Page 104 of Midnight Enemy

He looks surprised, as if he expected me to tell him to go fuck himself and storm off.

“Oh,” he says. “Right.”

“Why don’t you join us?” Marama suggests. “Orson and Kingi are getting drinks.”

He looks at me. “Is that okay with you?”

I nod, trying not to wince as I think about what Dad would say if he knew I was sharing a glass of champagne with Spencer Cavendish.

He pulls out a seat and sits. Then he smiles at Marama. Kingi’s right—he doesn’t smile often, but he’s definitely smiling at her. “So how long are you back for?” he asks.

“About a month,” she says. “Then I’m going to do some more traveling. I want to go to India, and Japan, and maybe the States.”

“Still concentrating on your art?” he asks.

“Yes. Going to galleries, and seeing some beautiful places and painting them too.”

Helen sips her champagne. “Are you going to exhibit your work here again in New Zealand?”

“Maybe. I’m seeing someone in Wellington next week to talk about it and show her my paintings.” Marama gives a look that says she’s nervous but excited.

I smile. “I hope they like them.”

“Of course they will,” Spencer says. “She’s terrific.”

She pushes him playfully. “Oh, you. You have no idea what my art is like.”

“Of course I do,” he says, amused. “I have one of your stained-glass works at home.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “What?”

“I bought one from the exhibition you held last year.”

Her jaw drops. “I didn’t know you went to that.”

He just smiles.

Clearly flustered, she says, “Which one did you buy?”

“Parson-Bird,” he says. It’s a nickname for the tui bird, which has white feathers at its throat. “It’s beautiful,” he says to me and Helen. “All blues, greens, and purples. I’ve hung it in one of the windows and it throws colored light across the whole room.”

“Clearly you’re a woman of many talents,” Spencer tells Marama. There’s a slight hint of mischief in his tone.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she replies, her tone flirtatious as she gathers her wits together.

His lips curve up. Luckily, at that point, Orson and Kingi show up with a tray of drinks.

“Everything all right?” he asks, handing them out.

“Fine,” I say, and smile. “We were talking about how Spencer bought one of Marama’s stained-glass pieces.”

“I’m not surprised,” Kingi says. “They’re fantastic.” He knocks his glass as he puts it down and half of it spills across the table. “Dammit.”

“I’ll get a cloth,” Marama says, and goes off to fetch one.

“She likes you,” Helen says to her father with a mischievous smile.

Spencer just gives his daughter a wry look.

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