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It’s a makeshift observatory, with a small, beginner’s refractor telescope standing on a plastic table in the center. “Not quite in your league, I’m sure,” she says, a little embarrassed.
It’s not a patch on my Celestron, but what impresses me are the star charts she has spread out on the benches all around the greenhouse. They’re very detailed, mapping the constellations visible in the northern hemisphere, and she’s annotated them with the positions of the planets throughout the year, as well as marking things like the phases of the moon.
“I watched the Perseid meteor shower the night before last,” she says. “So many shooting stars, it was spectacular.”
“You’ve been looking at Messier 13, too.” I tap the chart showing the Hercules globular cluster she’s marked with a Post-it Note.
“Yeah, it’s an excellent target for observation at this time of the year because of its high altitude at night. Although you know that, obviously.”
“It’s a great setup,” I say. “I’m impressed.”
She nudges me. “You don’t have to give me false flattery.”
“I don’t do that.”
She laughs. “No, I forgot you were a Kiwi guy. Oh, mind out!” She just catches the telescope as I knock into it.
I wince. “Sorry.”
“I need to bolt everything down when you’re around. It’s like having a young colt in the house.”
“Are you comparing me to a stallion?”
“Jesus, are we back to Sir Richard again?”
We both laugh, and I follow her back out and across the lawn to the house.
“Okay,” she says, “you crack on with your work and then we’ll go out a bit later.”
“Do you mind if I set up in the living room?”
“Of course not. I’m going to do some baking. Do you like muffins?”
“I like food, Heidi, I don’t care what sort it is. I’ll eat anything.”
“Right, then I’ll make some muffins.” She starts opening cupboard doors and taking out ingredients.
I retrieve my laptop from my flight bag, bring it downstairs, and plug it in by the sofa. Then I open it up and start checking my emails.
Heidi comes in and says, “Do you prefer to work in silence, or shall I put some music on?”
“I don’t mind noise. Music would be good.”
She goes over to what I realize is a record player, selects an album from the cupboard beneath it, and puts it on before returning to the kitchen. Stevie Wonder’s voice starts singingYou Are the Sunshine of My Life, and Heidi joins in, her voice like the sunlight filling the house, bright and uplifting.
I stretch out my legs and prop my feet on the coffee table, surprised that I feel a mixture of happiness and contentment. Usually by now I’m knee-deep in meetings or immersed in computer code, and it feels like a vacation just to do something different.
I spend a couple of hours working, canceling the meetings I had planned for the next few days, answering emails, and reading a couple of reports my team have emailed to me from New Zealand. Halfway through, Heidi brings in a cup of coffee and a warm banana-and-chocolate muffin dripping with butter, which I eat with pleasure while I finish the reports.
“Want any washing done?” she asks. “It’s a nice day to hang it out on the line.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s not often I get the chance to fondle a gorgeous guy’s boxers.”
I laugh and get up. “You’re a naughty girl.”
She grins at me, and I roll my eyes and go upstairs to fetch the clothes I’ve worn over the past week. I bring them down and give them to her, and she takes them out to the laundry.
