Close to You by Kara Isaac Page A

in with my tours. Plus, I’d love to see Katie and Ed.”
    A sharp intake of breath told her this was not the response her sister had been expecting. “Well, you know, there probably wouldn’t be much time with Katherine and Edward with all their extracurricular commitments. Katherine is taking ballet, Mandarin, and violin this term, and Edward is quite busy with piano, soccer, and swimming.”
    Her niece and nephew were aged four and two respectively and had been immersed in “extension” activities since their hospital wristbands were snipped off. Allie was surprised neither of them was learning Te Reo M ā ori. Having his kids learn the indigenous language was exactly the kind of thing she expected from her politically correct brother-in-law. No doubt an oversight that would be rectified soon.
    She switched tack to keep her sister off-balance—the only way she would get anything better than a preplanned sound bite out of her. “Are you also having this same conversation with Grant’s brother?” It was doubtful, considering that getting caught committing white-collar fraud had become the trendde rigueurin their circle for the last few years.
    Her sister’s tone turned frosty. “Simon has paid his dues forhis mistakes. Whereas, last time I checked, your little indiscretion was still an ongoing court case. And given that you’ve hardly shown your face in Auckland since your whirlwind romance dragged the family name through the mud and made you the laughingstock of society, you can hardly pretend it’s all water under the bridge.”
    Allie shoved down the tornado of emotions that Susannah’s words stirred up. She didn’t need her sister to remind her of that. Susannah wasn’t the one who had lost everything. Her career. Her reputation. Her assets. Her heart .
    Allie took a deep breath and counted slowly to three. “This is New Zealand. The country of three degrees of separation. If anyone gave a fig about the lives of the in-laws of wannabe politicians, no one would ever get elected to public office.” Lucky for Grant, since her parents’ dysfunctional marriage would provide some excellent fodder for anyone interested in it. “But if you don’t want me there, the least you could do is be honest and say so instead of pretending it’s out of some sort of concern for me.”
    Her sister’s tone softened. “Look, of course we would love to have you there. And you know you’re welcome to come and spend time with the kids whenever you want; it’s just that this is a big deal for Grant and he doesn’t want to take any chance of there being any distractions from the main event.”
    â€œAnd he thinks I’m the bigger risk of being a distraction even after what happened at the naval ball?” That event had become family legend after her mother had a couple too many cocktails and spent the evening shamelessly hitting on a poor waiter twenty years her junior.
    A pause. “Well, I didn’t want to mention it, but there is something else.”
    There always was. “What?”
    â€œDerek will be there too.”
    Allie’s head reared back and smacked against the top of the headboard. Her sister couldn’t have stunned her more if she’d announced she was leaving Grant for the nanny. “Excuse me?”
    â€œHe and Grant ran into each other at some sort of networking event a few months ago. He’s going to be helping with the campaign.”
    Allie opened her mouth, but nothing came out except jagged air. Her sister couldn’t be serious.
    Susannah read something into her silence and got even more defensive. “He’ll be a great asset with his communications and marketing experience, and it’ll all be behind the scenes . . .”
    Allie could name many other skills Derek possessed that were more often associated with politicians.
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