This is the long-awaited sequel to my story of love and lust in the New Zealand outback, "You'll See, Lucy". I've had a number of requests for this story, and I apologize to everyone who enjoyed the last one so much that it took me so long to write again. Life sometimes has a way of directing us away from our personal projects. Hopefully this will live up to the expectations of the fans of the first part. In any case, this story takes place some years after. The rest will become apparent. Enjoy! And please feel free to contact me with comments and suggestions for a third installment.
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"This...is just a one-time thing," Lucy began. I nodded in ascension.
"What happens in New Zealand stays in New Zealand," I reassured her.
"It's for the best," Becca agreed. We were all silent again, but the breathing was easier. The next day we met Frank at the airport to drop of his ute. I gave him a look and a handshake that said, "Meet me at the pub, I've got a tale for you," and he drove off with a polite nod and smile to the girls. Becca and I took Lucy into the airport as far as security before saying our goodbyes. She still looked amazing, standing there, happy but slightly sad, dressed all pretty in her light skirt and sandals, her deep cleavage once again beckoning. I gave her a long, strong hug when it was my turn, and she surprised me by giving me a long, deep, loving kiss. When we finally broke I saw that Becca was flushed and smiling. She squeezed my hand. I was getting laid that night for sure. Lucy bit her lip and ran and hand down my chest as she took a step away and picked up her things.
"I've got some free time around Christmas," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "And I hear this country is beautiful that time of year. Perhaps I'll come visit you two? Besides..."
"What happens in New Zealand," I began.
"Stays...in New Zealand," Becca said, smiling at her sister and pulling in close to me. Lucy winked at us both, turned, and was gone.
*****
Christmas. She kept her word, technically, as she never did indicate what year that might be. 2007 ended without a word from Boston as Becca and I settled into our tiny, cold flat in Dunedin. It had been a terrible hassle to transfer all of our credits, but after four years I finally returned to school and finished my degree, as did Becca. Finally employable beyond selling river-running trips to hipsters and slickers, we moved into a comfortable little bungalow south of Auckland. By the end of 2008, I had a job overseeing a drilling project at the gold mine in Waihi, and my pretty little bride-to-be was donning her brightly-colored scrubs each morning. Weekends on the beaches of the Coromandel, vacations to the forgotten valleys of the Fiordland...life was good.
But still, no word from stateside. Our questions were finally answered in a letter from Mrs. Castel.
"Does this not seem strange to you?" I said, sitting at our little kitchen table and holding the hand-written letter. Their mother was a stickler for traditional correspondence.
"Does what seem strange?" Becca answered. She had finished the letter before I returned home from the mine, and left it out for me to read. I waited for her to look at me, then gave her a " 'scuse me?' look with my eyebrows.
"The fact that Lucy's getting a divorce because he slept with another woman? I never took her for a hypocrite," I said. I immediately winced, regretting my choice of words as Becca stopped putting away dishes from the drainer and gave me a stern look. "I didn't mean that-" I began.
"I'm not even going to go into all the reasons why that's wrong, because I think you know all of them," she said, winding down from her momentary temper and turning back to the sink. She was right. Our backcountry tryst of the previous year was something entirely different, indeed. Infidelity? Maybe, technically. But the phrase "cosmic command of the highest echelon" comes to mind. There was no way it could not have happened.
I paused, leaning back in my chair and allowing the letter to wave in the breeze from the open window. The kitchen was silent for a moment.
"We should call her," I suggested. Becca shook her head.
"Despite what little you know of her, Lucy is a very private person. Let her handle this on her own, and when she's ready, she'll do the calling," Becca said. Ready for what? I wondered.
I was silent for another moment, then got up and began to help her put away the dishes. "Then write to her," I said.
Becca stopped and looked out the window, then looked at me. She shrugged.
*****
Becca did. She wrote a beautiful long letter that we both signed, then slipped in a photo of the two of us at Lake Taupo. We didn't really expect a response. And, well...we didn't get one. Not for another year.
*****
I managed to pick up the phone on the fourth ring, dripping wet and holding a towel around my waist. It never fails. Always when you're in the shower. Becca wasn't home from the hospital yet.
"Hello?" I said. Silence. I wiped the water off the side of my face. "Hello?" I said again.