morning, Dr Wilde.’ The two diplomats departed.
‘Okay, weird,’ said Lola. ‘Wonder why he didn’t just have Mr Seretse paged?’
‘Must have been pretty urgent,’ Nina said. ‘Anyway, have you got a form for me?’
‘Yeah, Dr Blumberg told me to print it off for you. What’s it for? Are you getting involved in archaeology again?’
‘I was never un involved,’ she said as Lola took several sheets of paper from her printer. ‘Oh, jeez. Don’t tell me it’s all of that?’
‘Afraid so. Most of it’s just boilerplate, though.’
Nina skimmed through the legalese. ‘No “take my firstborn” clause, so . . . done,’ she said, signing it.
Lola took back the pages. ‘I’ll email you a confirmation and login details as soon as I can. Oh!’ She leaned closer eagerly. ‘Tell me about your movie! Is it good?’
‘If you like Grant Thorn movies, you’ll probably love it,’ was the best the redhead could come up with. ‘Anyway, sorry, but I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon.’
‘Don’t leave it so long this time!’ Lola called after her.
True to Lola’s word, by the time Nina returned home and checked her phone, an email from the IHA was waiting. She resisted the temptation to log in at once, instead joining her husband and daughter. ‘How was the zoo?’ she asked Macy.
‘It was awesome!’ the little girl trilled. ‘We saw some bears, and a red panda, and three different kinds of penguins!’
‘Yeah, we had a nice time. Especially as we stayed longer than we’d planned,’ said Eddie pointedly. ‘What about you? You get what you wanted from the IHA?’
‘Yes.’
His gaze twitched towards her laptop. ‘I suppose you’ll be starting work right away, then?’
‘No,’ she assured him. ‘It can wait.’
‘Good. ’Cause Macy wants to draw you all the animals she saw today. Don’t you, love?’
Macy had already produced a box of crayons. ‘You should have come, Mommy! We saw a snow leopard! It was very beautiful.’
Nina got some paper and sat with her family. ‘I wish I’d seen it. But you can draw it for me, that’s just as good.’
Macy started to scribble, her parents offering encouragement as her interpretation of the animal took on form. But before long, Nina couldn’t help but glance towards the laptop – only to catch Eddie’s silently accusing stare. With more than a twinge of shame, she looked back at her daughter’s drawing.
‘Night-night, Mommy,’ said Macy, kissing Nina.
‘Night, honey,’ Nina replied. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, okay?’
‘Okay, Mommy. But I wish you’d come to the zoo with us.’
‘I had something else to do, hon. I’m sorry. I’ll come next time.’ She and her husband went to the door. Eddie blew Macy a kiss, then quietly shut the door behind them. ‘Did she really miss me?’
‘When I told her we were going without you, yeah,’ he replied. ‘Once she saw the animals, though, she was so excited she hardly even remembered I was there. But you should have come.’
‘That sounded a bit accusatory,’ she noted as they entered the lounge.
He shrugged. ‘Just saying.’
‘Because, you know, she’s three years old now. She’s already very independent, and it’s a good time for her to start doing things without both of us there.’
Eddie dropped on to the couch. ‘Or a good time for one of us to start doing things without her ?’
She eyed him. ‘That was definitely accusatory.’
‘What can I say? Yeah, it was nice to get out last night and do summat different, but that’s not the same as you going back to work for the IHA. That place never brought us anything but trouble.’
‘I’m not going back to the IHA,’ she said, sitting facing him across the coffee table. ‘I want to follow up on my mom’s research, that’s all. Being able to check the IHA’s database just makes it a hell of a lot easier. Besides, that,’ she indicated her mother’s notes, ‘isn’t work. It’s personal,
‘Okay, weird,’ said Lola. ‘Wonder why he didn’t just have Mr Seretse paged?’
‘Must have been pretty urgent,’ Nina said. ‘Anyway, have you got a form for me?’
‘Yeah, Dr Blumberg told me to print it off for you. What’s it for? Are you getting involved in archaeology again?’
‘I was never un involved,’ she said as Lola took several sheets of paper from her printer. ‘Oh, jeez. Don’t tell me it’s all of that?’
‘Afraid so. Most of it’s just boilerplate, though.’
Nina skimmed through the legalese. ‘No “take my firstborn” clause, so . . . done,’ she said, signing it.
Lola took back the pages. ‘I’ll email you a confirmation and login details as soon as I can. Oh!’ She leaned closer eagerly. ‘Tell me about your movie! Is it good?’
‘If you like Grant Thorn movies, you’ll probably love it,’ was the best the redhead could come up with. ‘Anyway, sorry, but I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon.’
‘Don’t leave it so long this time!’ Lola called after her.
True to Lola’s word, by the time Nina returned home and checked her phone, an email from the IHA was waiting. She resisted the temptation to log in at once, instead joining her husband and daughter. ‘How was the zoo?’ she asked Macy.
‘It was awesome!’ the little girl trilled. ‘We saw some bears, and a red panda, and three different kinds of penguins!’
‘Yeah, we had a nice time. Especially as we stayed longer than we’d planned,’ said Eddie pointedly. ‘What about you? You get what you wanted from the IHA?’
‘Yes.’
His gaze twitched towards her laptop. ‘I suppose you’ll be starting work right away, then?’
‘No,’ she assured him. ‘It can wait.’
‘Good. ’Cause Macy wants to draw you all the animals she saw today. Don’t you, love?’
Macy had already produced a box of crayons. ‘You should have come, Mommy! We saw a snow leopard! It was very beautiful.’
Nina got some paper and sat with her family. ‘I wish I’d seen it. But you can draw it for me, that’s just as good.’
Macy started to scribble, her parents offering encouragement as her interpretation of the animal took on form. But before long, Nina couldn’t help but glance towards the laptop – only to catch Eddie’s silently accusing stare. With more than a twinge of shame, she looked back at her daughter’s drawing.
‘Night-night, Mommy,’ said Macy, kissing Nina.
‘Night, honey,’ Nina replied. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, okay?’
‘Okay, Mommy. But I wish you’d come to the zoo with us.’
‘I had something else to do, hon. I’m sorry. I’ll come next time.’ She and her husband went to the door. Eddie blew Macy a kiss, then quietly shut the door behind them. ‘Did she really miss me?’
‘When I told her we were going without you, yeah,’ he replied. ‘Once she saw the animals, though, she was so excited she hardly even remembered I was there. But you should have come.’
‘That sounded a bit accusatory,’ she noted as they entered the lounge.
He shrugged. ‘Just saying.’
‘Because, you know, she’s three years old now. She’s already very independent, and it’s a good time for her to start doing things without both of us there.’
Eddie dropped on to the couch. ‘Or a good time for one of us to start doing things without her ?’
She eyed him. ‘That was definitely accusatory.’
‘What can I say? Yeah, it was nice to get out last night and do summat different, but that’s not the same as you going back to work for the IHA. That place never brought us anything but trouble.’
‘I’m not going back to the IHA,’ she said, sitting facing him across the coffee table. ‘I want to follow up on my mom’s research, that’s all. Being able to check the IHA’s database just makes it a hell of a lot easier. Besides, that,’ she indicated her mother’s notes, ‘isn’t work. It’s personal,
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