AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He just grins, and Emma, sitting beside him with her head on his shoulder, giggles.
“Come on then, spill the beans,” Aroha says.
“Nope.” I have a swig of beer.
“Her name’s Sidnie,” Jamie says. “She’s twenty-two. She’s got an English degree.”
“What does she look like?” my grandmother wants to know.
“She’s tall, slim, and she’s got this crazy, blonde, curly hair,” Emma says. “She’s very beautiful.”
“Nice,” Aroha’s husband adds.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I say wryly. “We’ve been on one date.”
“Two dates,” Jamie says.
“All right, two dates. But that’s all.”
“He was texting her the whole way up here,” Jamie says.
“What are we, fourteen?” I complain. “Will you shut up?”
“She makes him smile,” Jamie comments, and everyone says, “Aw…!”
I roll my eyes and have another swig of beer.
“What’s she doing this Christmas?” Koro asks.
“Not much I think.” I sigh. “Her father has prostate cancer, would you believe?”
Immediately, everyone’s eyes fill with pity. “Oh no,” Koro says. “What are the odds of that?”
“One in sixty-four.”
His lips curve up, and everyone else grins.
“What?”
“It was a rhetorical question,” Koro says. “Trust you to have the exact answer.”
“It’s basic probability. One in eight times one in eight.” He raises an eyebrow, and I give up. “Anyway, he has his first treatment on Tuesday. She told me they’d canceled Christmas this year.”
“You should have brought her up here,” Koro says.
“Wouldn’t she be looking after her father?” Kuia asks.
“She has an older sister who’s staying with them at the moment.”
“Then why don’t you call her?”
I frown. “I don’t think so.”
“Seriously,” Aroha says, “all joking aside, you should. It sounds as if she’s having a tough time. It would do her good to have a day or two away. You know what this place is like. It’s very healing.”
It’s true. There’s something about the ocean that has the power to heal.
I pick at the label on the beer bottle. “It’s too late now.”
