“This is nothing to the winters we have back home,” Mano glanced around.
“Everything all set?”
“Yeah. Leave tomorrow night. Mitch’s brother, Tim, will meet me at the airport. I’m sorry for leaving you like this.”
Eden smiled. “I’m a big girl, Mano. I can handle a two-hour flight home alone. Besides, we have all day tomorrow with your friends. Feels like I’ve known them for ages.”
“They like you, too.”
“Will you call Aidan before you leave?”
“Of course.”
“Do Brett and Alistair know?”
“Yeah. And Jackson. They’ll send me videos, and I’ll write things up.”
“How long do you plan to be there?”
“Not sure. A few days? Maybe a couple of weeks.”
“I can water your plants.”
“I don’t have plants.”
“But you are coming back, right?” Did the world stop as she waited for his answer?
“I plan to.”
“Good. I’ll be here. Waiting.”
He entered the water fully-clothed. Their shoulders touched. “There’s a lot of darkness inside of me.”
“And a lot of light. You’re a good man, Mano. And I love you.”
“Eden…”
“I choose you. I don’t mind waiting. And when you’re ready, we’ll see where this journey goes, right?”
He took the cup from her hand and placed it on the deck. With one hand he gently cupped the back of her neck. His eyes darkened as his thumb traced her jaw before resting on her lips. “You’re the first and last thing I think about every day.”
She kissed him before he could say more. The chilled air, the cold water, the unknowns of tomorrow were no competition for what they felt whenever their bodies touched.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Christchurch, New Zealand
There was something comforting when hearing familiar accents after a long time away. It became real then; he was home. He breezed through Immigration and found Tim where the latter said he’d be, in a discreet corner of the airport, far from the excited crowd armed with flowers, placards, and balloons.
Mano moved quickly, keeping his sunnies on and pulled his cap low. He only slowed his pace when he stood a few feet away from the tall figure engrossed with a phone. If he knew his former roommate, Tim Molloy would be checking any number of facts and statistics that nobody else would care about.
“Tim?”
“Oh shit! You scared me!” Tim gasped, one hand clutched over his heart.
“Aren’t you supposed to be looking out for me?” Mano said, shaking his head as Tim reached for his bag. “Did you drive the ute?”
Tim dangled the keys in front of Mano’s face. “I know this wasn’t the practical car of your dreams so if you ever want to sell it…”
“Lucky for you that I don’t. Besides, you’re a uni student which means that you’re poor.”
Tim burst out laughing. He casually draped an arm around Mano’s shoulders as they exited the airport terminal. “Not for long. Once dad retires and I inherit the farm, I’m sure I’ll be able to pay you back.”
“Your folks all right? Mitch said your dad was a bit under the weather.”
“He’s better now, but yeah, it took him longer than usual to get back to his old self.”
“He’ll be all right.”
“Yeah. But for the first time, he actually looked his age. Won’t slow down though.”
“I don’t think anyone in your family knows what that means,” Mano said.
Tim grinned. “Yeah, you’re right there.”
Buildings and roads he once knew like the back of his hand seemed different for no reason. Store fronts, street signs, even the sound of the buses demanded his attention. Familiarity should bring comfort; instead it reminded him only of how long he had been away.
And yet his time in California wasn’t the longest he had been out of his homeland.
Different this time, he realized, was wanting to know what was going on elsewhere while he was back in New Zealand. Normally, he was quick to forget about his experiences overseas. He was home and that was all that mattered before. He glanced at his watch.
Since Aidan was still with Brandon, what would Eden be doing now? A vision of her curled up on her sofa watching something on Netflix came. He smiled at the idea. He sent a message:
* * *
Mano: Just arrived.
* * *
Seconds later, his phone sounded:
* * *
Eden: Oh good! I’ll be up for a couple more hours, if you want to talk. Love you.
* * *
Tim’s chatter on their drive back became background noise, an accompaniment to the passing scenery. He searched the blue skies, a gauze of white cloud breaking the perfection of the color.
“Corrine wants to see you today.”
Mano’s head turned sharply. “We didn’t talk about that.”
“No worries. Blake suggested giving you a day at home. She’s been staying with him and Neela.”
Mano returned his attention to the moving view outside. “I want to talk to Antoinette first. Whatever Corrine thinks, I want to hear it straight from Antoinette that she wants me to talk to Margot. I won’t do it without her permission.”
Tim nodded. “Neela’s coming over after her morning training. Blake couldn’t convince her to wait.” Tim paused. His quick glance over was felt rather than observed. “She’s been worried. About you. About how all this might—”
“It won’t.”
Mano pressed a button on the dashboard and music filled the ute. Tim understood that conversation would cease between them at this point.
When they pulled into the driveway of his townhouse, the front door opened quickly. The stocky figure of his former teammate and flatmate—now married to his cousin—stood at the doorway, his famous smile on display and an apron tied around his waist.
“Welcome home! Though I wish it were under better circumstances,” Blake said. “I just got a batch of choc chip cookies out of the oven. Good timing!”
Blake wasn’t one to hide his feelings, and Mano found himself enthusiastically enveloped by a tight embrace. “Miss you, bro.”
“You taking care of my baby cousin?” Mano asked.
“More like she’s taking care of him,” Tim snickered as he walked past the two men. “Put him on a diet. Retirement has packed on the weight, hasn’t it?”
Mano smiled at the banter between his two former flatmates. It used to drive him crazy, but it wouldn’t feel like home if those two weren’t arguing about something. They had been an odd threesome: two professional athletes and the younger brother of one. But it had worked.
They were a tight unit, one always there to support another. During the darkest days of Margot’s treatment, when he would spend half of his time in his car driving to practice, to the hospital, to team meetings, back to Margot’s house, to somewhere for something, either Blake or Tim—sometimes both— would be waiting whenever he got home with a pat on the back, a warm meal, and silent companionship.
“Ten minutes, Mano, yeah? For lunch?” Blake yelled.
He stopped at the doorway to his bedroom. It’d been months since he was last there. The room was virtually untouched but he guessed Tim must have checked in from time to time as there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere.
Shutting the door behind him, he sat on his bed then reached for his phone. His really wanted to hear Eden’s voice. He wanted her to hear his.
“Hi!” she answered the call after only one ring. “Are you home?”
“Yes. Did you get home okay? How was the flight?”
“You have the best friends! Mitch and Mark drove me to the airport. I’m going to pretend it has nothing to do with the fact it was either taking me to the airport or decorating the house for Steve’s birthday. I hope I didn’t leave any drool over Mark when we hugged. He smells so good. But get this: he one-upped M
itch and got me on a private plane! Mitch is so cute when he’s angry. Is this an ongoing thing between the two of them?”
Mano smiled. “Yes. Been like that for years.”
“How fun!”
“How’s Aidan?”
“He sounds good! Going to Louisiana was probably the best thing for him. Lisa’s parents are amazing, and she has a lot of nieces and nephews. He’s the oldest one there, and Brandon said he has all the little ones following his orders.”
“He was born to be a protector.”
“Yeah. Patty and Charles are sure they won’t be sending Matthew back to school for the rest of the year. I haven’t told Aidan that.”
“I have a feeling he knows.”
“Probably. The boys have talked, which is good.” She paused. “Brandon suggested Aidan finish school in the city as well.”
He heard her fighting through the hysteria at the suggestion. “What do you think?”
“It makes sense.”
“What do you want?”
Seconds stretched before she answered more determinedly. “I think he should stay in Seven Hills until he finishes middle school. He likes it here.”
Mano smiled. “You son’s not a quitter. He’s like his mum.”
She cleared he throat. “Well….”
“You’re not, Eden.”
After their call, his gaze lingered on the lone object still on his side table, now lying on its front. It was a simple frame, bought on a whim to showcase photos that were also impulsively taken in a photobooth. On their first date, he recalled. Except there weren’t any more photos, the glass had cracked at his hurried removal. Did he cut himself? He couldn’t remember. Darkness had enveloped him then, so strong the rush of anger, sadness, despair – nothing good – that he could barely see in front of him. He had been alone when he first heard her message on his answering machine. They had already talked; she had written a note. There was no need to emphasize her decision to destroy him. But she left a message anyway.
Mano leaned to the side of the bed and pulled out a drawer from the side table. It was still there. He opened the small velvet box. The single emerald-cut diamond ring glistened inside.
Forget me.
It wasn’t only what she had said, but how she had said it. He knew her. He heard the relief in her voice. And because he still loved her, he tried to honor her request. It began by taking the ring she had given back to him. Then the rage began to dictate his actions: ripping photos, throwing out her gifts to him. He tore through the house determined to eradicate all memories of their past.
Forget me.
The knock on his door brought him back from the past. “Mano?”
“Coming.” He placed the ring back into the drawer.
“Not my idea, and I just found out,” Blake said through the door. “But Neela’s just parked the car. And Rieann and Joe have parked behind her.”
Mano swung his legs off the bed. “What?
“Just giving you fair warning.”
Sure enough, his cousins weren’t apologetic in showing up unexpectedly. Rieann pulled Mano into her arms before he could say a word. “Why didn’t you let us know you were back, eh? I had to find out on Blake’s Twitter feed, of all places!
Blake held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, all I tweeted was about the choc chip cookies being a welcome home treat for my former flatmate. Honest!”
Joe pushed through, lifting Mano off the ground with a bear hug. “You don’t think we’d let your first day back be without some good food, eh? Dad wants you to visit him soon. Said there’s good fishing going on. You haven’t met Sam’s little one yet, either.”
Joe patted Mano’s cheek affectionately. “You look good. Told Rieann there was nothing to worry about.”
“Real subtle, Joe.” Rieann rolled her eyes as she began to pull food containers out of a plastic bag. She slapped at Tim’s hand dismissively. “Back off! Mano gets first pick.”
“I was just taking a look, Rieann!” Tim protested.
“Yeah, I remember you saying that before half the ham disappeared on New Year’s Day.”
Mano’s grin disappeared when he spied the youngest of the Smyth siblings standing by the door. Hair pulled back, worried eyes met his. Neela was often quoted in articles that he was one of her inspirations when she decided to be a professional rugby player.
He knew better. Given how many records she was on track to break this year, Neela Smyth could very well be the most decorated rugby player in the family.
“Hiya,” she said tentatively.
He did as he used to do and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. She responded to his gesture by leaning for the traditional hongi. It was a greeting they’d committed to sharing, just the two of them, when he found her crying in the backyard decades ago. She was tiny then, left behind while her brothers and sister accompanied their father on one of his boats. She became more like a sister to him that day than the little cousin who followed him everywhere.
“You look good,” Neela whispered. “Tim said that Mitch said you were laughing in Los Angeles. That got me worried.”
“Because I was laughing?”
“Yes. You don’t like to laugh out loud.”
“To be accurate, Mitch actually said he giggled,” Tim interrupted.
Mano glared at Tim, “Mitch wouldn’t say such a thing.”
“Aha! You did giggle!”
Rieann rolled her eyes. “Food’s getting cold. Tim, be useful and get us plates!”
It didn’t feel like he had been away for months. Teasing and endless talk circled around him at the dining table. Joe was quick to bring up news from the family business; Rieann kept him up to speed with how their extended family was doing; Neela and Blake were his source for all things rugby.
Tim sat on a barstool busy eating what he could.
A strong sense of contentment washed over him as he watched Rieann laugh. She was a cancer survivor, too. Unlike Margot, Rieann didn’t want walls around her to keep her safe.
It wasn’t jetlag that kept him up that night. Thoughts and memories of the life he had here flooded his senses. He tried to focus on what he planned on saying to Antoinette. Instead, all he heard was Margot’s last words to him before she disappeared.
When he heard Tim’s heavy footsteps descend the stairwell, he glanced at the clock. Dawn was barely breaking but Tim was on yet another research expedition to the coast. Most people would balk at the odd hours, but Tim loved it. Still, Tim loved farming more and couldn’t wait to return to his parents’ farm to help run it full time. That had always been the plan: one more year with Tim as a roommate then Margot and he would have this place to themselves, a perfect time to start a family.
As soon as 9 o’clock came, he dialed Antoinette’s phone number. She picked up immediately.
“Mano! Son! You are home!”
“Good to hear your voice, Antoinette.” And he meant it. His nervousness ebbed. She sounded good. “How are you?”
“I’m better now that I’ve heard your voice. When did you get back?”
“Flew in yesterday.”
“Will you have time for a visit? I know how busy —”
“Of course, Antoinette. In fact, that’s the reason I phoned.”
“Oh? Well I was wrong. I thought it’d be because you wanted to know if you should look for Margot.”
He froze. He shouldn’t have been surprised though. Antoinette always seemed to be a step ahead of everyone she knew.
She laughed quietly. “Mano? Son? Are you there?”
“Yes.”
“Corrine’s been here. I know what she feels you – and she – should do.”
“What do you think I should do, Antoinette? Be honest.”
She sighed. “I won’t pretend I don’t want to see Margot. But I also feel she should want to come home, that she would want to say good-bye to her father.” She waited, as if thinking deeply, then asked the question no one had yet. “Would you like to see
Margot again?”
No.
Yes.
Maybe.
“Mano?”
“I don’t know.”
He heard her smile. “Neela hinted that you may have moved on. I’m glad. You must tell me about this new love of yours, Mano. She must be special.”
“She is,” he said immediately.
“See me soon? I want a good look at you. It used to be so easy to keep up with your life, what with you being in the papers and in the internet all the time. But once you retired and left the country, it’s like you disappeared as well!”
“I’m sorry. I should have —”
“Ah, none of that! No need to be sorry for living your life. How about lunch today? Michael’s usually at his best at that time, but I can’t guarantee he’ll be able to recognize you. He doesn’t always know me either.”
His morning was spent counting down the minutes until it was time to leave. He thought he’d be nervous, to face the woman whose daughter he had promised to love forever. Instead, he retreated into a neutrality of emotions whenever he was placed in moments of pressure.
He may have been gone for months, but the drive to the care facility remained familiar. He pulled the ute into the half-filled parking lot then walked up the path between manicured lawns, toward the ramp that led to a covered veranda. A figure dressed in yellow had come out; she raised her hand in greeting. Within five minutes of his arrival, he stood before the woman who was to have been his mother-in-law.
Barely a meter and half tall, the former dancer stood taller and had her arms wide open.
“You look well,” Mano said as he bent to kiss her cheek.
“Thank you.” Antoinette tilted her head as she studied him. A bright smile briefly distracted Mano from the dark circles under her eyes.
“Today’s a good day,” she began. “Michael had a wonderful morning. We had a good conversation. We laughed. And now you’re here.” She cupped his cheek. “Yes, today is a good day.”
Always and Forever: Rugby Brothers, Book 3 Page 21
