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“Jesus Christ.”
“She’s only just intimated. I wish I’d known. I’d have broken both his legs.”
“God, I wish she’d come home. I hate that she’s all the way over there.”
I sigh. “She seems happy, apart from this. She’s doing well at the school, and her students love her. She adores her cottage, although it is the size of a postage stamp. I know your grandparents aren’t far away, and she talks about meeting up with friends. I think if she can put this ghost to rest, she’s going to be okay.”
“Well,” he says, “she’ll be home soon. We’ll have to do our best to convince her to stay.”
Half of me agrees with him. The thought of having Heidi living in Auckland fills me with delight, and I know already that I’d ask her out like a shot.
But equally, I understand why she loves it here. “I don’t know,” I say. “She’s flourishing now she’s her own woman.”
“You mean now she’s away from Dad?”
“I didn’t want to say that.”
“It’s all right. I know what he was like with her.”
“She said it’s why she cut her hair—the day she arrived, apparently.”
He sighs. “Yeah, I thought that might be the case. Ah, maybe it is better she’s there. I know it sounds old fashioned, but I hope she meets a nice guy who can look after her, you know? Something more trustworthy than her fucking ex.”
I nod.
“So you’re staying with her?” Huxley asks. “In her cottage?”
“Er, yeah.” He looks surprised, so I add, “I’m in the spare room.”
He gives me an amused look. “Relax, Titus. You’re one of the good guys. I know I can trust you.” He picks up a takeaway coffee cup and has a drink, still watching me. I can’t tell if he’s teasing me or if he’s serious.
I clear my throat. “How’s life in New Zealand?”
“Yeah, good. Busy.”
“The wedding all arranged?”
“Mostly, yeah.” Huxley and Elizabeth wanted to get married before the baby comes, so they’re having a quiet wedding in the South Island. Originally they thought of Queenstown, but in the end they decided to fly their friends and family down to Lake Tekapo, not far from Aoraki Mount Cook, for a couple of nights in an exclusive retreat high up in the mountains, in the world’s largest Gold Dark Sky Reserve. The stargazing there is going to be amazing.
“Looking forward to be Mr. Tremblay?” I tease.
He chuckles. “Yeah.”
“How’s Elizabeth feeling?”
“Yeah, good.”
“How many weeks is she now?”
“Seventeen. Joanna’s got this chart, and every time I see her she tells me how big the baby is. Apparently it’s now the size of a pomegranate.”
Joanna is his nine-year-old daughter by Brandy, a girl he had a one-night stand with at university. She seems thrilled that he’s marrying Elizabeth and having a baby, which is great.
We talk for another few minutes about business, and then, conscious that Heidi is still outside on her own, I say I have to go.
“Look after her,” Huxley says.
“Will do.” I nod, end the call, slide my phone into my back pocket, and head downstairs.
