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“Good.” She flashes me a smile.
I return it, then head back to my office.
I phone the DI and ask her to contact Blue to arrange a meetup. She calls back in fifteen minutes with the details of a café not far from Kia Kaha in the center of the city, and a time—Sunday at ten a.m.
After that, I find it difficult to put my mind to anything. I spend an hour trying to work, but I can’t concentrate. In the end, I put it aside and go out to the kitchen. There’s no sign of Aroha and Leia. Maybe they’re having a lie down.
I find a muesli bar and a bottle of water, don my sunglasses and a baseball cap, and go into the garden, barefoot. I can hear Sue around the back of the house, trimming hedges. I can also hear singing. Surprised, I cross the lawn and go through the garden gate to the swimming pool. Aroha’s in the shallow end, holding Leia as she bobs about in the water. She’s singing to the baby, who’s wearing a brightly colored swimsuit with ducks on it and a sunhat.
I lean on the barrier fence and watch them for a moment, finishing off my muesli bar. Aroha hasn’t seen me. She’s wearing a bikini that’s a luminous orange color and showcases her magnificent figure. Wow. I blink in slow motion.
She’s singing ‘Wheels on the Bus’. As she tells Leia that the wipers go “swish, swish, swish,” Leia smacks the water with her hand, sending a spray over Aroha’s face. She just laughs and says, “Good girl! Do it again!” She moves Leia’s hand to splash her, and Leia laughs and kicks her little legs, making me smile.
Aroha turns at that point and sees me, and her eyebrows rise. “Oh, hello.”
“Hey.” I’m suddenly embarrassed she’s caught me watching. “Sorry, I wasn’t spying on you. I heard singing, and…”
“Come in,” she says. “The water’s lovely.”
I have a swig from the bottle. She’s obviously spotted that I’m wearing swim shorts. “I was going to have a dip later.”
“Aw, come on. You have to see Leia—she’s really enjoying it.”
I give in. It’s too hot, and the water—and Aroha—look too inviting.
I go through the gate, leave the bottle, sunglasses, and hat by one of the loungers, and strip off my tee. I don’t miss the fact that Aroha watches, and I feel a surge of pleasure as her gaze skims down me. Trying not to show that I’ve noticed, I go down to the deep end and dive in, swimming all the way underwater to the shallow end, where I see Aroha’s tiny bikini bottoms outlining her tight butt, and her brown skin glimmering in the water. Fighting the urge to slide my hands across it, I surface right in front of the two of them.
Leia bursts out laughing and splashes me, and Aroha giggles. “Good girl!”
I chuckle and shake my head so droplets of water from my hair scatter them both, and Leia laughs again.
“She’s having a great time,” Aroha says. “She loves the water. It’s so warm.”
“It’s solar heated. The panels are on the roof.” I point to the house.
“That makes sense. How wonderful.” She gives me a hopeful gaze. “Would you mind holding her for a minute so I can swim a few lengths?”
“Oh. Er, sure.” I take her from Aroha, feeling all fingers and thumbs.
“You’re holding her like a rugby ball,” she says with a giggle.
“I’m worried about dropping her and drowning her.”
“You won’t,” she scoffs. “She holds up her head now, so you can turn her facing out. Look, slide your hand around her, under her arms, and put one hand under her legs. That’s it!” She pushes off the side. “Back in a minute.” She dives under the water and heads toward the deep end of the pool.
I look down at the baby in my arms. She smacks her hand on the water, splashing me in the face. “Nice one,” I tell her. She’s clearly enjoying the feel of the silky water on her legs, and kicks them enthusiastically. I move about from one side of the shallow end to the other, so the water passes over her skin. The suit she’s wearing is tight around the tops of her legs, so I think it doubles as a nappy.
“Look,” I say to her, “you’ve got ducks on your tummy.”
She turns her head at the sound of my voice and looks up at me. I catch my breath at the blueness of her eyes. It’s like looking in a mirror. This little girl shares the same blood as me. She’s a little piece of Maddie, and of my mother, who also had turquoise eyes.
She lifts a hand to my mouth. Her fingers are so tiny, the nails minute. She brushes them against my lips, and I open my mouth and pretend to nibble them, which makes her lips curve up.
“Nom, nom, nom,” I say. “I’m having your fingers for lunch.”
She smacks the water and looks away, then rubs her eyes. Maybe the chlorine makes her eyes sting, because she screws up her nose and her chin wobbles.
In alarm, I look for Aroha, but she’s swimming lengths at the moment, moving fast through the water. I’m not even sure she’ll hear me if I call.
