Free Just for Now by Rosalind James Page B

it.
    “Paremoremo. The prison,” Finn explained. “Sorry. Stupid
joke. You look good. Don’t change.”
    He was sweating a bit now. How had he got himself into this?
At least she hadn’t asked if the skirt made her bum look big. But there was
still no right answer. He certainly couldn’t tell her that the skirt made her
bum look choice. Or that his hands itched to untie the little bow at the top of
that hole in her shirt. Inappropriate, he reminded himself again. Inappropriate
and dangerous.
    “Done with brekkie?” he asked the kids instead. “Hit your
straps, then, and let’s get on to school. Give Jenna some peace.”
    “Don’t change,” he ordered Jenna again. “You look good.
Trust me.”

Chapter 9
    Jenna smiled a hello at the group of mums waiting for their
kids outside the gates of Mt. Eden Primary on Thursday morning. She stood a bit
apart, as always. Everyone was pleasant, but she was a nanny, not a mum, and
she’d felt the distinction being made from the beginning.
    “Jenna!” Sophie burst out of the gate with her friend
Caitlin beside her. “Can Caitlin come over?”
    Jenna blinked in surprise. Sophie’d been weepy this morning
as she’d said goodbye to Finn, and she’d expected more tears this afternoon. It
was good to see her so cheerful.
    “I think so,” she said cautiously. “If she asks her mum.”
    “Hi.” Caitlin’s mum moved to join them, her small son with
her. “Siobhan,” she reminded Jenna. “And this is Ethan.”
    “Jenna McKnight.” Jenna reached out to shake hands, then braced
herself for Harry’s exuberant arrival. He’d been the last to arrive, as always.
Somehow, it always seemed to take him longer to get out the door than anyone
else. His mind was on more important things, no doubt.
    “Sophie’d like Caitlin to come to the house today,” she told
the other woman as she disentangled herself. “Would that work for you?”
    “Don’t see why not, for an hour or so,” Siobhan agreed.
“She’s been there before. I know where you are.”
    “Let me give you my mobile number.” Jenna dictated it as
Siobhan typed it into her phone. “Till four-thirty? Does that work for you?”
    “Course. We’re just a few streets away. Ethan and I will
walk part of the way with you, in fact.”
     
    “Muuumm!!” Caitlin wailed when Siobhan arrived at the house later
that afternoon. “We aren’t finished yet!”
    “They’re making friendship bracelets,” Jenna explained.
“Sophie got a kit for her last birthday, but for some reason she’s only now
become interested. Now, of course, it’s the new obsession. Can you stay a few
minutes while they finish up, have a cup of tea?”
    “Always the way,” Siobhan agreed. “And I’d love a cuppa.”
     “Harry, why don’t you take Ethan to your room?” Jenna
suggested. “Show him your collections. I’ll bet he’d like to see them.”
    “OK,” Harry said agreeably. “C’mon, Ethan. Come see my
animals.”
    “I really appreciate your letting Caitlin come today,” Jenna
told Siobhan once they were seated at the kitchen table, their cups of tea in
front of them. “Sophie always has a hard time on the day Finn leaves.”
    “Where is he this week?”
    “Wellington. The Hurricanes, for the quarterfinal. So not a
long trip. He’ll be back Sunday morning. But with Nyree gone as well, it’s hard
for her right now.”
    Siobhan nodded. “I heard about Sophie’s mum. She’s attached
to her dad, eh.”
    “You could say that.” Jenna smiled ruefully. “They both are.
But Sophie especially.”
    “I know a fair bit about it, as you see, even though I’m a
newcomer myself,” Siobhan said with a smile of her own. “Finn’s the subject of
a good bit of gossip amongst the mums. Always causes a stir when he delivers
the kids at school.”
    “Everyone loves an All Black,” Jenna agreed. “You’re a
newcomer too? You’re a Kiwi, though, aren’t you?”
    “Cantabrian,” Siobhan explained. “We moved from