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Chapter One
Belle
“Sorry, Belle, I’m not going to be able to pick you up this afternoon,” my brother says. His voice through the phone sounds regretful, but that doesn’t help my predicament.
“Alex!” My jaw drops with disappointment. “You promised!”
“I’ve been asked to do a presentation to the Prime Minister and the Health Committee at two, and it’ll probably go on for a couple of hours, so I’ll miss the ferry.”
“Name dropper,” I grumble. “Ordinary people just say they’ve got a dental appointment.”
“James was supposed to do it.” He’s referring to his friend and colleague. “But he’s flying to Australia because his dad’s sick, so I’ve had to take over at the last minute.”
I huff a big sigh. “It’s okay, I understand. I’ll have to see if there are any flights available, although it’s a bit late notice.”
It’s the fourteenth of March, and it’s only four days until our sister Gaby’s wedding on Saturday, which has luckily coincided with the Easter break at university. Gaby and Alex live in Christchurch, which is eight hours from Wellington—half by ferry, half by car. Ordinarily I’d have flown, but I have several big boxes I want to take home for the holiday, and I didn’t want to have to struggle across the airport with them. I could hire a car, but I’d have to pay through the nose for it because I’m under twenty-five.
“Keep your knickers on,” he says. “I’ve organized for someone else to drive you down.”
“Who?”
“Damon.”
My heart skips a beat. Ooh. Damon Chevalier. Alex’s best mate. Twenty-six years old. Six-foot-two. The spitting image of the Norse god Thor, or the movie actor who plays him, anyway. Rumor has it that Damon has a huge magical hammer, too—not that I’ll ever get to see it.
“He’s far too busy to worry about driving me down,” I scoff.
“I’ve already asked him, and he’s agreed.”
Damon was obviously too polite to say he didn’t have the time to escort his friend’s kid sister on a journey that should only take an hour by plane but would take eight by road. “Why’s he going down so early? I would’ve thought he’d fly down on Saturday.” I know his family own a private jet.
“He’s spending a few days at Kia Kaha, helping me with our latest project. He’s staying down here till after the wedding.”
Kia Kaha—Maori for ‘stay strong’—is the company my brother runs with James and his other friend, Henry, in the field of robot-assisted physiotherapy. They help rehabilitate people with impairments using a mobility-aid exoskeleton they invented called MAX. Damon’s a software engineer too, and he occasionally works at Kia Kaha.
“What’s the latest project?” I ask.
“We’ve nicknamed it The Hands-On Robot or THOR for short.”
“Well, isn’t that ironic?”
“Why?”
It’s probably best I don’t explain. Alex doesn’t like it when I drool over his mates. Instead, I say, “What does it do?”
“It’s a new, smaller exoskeleton for children. If they have a disability like Spina Bifida or Cerebral Palsy, or if they’ve had a spinal cord injury, it can help strengthen their lower limbs and give them the confidence to practice walking.”
“That’s so cool, Alex.” I love that my brother has such vision. He’s the brains behind MAX, and he’s helped so many adults already. He is a grumpy bastard, which I’d like to be able to pin down to a particular event, but actually he’s always been cranky—he was just born that way. He has a heart of gold, though, and I’m not surprised he’s turned his attention to helping children.
“Damon will be at your place at three,” he informs me, as uncomfortable with praise as ever. “Ready for the 3:45 ferry. I’ve changed the ticket name.”
“Alex!” I’m nervous now. “Come on, he’s not going to want to babysit me. What on earth are we going to talk about?”
“I dunno. Regale him with your talents. Pull a rabbit out of a hat or something. Gotta go. See you tomorrow.”
“But—”
It’s too late—he’s ended the call.
