. “I am. All us girls are. So come on.”

  “All I’d do is make every other fella here feel good that at least he managed it better than I did,” Drew said. “You know I’m rubbish at speeches.”

  “You are not,” Hannah said indignantly. “You make wonderful speeches.”

  “Well,” Hemi conceded, “maybe a bit boring.”

  “They are not.” That was still Hannah, of course.

  “All right,” Reka said. “You tell us, Hannah.”

  Hannah looked at him. “All right with you if I do? Because it was wonderful.”

  He sat back and sighed. “Of course. If you want to.” He tried to remember what he had said. Truth was, he’d been so nervous, he couldn’t even remember. He was rubbish at speeches, when they mattered. He knew his heart well enough. He just wasn’t too good at speaking from it.

  “It was a year from the day I met him,” she said. “He remembered the day, and the place.”

  “There you go,” Reka said. “That’s not rubbish. That’s romance. Romance is remembering, because it made an impression. Because she made an impression. Romance is remembering, and showing her you do.”

  “She made an impression.” He laughed a little. “She made one hell of an impression. And I didn’t say I didn’t know what to do. I said I didn’t know what to say.”