And that was about how my week went. Daisy and I went for a long run or bike ride when I got home from work, even if it was late, sweated and pushed each other to train harder, then took a shower together, giving me a chance to put my pick-up-able theory to the test once more. We ate very late, and everybody else waited for us, which was either Excessively-Mount-Zion or Family Time, I wasn’t sure, but which felt pretty bloody comfortable. Dinner was something Oriana or my mum or Daisy herself had made, and since they were all better cooks than I’d ever be, I didn’t care who did it. Daisy and I did the washing-up afterwards, though, side by side in the kitchen, listening to Oriana talking about the garden, about the next farmers’ market, about Iris, about bees and jam and herbs and cooking, and to Frankie filling us in on her day much more sparingly. And then Daisy and I went to bed for a while and had a cuddle and a nap and possibly some slow, lazy love before she headed out to work again and I fell asleep.
Not a bad after-work program, you’d have to agree.
After Wednesday’s dinner, which was my mum’s creation of salmon cakes made with chickpeas and lime, served with mashed broad beans, plus a chocolate soufflé made by Oriana, in case the rest of it had been too healthy, the girls modeled their new summer Otago Girls summer uniforms for us. Oriana was excited, and Frankie was resigned.
“If I wanted to wear something this ugly,” Frankie complained, giving a flick to the fabric of the blue skirt and jacket, “I’d have stayed at Mount Zion. Shapeless skirt, clumpy black shoes, short white socks. I’ve hardly left at all.”
“The shirt has a pattern, at least,” Oriana said. “Well, stripes, anyway. Though you’re not allowed to tuck it in, which is sad.”
“The sack look,” Daisy agreed. “Popular with uniform designers the world over. Never mind, love. Think of it as the ticket price you pay to enter a whole new world. Computer science class, Frankie. That’s awesome.”
“Yeh,” she said, “though everybody else will know more. Maybe I can get help to catch up, though.”
“I’m guessing you can,” I said. “Teachers like pupils who make an effort, eh, Mum.”
“I’d know,” Mum said, “if you’d ever done it.” Which made Daisy practically fall off her chair laughing.
I scowled at her. “Stop it. I can’t help it if I liked rugby better.”
“Never mind,” she said soothingly. “Chelsea already warned me about your mental deficiencies, remember?”
“Also,” Oriana said, “you can do sport at school. I’m pretty good at swimming, and you don’t have to know rules for swimming. You just have to swim. So do you think I could?”
“Yes,” I said. “Absolutely.”
“I could play soccer, I guess, in the winter,” Frankie said. “Or hockey. That’s running, and I’m not bad at running, and I like to try to beat other people, too, I think. At least, I always did, even though I wasn’t supposed to want to. I won’t have any skills, of course. Maybe I should just do the running part.”
“I may not know about teachers,” I told her, “but coaches definitely like players who make an effort. And ones who want to win. I could teach you the basics beforehand, if you like.”
“Which one?” she asked. “Soccer, or hockey?”
“Either,” I said. “Or both.”
“You don’t know how, surely,” Daisy said.
I sighed. “Daisy. I was a professional sportsman. I do know how. Not that I wouldn’t embarrass myself in competition, but to teach her the basics? Of course I know how. Also, I may have a mate or two whose wife’s a pro. At hockey, not at soccer. For some reason, All Blacks marry Black Sticks. Maybe we like women who are good runners.”
“And who look good running,” Daisy said. Saucily.
“That too,” I agreed. I wouldn’t say that I’d never put a hand on her bum out there, when we’d been running. Or pulled her into a handy crevice in the rock, either. That had been last night, and it had been nice. Pick-up-ability once again. Very useful, in sandy places.
The next night, a few things happened.
First, I got a call from Luke.
“Yeh?” I said, tensed to hear it. “What?”
He said, “Nah, bro. No worries. All quiet now. I did see an old ute earlier in the week. Blue, not white, but some slow driving, maybe cruising the place. Came by on