Page 41 of The Player in New Zealand
I looked more closely at her. Even if we hadn’t been introduced, I would have known her as Tane’s mother. She and Nina could have been sisters. Emily was wearing a flowing navy dress paired with a cropped jacket.
When she met my eyes, we smiled at each other.
“You’re going to sit with Mum and Nina while I do my usher thing if that’s okay?” Tane asked me.
“Sure,” I said. Tane was handed a stack of programs, and he offered me one elbow, his mom the other. “Ready, ladies?”
The doors were open and a queue was forming, people waiting for the ushers to lead them to their seats. We cut the line and stepped into the ballroom. It was... very pink. Gauzy white fabric swept over the walls and ceilings, tied off with satin pink ribbons and massive arrangements of pink and white flowers.
Tane led us to our assigned seats and made sure his mom was settled before he strode back to the doors.
“Claire,” Mrs. Taumata said, leaning toward me and placing a palm on the empty chair between us, Tane’s seat when his job was done. “I am so glad you are here.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Taumata.” I threaded my fingers together in my lap, feeling a little bad for hoodwinking the family.
“Please, call me Emily.” She placed a hand on mine, her brown skin a contrast against my own. “I was worried about him, you know. He was too flashy. And also, not happy. I tried to tell him not to do the bar, but a mother can only do so much. I want what’s best for him.”
“I do too.”
“Good. He needs a stable life. A family of his own.” She winked at me. “Soon.”
Oh Jesus. Someone get me my birth control pills.
Thankfully, we were interrupted by Tane arriving with Nina, Hemi trailing behind. Tane and Nina were bickering. “Why do you have to show me to my seat? I’m not an old lady who can’t figure it out. No offense, Mum.”
“None taken.”
“It’s my job, Nina. Don’t piss off the bride, yeah?”
“I wouldn’t dream. But I’ll gladly piss you off. You’re the one who thought it would be a good idea to tell Uncle James that the rumor was true and your loose forward had, in fact, cheated on his wife. Seriously, you made the man cry.”
Tane rolled his eyes and mumbled a curse, practically pushing his sister toward me before stalking down the aisle.
Emily swatted her daughter as she passed us to take her seat. “You know James wants his kid to play rugby. Don’t make everyone out to be so bad.”
Nina fanned herself with a wedding program and turned to me as we both made room for Hemi to get by. She placed a hand on my arm, squeezing it. “My family’s not so bad, eh? And Tane’s being good to you, yes?”
I assured her that he was. “Where are the girls?”
“One of Mum’s friends is watching them so we can have a date night,” Nina said as she nudged Hemi. Nina and Emily chatted, catching up on local and family gossip. Hemi seemed perfectly happy staying out of the conversation. In fact, he had never said much around me at all, seeming to prefer being around his kids than other adults.
It was a stark contrast to bubbly and social Nina, who’d never met a person she didn’t like and talked like it was her job.
Well, different strokes for different folks.
It took a while for everyone to get settled in, with stragglers arriving in a rush to make the ceremony. Finally the music paused and Tane stepped around his mother to sit beside me.
He laced his fingers through mine, seemingly without thinking about it. On his other side, his hand interlocked with his mother’s and then Nina grabbed my hand too, giving it a squeeze.
What a family. My heart clenched in a sudden longing for my sister, the only true family I had, thousands of miles away.
THIRTEEN
The ceremony was beautiful,given in both English and Maori, and Emily and Nina readily had their tissues out to wipe tears of joy and blow their noses. At one point, Tane sniffed next to me. Our eyes caught, and before I could stop it, a slow smile spread across my face. He rolled his eyes and nudged me, but I squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.
And then his thumb started to slowly stroke over the back of my hand. I looked down, only half paying attention to the vows. Tane’s thick, blunt fingers tangled with my slim ones, his rough calluses running over the fine bones.
When I looked up again, he was focused on the ceremony. But the stroking didn’t stop.
