Just This Once (32 page)

They were in sight of the house again, and Hannah hesitated,
then stopped.

“Drew,” she said. “Could you please not share what I told
you, earlier, with your parents? I suspect they’re curious about me. I don’t
want them to think badly of me, that I didn’t have a normal family, that
there’s something wrong with me. Even if there is,” she finished a bit
forlornly, “don’t talk to them about it, OK?”

Drew pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her, tucked her
head under his chin, and stood holding her for a minute.

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he said at last. “You’ve
done an awesome job. You’re an amazing woman. But I won’t share anything you don’t
want me to. Even though my parents would think nothing but well of you, if they
knew what I do.”

She stood in his embrace, feeling the vibration of his voice
as it rumbled in his chest, and something in her unwound just a bit. “OK,” she
said shakily. “Thanks. I’m ready to go back inside now.”

She wouldn’t have been reassured to know that Drew’s parents
had indeed been discussing her.

“Did you know that Drew convinced Hannah to move here?”
Helen asked, handing Sam a plate to dry.

“Nah.” He took the plate, wiped it with a tea towel.
“Doesn’t confide much, does he.”

“He’s quite protective of her, isn’t he?” she frowned.

He chuckled. “That’s a good thing, sweetheart. There’d be
something wrong with him if he didn’t try to protect her. Even from you.”

“Me? I’m not scary,” she protested.

Sam smiled. “I’m not so sure. Don’t know how comfortable she
was.”

“I just wish we knew her a little better. That we knew her
family. That she had a family,” Helen went on slowly.

“If I’m guessing right, we may meet her family soon enough,”
he said. “Her brother and sister are coming for Christmas, eh. We’ll be lucky
if Drew brings them all here, Christmas Day. We may want to make a point of
inviting them.”

“You think they’re that involved, then?”

“We’ll have to watch and see what happens, won’t we?”

“Do you really have to go back today, Hannah?” Helen
objected as they sat over lunch the next day. “Couldn’t you wait till tomorrow
and go back with Drew? You’re more than welcome, you know.”

“I have a meeting tomorrow morning,” Hannah explained. “And
I’m sure you want some time alone with your son. I’ve really appreciated having
a chance to visit. It’s been a treat to meet you, and to see where Drew grew
up. Get the full tour,” she smiled.

“That didn’t take long,” Drew pointed out. “All of a few
minutes. But I could drive you up early tomorrow, take you straight in to
work.”

Hannah shook her head. “You don’t have that much time to
relax. This way you can stay as long as you like. I’m sure you have people
you’d like to visit. Besides, I’ve been wanting to take the train. It’ll be
fun, and it’ll put me down at Britomart this evening, right next to the bus
stop.”

“No,” Drew said firmly. “Take a taxi home. It’ll be dark by
then.”

“Hannah,” he continued, exasperated, as she prepared to
argue. “If you don’t promise to take a taxi, I’ll leave now and take you back
myself.”

“All right.” She threw up her hands. “I promise. Man, you’re
bossy. Has he always been this way?” she asked Helen. 

His mother laughed. “That’s Drew. Doesn’t talk much, but
he’s used to being in charge. You’d have to be a saint. Or stubborn yourself.”

“No worries, Mum,” Drew said wryly. “Hannah doesn’t give in
too easily. I’ve lost more battles than I’ve won. You’ll notice she’s still
leaving today.”

“Women have a way of doing that,” Sam agreed. “You think
you’ve won, and then you turn around and find you’re doing what they want,
aren’t you.”

His wife just laughed. “We’ve been married 32 years,” she
explained to Hannah. “He thinks he can get away with that.”

“That’s wonderful,” Hannah answered. “You’re very fortunate.”

“And now,” she said, getting to her feet, “I really do need
to get ready to leave, or I’ll miss my train.”

“You can just drop me at the station,” she suggested as Drew
drove her the short distance to the center of town. “I have my ticket already,
so I’m all set.”

“Why would I do that?” he objected. “Why wouldn’t I take you
for a coffee while you wait for your train, see you onto it?”

“Because I saw the sign at the entrance to town,” she
pointed out. “The one that says ‘Welcome to Te Kuiti—Birthplace of Drew
Callahan.’ Not to mention the giant Number 6 jersey that, you will notice, is
right . . . over . . . there,” she motioned, “hanging up next to the railway
station, where we happen to be going. Why not say goodbye to me here, go back
to your parents’ house and enjoy yourself, instead of getting involved in all
that?”

“This is my life,” he said. “This is my home. People here
have given me a fair bit of support over the years. You’re an All Black 24/7. And
part of the responsibility that comes with that is to this town. If that means
signing a few autographs, having my photo snapped with a few kids, it’s a small
price to pay.”

“I’m not so sure,” she said slowly as he pulled her suitcase
from the boot. “I think it would be a fairly high price, having to watch
everything you do, having everyone watch you, for so long. It’s a lot of
scrutiny.”

“Good job I’m not too exciting, then,” he said cheerfully.
“Not that hard for me to stay out of the news. Only thing I do is kiss a blonde
now and then.”

Pulling back into the yard again after seeing Hannah off,
Drew found his father heading towards him.

“Going out to replace that shed door,” Sam told him. “Come
give me a hand, why don’t you, mate.”

Drew settled in to the comfortable routine of working with
his father, wrestling off the heavy door and preparing the new one to put in
its place.

“Got Hannah safely off, eh,” Sam observed at last. At Drew’s
grunt of acknowledgment, he went on, not looking up from his task, “That’s a
fine young woman. Don’t break her heart.”

“More likely to break mine, isn’t she,” Drew returned
glumly.

Sam looked up, eyes sharp under the strong brows.

“Not sure I can do it,” Drew admitted. “Get her to trust me.
She’s been alone so long. Having to shift for herself. To take care of her
brother and sister, too. Seems like she just can’t believe I’m willing to get
stuck in. I don’t know how to convince her.”

He stopped, shaking his head. “She’s always like that, like
what you saw,” he said slowly, struggling to express himself. “Kind. Giving.
Loving even, you could say. Never seen her rude or angry. Never even seen her
pack a sad. Wish I had, really. Every time she gets close, she just . . .  closes
up. Back to being cheerful again.  And getting her to take anything from
me—even a lift to the station—that’s a struggle. Every time.”

“And you want to give her more,” Sam offered slowly.

“Think I want to marry her, Dad. But I don’t know if she’ll have
me. Scares me rigid,” Drew confessed.

“Seems to me you haven’t done too badly, so far,” his father
said. “Got her over here, you said. That must have taken some doing.”

Drew smiled reluctantly. “It did. Didn’t think it would
work. I had a job just getting her to stay with me after we met, come to that,”
he remembered. “Seems like she’s ready to give up before she even tries. She’s
so sure it won’t work.”

“Good thing you’ve got enough determination for two, then. Never
known you to pike out yet, have I. And seems to me she trusts you more than you
think,” Sam said. “Came to meet us, eh. That took some courage. And yesterday.
Did you know that, about her family?”

“Nah,” Drew admitted. “She said more yesterday—to me
too—than I’d heard before. I think it was being with the two of you. She misses
her dad something chronic, I know that.”

“Then she knows how to love someone. How to trust them,” his
father pointed out. “She’s just scared to try again, I reckon. Anyway, you’re a
good judge. If you’re sure she’s right for you, that’s enough for me.”

“Cheers for that,” Drew said gruffly. “I’m sure.”

They finished the job without talking more, before Drew
changed and set off on a long trail run into the hills around town.

“He left in a hurry,” Helen commented, as Sam washed up from
the dirty job. “Everything all right?”

“Yeh,” Sam answered. “Got a lot on his mind just now,
though.”

“Problems with Hannah?” Helen wondered. “They’re serious,
then?”

“When was the last time he brought a woman here to meet us? 
He’s serious. Reckon we’ll find out if she is, soon enough.”

“She’s a lovely girl,” Helen said slowly. “Doesn’t she care
for him, then? That wasn’t my impression.”

“Skittish, I’m gathering. Like a good dog that’s been
mistreated,” Sam mused. “Have to go slowly with a dog like that. They can be
the best in the end, though, if you’re patient.”

Helen laughed. “Sam Callahan. Better not let Drew hear you
compare her to a dog.”

“I’d hate to see him hurt, though,” she went on after a
minute. “I hope it works out.”

“My money’s on Drew,” Sam said. “When was the last time that
boy set his mind to something and didn’t achieve it? He’s relentless, when he
has a goal. I’ve never seen anybody to equal him that way.”

“The Steadfast Tin Soldier, I used to call him, remember?”
Helen asked. “After the story.” 

Sam smiled. “He’s in the same boat as the rest of us now,
isn’t he. All that money, all those women he never told you about. Now he’s
just like every other poor bloke. Trying to find a way to convince some
unfortunate girl against her better judgment that he’s the man for her.”

At work again on a rainy Monday, Hannah was pleased to get a
call from Reka.

“I’ve missed you,” the other woman told her. “Haven’t seen
you for a month, I was realizing. I’m not allowed to fly. Too soon before the
baby. I need some company, though. Would you and Drew like to come for dinner
next Saturday? I thought we could have a quiet one, just the four of us. Last
chance before the boys head to Aussie for the World Cup next week.”

“I’d love it,” Hannah said. “Let me check with Drew, and
I’ll get back to you.”

She was touched to be greeted as an old friend by Ariana and
Jamie when she and Drew hustled in out of the rain the following Saturday.

“I’m in my nightie, see?” Ariana told her proudly. “Mummy
said if I was ready for bed when you came, I could ask for a story.”

“We don’t get to stay up with you,” she added with
disappointment. “We had fish fingers and chips for tea, though.”

Jamie nodded enthusiastically. “With tomato sauce,” he
announced. “I like to dip them.”

“Choice as, eh,” Drew agreed solemnly.

“Do we have time?” Hannah looked at Reka.

“Of course, if you don’t mind,” Reka apologized. “She thinks
you’ve come over just to visit her, I’m afraid. You shouldn’t have given her
those fairy wings for her birthday. She’s even more certain you’re a fairy
yourself, now.”

Hannah laughed. “I don’t mind. All right, miss, let’s go,”
she ordered the little girl.

“Me too,” Jamie called out.

“Reckon she’ll be reading the train book too,” Hemi grinned.
“Come have a beer, mate. This could take awhile.”

Hannah felt the familiar constriction at her heart as she
settled into the big armchair with Ariana and Jamie. The warmth of their little
bodies pressed against her own brought back vivid memories of her own brother
and sister. Of lying together on Matt’s narrow bed, reading
The Hobbit
aloud to them when they had been scared and sad, in the weeks after their
father’s death.

She had loved them. But she had resented them at times too.
She thought of her irritation when she would be trying to study, and Kristen
would come in, snuggling too close, wanting to talk, invading her space and her
life with her demands. When she hadn’t been able to take a summer job as a
babysitter at fourteen, because Matt was still only nine and she needed to be
home with them.

These children, raised in the warm, stable family Hemi and
Reka had created, wouldn’t grow up wondering if they were acceptable, not sure
they were lovable, she thought with a pang, even as she read the poems from
Complete
Book of the Flower Fairies
to an enraptured Ariana and stoical Jamie. When
Jamie climbed into her lap to have his train book read, she pulled him close,
kissing the top of his curly head and smelling his clean little-boy scent, and
wished she had the chance to go back and start over.

When Reka came in to help put her children to bed, Hannah
pulled herself together. She was dangerously close to crying, she realized, and
that was ridiculous.

“We’re just finished,” she smiled.

“I want Miss Hannah to tuck me in,” Ariana insisted.

“Don’t let her keep you,” Reka warned.

“Don’t worry, I know how to do this,” Hannah assured her.

She helped Ariana get comfortable, pulled up the covers.
“Sweet dreams,” she smiled, leaving down to give the little girl a kiss.

“Stay with me,” Ariana pleaded. “I’m not sleepy. I think I
need another story.”

“Hmmm. How about if you just rest your eyes for a while.
I’ll turn out the light and it’ll be like the forest, when the fairies curl up
under the flowers and go sleep.”

“Leave the door open, please,” Ariana begged. “I don’t like
it too dark.” 

“She didn’t keep you chatting, then,” Reka said with a smile
when Hannah joined her in the hallway, carefully leaving Ariana’s door open a
crack.

“No,” Hannah agreed. “I’m up on those delaying tactics.”

“How much longer till your due date?” she asked, once they
were all settled at the dinner table and tucking into Reka’s usual substantial
fare.

“Four weeks,” Reka sighed. “They say third babies are more
likely to come early, though. Two weeks would be fine with me.”