Talking Sense (12 page)

She chuckled softly. “You look like such a nice boy. And you’re really not.”

“You bring out the worst in me.”

“Sorry.”

“It wasn’t a complaint.” He smiled.

She sighed. “Are you busy?”

“Nope.”

“Talk a bit longer?”

“Sure.” His smile broadened. She wanted to talk to him. How sweet.

“What are you up to this week?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m doing a bit of research over the next few days.”

“Historical stuff?”

“Kind of.” He hesitated for a moment. Was he really thinking of telling her everything? He hadn’t opened up to anyone for a long time. But then he hadn’t had the kind of connection he had with Mia with anyone else.

He filed that away to think about later. “I’m looking for my father.”

“Oh. You left him somewhere?”

He grinned. “My biological father. I’m adopted.”

“Oh? I didn’t know.”

“Yeah. He’s a Kiwi. My birth mother, Mary, was Irish. Not surprisingly really, considering the name.”

“Was?”

“She died giving birth to me. A ruptured…er…something, can’t remember. Something vital, obviously. My father had left by then—I don’t think he knew she was pregnant. But my adopted mum is her sister, and she was there when I was born.”

“Jeez, Colm, I never knew. You should have said.”

“It’s not the sort of thing you talk about in the staff room.”

“No. I suppose not.” She paused for a moment. “You’re telling me now, though? What’s changed?”

“You mean apart from all the sex and orgasms?”

She laughed. “I guess it has altered our relationship a little.”

“A bit. I like you, Mia,” he confided. “And I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this.”

“You don’t talk to…what was her name?”

“Juliet?”

“Yeah.”

“Nah. We haven’t kept in touch. And no, I didn’t tell her while we were dating.”

“Oh.” She went quiet for a moment.

He cleared his throat. “Anyway. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable by confiding. I’ll shut up if you like.”

“No! God, no. I want to know more. So when Mary died, her sister adopted you?”

“Yes. Kathleen and Niall—they brought me up with their own kids.”

“Did they know your father?”

“No, they never met him—the affair was brief and she kept it secret. Apparently just before she died, she told them he was an artist from ‘Down Under’ and his name was Robert. That’s it.”

“Okay.” She thought about it. “How do you know it was New Zealand and not Australia?”

“That’s…another story.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll tell you about it some other time. But anyway, I thought I’d come here and see if I could track him down.”

“Any luck?”

He sighed. “No, not yet. I’m pretty sure he’s in Wellington, but none of the agencies have turned up any evidence he ever existed. Anyway, I’ve got another couple of places to try tomorrow. I’ll see if they come up with anything.”

“Can I help?”

“Aw, sweetheart…”

“I mean it. There must be something I can do?”

“Maybe. I’ll think about it.” He wasn’t sure how he felt about her helping him out. His quest to find his father was so personal—did he want Mia dragged into it? Plus he was going to have to explain to her why he was so certain his father was a Kiwi and not an Aussie, and he never told anyone about his gift.

“
Col-um…
”

He smiled. “Yes…”

She sighed. “You want to come to the party with me on Wednesday?”

Pleasure flooded him. “I’d love to.”

“I hope it won’t be too boring for you.”

“Can we have sex afterward?”

She laughed then. “Maybe.”

“In that case I look forward to it.”

“Pick me up at four?”

“I will. I’ll see you then, honey.”

“Yeah, see ya,
Col-um.
”

Smiling, he hung up and lay there for a moment, looking at the ceiling. He was glad he’d rung. He’d begun to feel a bit depressed at the thought of two weeks off without seeing her. He hadn’t realised how much he enjoyed just bumping into her during the day, seeing her at break and having morning coffee together. She brightened his day.

Jeez, he was in trouble.

Chapter Fifteen

“I’d heard that you shouldn’t pee in the Amazon because there are tiny piranhas that swim up your urine stream and into your dick,” Colm said.

Nate coughed into his beer as everyone else burst out laughing. “Fucking hell. I’m glad I didn’t know that before I left.”

Mia smiled, meeting Freya’s warm gaze. Colm, Nate and Ash were getting on like a house not only on fire, but with lighter fluid poured all over it. Mia was half-surprised, half-not. Surprised because she could still remember the awkward dinner they’d all had with Ross where Nate and Ash had tried so hard to include him into the conversation and failed on every account. And not surprised because she was beginning to understand what a wonderful guy Colm was beneath the rather reserved and reticent first impression he tended to give.

It was early evening, and the six of them were finally alone. Freya’s family and lots of their other friends had been there for several hours, but they’d gradually departed, leaving the close friends gathered in Ash and Grace’s large living room, sprawled on the sofa and chairs, with Freya on the floor curled up next to Nate.

“I’m so glad you guys had a good time,” Mia said. “What are your plans for the future? Are you going to travel again, or move abroad?”

Freya and Nate exchanged a private, secret smile. “Actually…” Freya said, “…we’ve got something to tell you. We’re staying put for a while because…we’re getting married.”

Cheers broke out and they all got up to hug one another and pass on their congratulations. 

Mia gave Freya an extra-long hug. “Congratulations, sweetie,” Mia said, squeezing her tight.

“Thank you.” Freya kissed her on the cheek and then smiled at her. “Now we just have to sort you out, eh?”

“Yeah.” It took all Mia’s self-control not to turn and look at Colm. But to her horror, her cheeks burned.

Freya stared at her with amusement. “You’re blushing.”

“No, I’m not.” She glanced hurriedly at Colm. Luckily he wasn’t listening and was talking to Ash.

Grace had overheard, though and she surveyed Mia with amusement now. “Ooh. Mia Nicholls blushing. Dear Mr. Guinness.”

“Shut up.” Mia walked off. Her irritation was only a little faked. She didn’t want Colm overhearing the girls’ teasing comments.

She took some of the glasses out to the kitchen and began to wash them up. After a few minutes, Ash appeared carrying some more, put them on the draining board, then picked up a tea towel.

They stood quietly for a moment while she washed the glasses and he dried them. Mia didn’t feel pressured to talk. She liked Ash. A blond, six-foot-four modern-day Viking, Ash was solid and dependable, practical and down-to-earth, in spite of the fact that he spoke to dead people for a living. Mia hadn’t quite got used to that, but then neither had his wife. Grace still didn’t believe a hundred percent in the afterlife, but she was happy to admit that Ash certainly seemed to have an uncanny knack for seeing below the surface of both people and situations.

“Good to have them back, eh?” he said after a while.

“Yeah.”

“Sounds like they had a good time.”

“Yeah. And lovely to hear they’re getting married.”

“I know. Nice surprise.” He put some of the washed and dried glasses away. “And how are you doing? Are you all right?”

Mia gave him a wry smile. “Grace put you up to this, did she?”

“No. I am capable of checking up on my friends without my wife’s help.”

She sighed and leaned on the sink. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He dried a glass slowly. “Colm seems like a good guy.”

She lifted a handful of bubbles and watched a couple float slowly upward. “Yes, he is.” She blew the rest of them off her fingers and then glanced at him. “You like him?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you approve.”

“What am I, your father? I’m only thirty-five.” He smiled, taking the edge off his comment.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she apologised. “I meant that I trust your intuition. Not that you’d tell me outright what you think—you were kind enough not to mention what an idiot Ross was.”

He sighed. “He wasn’t an idiot…”

“He was.”

“Okay, he was, but that wasn’t the point. We just all thought you deserved better.”

“I do, I agree. But be honest with me. Is Colm…better?”

“In what way?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ve just said I like him.”

“I know. He’s very likeable. I meant…using your spidey senses.”

He laughed. “My what?”

“You know what I mean.”

He turned to face her, leaning his hip against the worktop. “He’s good, Mia. A decent guy. Although…I do get the feeling he’s hiding something.”

She rinsed another glass. “He’s adopted and he’s here to find his father. I don’t think he’s told anyone else. Could that be it?”

He folded up the tea towel. “I think there’s something else.”

“Something bad?”

“No.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Come on, Ash, cough up. What do you know that I don’t?”

He bent forward and kissed her cheek. “You know it doesn’t work that way. You’ll have to ask him.”

“You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“Yes. Grace tells me all the time.” He smiled and walked back into the living room.

Mia sighed and put the last glass on the draining board.
He’s hiding something.
What could Ash have meant? Was Colm married or something? But when she’d asked “Something bad?” he’d replied, “No.” Surely he’d have told her if it was something like that?

Without warning, she had a flash of the dream in which Colm had appeared to save her from the car, and the way he’d called her Clio. That had been odd, especially when he’d actually said that the following day. Of course it was likely he’d forgotten he’d already called her it before and her subconscious was remembering something her conscious wasn’t.

But Grace was married to a medium, and Freya was now engaged to a healer. They were surrounded by men who had this strange connection to a world that the girls could only imagine. It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that the dream
was
more than a coincidence.

Mia got herself a glass, rolling her shoulders as she filled it with cold water from the tap. Her back had been pretty good since Colm’s ministrations in Auckland, but the day before, she’d spent longer than she should have done sitting at her computer catching up on some lesson planning, and today her spine ached and she had the warning spikes of pain radiating out across her back beneath her shoulder blades. Disappointment threaded through her—when she’d asked him to the party, Colm had asked her, “Can we have sex afterward?”—but now she just felt tired and wanted to go home.

She went back into the living room to see that Ash’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Jodi, had joined them all and was curled up on the sofa between Grace and Ash. She had a hand resting on Grace’s tummy, obviously feeling the baby kick, which made Mia smile. Grace had been so worried how Jodi would react to her pregnancy, but Jodi had been wonderful—excited at the thought of having a baby in the house, and eagerly joining Grace in looking at baby clothes and items for the nursery.

“Hey, Jodi,” Mia said, walking up to the group.

“Hey, Mia.” Jodi went to get up. “Sorry, did I take your seat?”

“It’s all right,” Colm said. He stood up and indicated for Mia to sit in his armchair, and promptly sat on the floor next to it, legs stretched out.

The others all looked amused but didn’t say anything. Mia glared at Jodi’s grin and sat. “You’ve met Colm, then?” Mia asked.

“Yes.” Jodi smiled at him. “He seems very nice, Mia. You have my approval.”

Mia stared at her. “Oh we’re not…um…” Her cheeks grew warm as Colm lifted an eyebrow. “We’re just friends,” she finished lamely.

“Right,” Jodi said. “Sure.”

Everyone started laughing. Colm covered a smile by sipping his Coke. Mia glared at them all, her sense of humour rapidly disappearing. “I’m not denying we’re having sex,” she said, causing Colm to cough into his drink as everyone’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m just saying that’s it, so you can all stop your nudges and winks because it doesn’t mean anything.”

Everyone sobered, duly chastened. Colm met her gaze, though, thoughtful as he wiped his top lip. She looked away, exhausted, wishing she hadn’t come. She was tired and exhausted. Why had she invited Colm? They weren’t dating, and she was only making things more difficult.

Taking off the scarf she had wound around her neck, she laid it across the arm of the chair. Colm picked it up and pulled it through his fingers.

“So,” Freya said. “Come on, Mia. I think it’s about time we discussed your injuries.”

Mia leaned forward and placed her glass on the coffee table. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on,” Freya pleaded. “Grace has been telling me how bad you’re feeling. Nate could really help—why won’t you say yes?”

Mia glanced at Nate, who was studying her with his dark eyes. She looked back at Freya. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, I agree with Freya, I think we should,” Grace said. “We’re all friends here, and we only want the best for you.”

Mia was growing angry. “Guys, this isn’t the time. We have a guest here.” She gestured at Colm, who had a frown between his eyebrows.

Grace waved a hand. “For God’s sake, Colm’s one of us now. And he only wants the best for you, too.”

They’d planned this, Mia realised. They’d waited until they were all together because they thought they could overwhelm her with numbers, and they hoped having Colm there would make her behave and go quietly. Did they not know her at all?

“This is bullshit,” she snapped. “If I don’t want to take my pills or I don’t want to be healed, that’s up to me—it’s nothing to do with any of you.”

“She’s right,” Nate said, casting his fiancée a look. “It’s none of our business.”

“I don’t make a fuss in front of you,” Mia continued, beginning to feel tears burning behind her eyes and hating herself for them. “I don’t complain. Why should it affect any of you?”