Page 150 of Just One Look
Didn’t any of these peoplehug?Her father didn’t really hug, but he at least pretended, and these werewomen.Her heart hurt for him. Ithurt.
Lana said, “I’ll go with you.”
“I need you here,” Rita said.
“Sofia can help you,” Lana said. “I need to check our defenses. Manuka honey,” she told Elizabeth. “Got to keep it safe from the thieves. Bloody everywhere, aren’t they.”
“Fine,” Luka said. “Let’s go.”
Back out to the SUV again, nobody saying anything at all. This family was bizarre.
Luka followed a gravel farm road behind the house, through groves of glossy trees, their dark foliage gloomy in the gray light. Elizabeth thought,What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?She turned in her seatand asked Lana, “How long has it been since you’ve seen Luka?”
“Christmas,” she said.
“Oh,” Elizabeth said. “Well, nice that he’s visiting, then.”
“Yeh,” Lana said. “It’s good. We moved the hives farther back, Luka. Did electric fencing, too.”
When they came to the gate, though, she didn’t get out. Luka said, “Give me the key, and I’ll open it.”
“Wait,” she said.
Silence, until Elizabeth finally asked, “Are we expecting … thieves? Being … being sneaky, or something?” Because Luka didn’t seem to know what was going on, either.
Lana exhaled on a long breath. “No. I needed to talk to Luka. I could need your help.”
* * *
Wire-fence tension,that was what this dinner was like, Luka thought. His grandmother quiet as always, his mother issuing directions for the next day, and everybody else nearly silent. The same, and not the same at all.
And in the midst of it, a knock at the door.
Lana said, “I’ll go,” and stood up. Her face, somehow, had changed completely. The sort of look you saw on a kid’s face on Christmas morning, when she was checking the boxes to see whether one of them could possibly contain a puppy. Nearly believing, but not daring to hope.
She opened the door, and a man stepped in from the mud porch, pulling a wool beanie off his gray head. A big, rangy man in his fifties, with a weatherbeaten face. He hung up his jacket, put a hand around Lana’s waist, kissed her cheek, and said, “Right time?”
Her shoulders heaved like she was taking a deep breath, and she said “Yeh. Perfect.”
Rita said, “What are you doing here, Dave? Get him a plate, Lana.”
Lana said, “He’s here to help me tell you that we’re getting married.”
A long, long silence. Sofia’s fork halfway to her mouth, the old lady sighing. And then Rita laughed.
The sound rang out, and everybody froze some more. And Rita said, “He’s marrying you? Why?”
* * *
Luka was on his feet.Rage. That was what this was. He wasn’t sure what to do, and then he was. He strode forward, grabbed the bloke by the hand, pumped it hard, gripped his shoulder, and said, “Great news, mate. Congrats. I’m Luka. The brother.” After that, he kissed Lana’s cheek the way he’d done in the car, when he’d promised to help. He hadn’t kissed her since he’d been about six, but he was doing it from now on. “That’s brilliant,” he told her. “I’m glad.”
She was smiling, looking relieved, so that was good. Luka said, “I’ll get you that plate,” and did it. “Shepherd’s pie, mate, and Gran makes the best.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Dave said, going to the sink to wash his hands, then sitting down next to Lana, pulling in his chair, looking around the table, and saying, “Reckon that was a bombshell, eh. Spill it, my old dad would say. No point mucking about. Lana’s agreed to be my missus, and we’re tying the knot. Never thought I’d find somebody, and then I did. Time to make it legal.” A good Kiwi bloke, Luka reckoned. A hard worker, and a good bugger, the kind who’d always lend a hand to a mate, but wouldn’t talk much while he did it. A little shy, possibly, around women. That worked.
“When’s the wedding?” Elizabeth asked. “I’m Elizabeth, by the way. Here with Luka.” She was playacting, obviously, because she didn’t seem to be with him at all, but maybe this cause was worth it.
“Soon as we can do it,” Dave said. “In the pub, I reckon, don’t you, sweetheart?”
