Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was only as they were driving to MacLeod’s Cottage that Dan realised he still hadn’t told Augustini his news.
He was insecure on that one point, and beginning to regret the impulse to sign on the dotted line without talking to her.
Augustini wasn’t a woman to be controlled or dominated.
Not that he’d seen it that way. He’d thought he’d be giving her something she’d always yearned for.
But since finalising the deal he’d been beset by doubts.
Had he made a fatal error which would make her think he was the boss of their relationship and would always make unilateral decisions about their life without consulting her?
He hoped not. But he couldn’t tell her now.
It wasn’t the time or place for it. Now was the time to be with his mother. And to make her dreams come true.
It would have been a lot to sort through, to somehow place within a new home. But now Kate wouldn’t have to do it. And he couldn’t drive fast enough to find her and tell her.
It was only when he’d parked outside the house that Augustini spoke.
‘It might not go as you imagine,’ she said.
‘What do you mean? She’ll be thrilled. She no longer has this uncertainty hanging over her.’
‘But it also means that the man she believed to be her grandfather isn’t her grandfather. There’s a whole different family out there she knows nothing about, but which is a fundamental, genetic part of her. This kind of thing can affect people in different ways.’
He closed his eyes, groaned and rested his head against the steering wheel. ‘Of course. I hadn’t given it a moment’s thought.’
‘I know. You were looking at the facts, and of course, Kate will too. But there will also be an emotional side which might play out differently to how you imagine.’
‘How?’
Augustini shrugged. ‘I don’t know. She might feel disoriented, as if everything she’d believed in is now to be questioned.
She might feel sad that she’s not genetically related to Tamati’s whanau.
All sorts of emotions, probably some contradictory — but she will also feel relieved that the matter is settled and her future in the house is secure.
So… I just want you to be prepared. I know you’re excited to tell her. ’
Dan leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
‘It’s just as well one of us is so wise.’
She smiled. ‘Our kinds of wisdom are complementary.’
’Together we’re more than the sum of our parts.’
Her smile broadened and she laughed. ‘I rest my case.’
This time she kissed him with a tenderness, her hand cupping his cheek. He sighed when she pulled away. ‘What did I do to deserve you?’
She patted his cheek playfully. ‘Not enough clearly.’ She laughed as she pushed him away. Then she grew serious, her gaze moving across the garden toward the house. ‘Is that Kate?’
Reluctantly distracted, Dan followed her gaze and was surprised to see his mother sitting on the front porch. She was alone, and hadn’t noticed their arrival. She looked miles away.
Augi was right. He could see that now. This was a momentous occasion — not only for Kate, but for them all.
Especially Augi. What they’d found mattered to everyone.
It was about home and family. And Dan realised he was a different man to the one who’d returned home to lick his wounds all those months ago.
He also understood that nothing was certain in this life.
Things might appear to be sorted but then, a turn of the kaleidoscope and things could change in an instant.
But of one thing he was certain — Augustini.
Whatever life might throw at them, they’d face it together, because they were stronger that way. And they were meant for each other.
Augi turned to look at him and smiled. ‘I do love you, you know.’ She stroked his cheek with the back of her knuckles. He angled in to kiss her hand. ‘And I especially love you when you look at me like that.’
‘Like what?’
‘As if you’re not even aware of yourself. As if all your consciousness is focused on me. It’s selfless; it’s beguiling.’
‘It’s love,’ he completed, before kissing her. ‘Now,’ he said, glancing across the garden to the porch. ‘Let’s go tell Mum what we’ve found out.’
Dan found it odd, seeing Kate alone, in profile. She didn’t usually sit there. The back of the house was where life happened — gardens, laughter, the kitchen door swinging open and shut. The front was more exposed, more watchful. It struck Dan that she must have chosen to sit there deliberately.
As they walked along the pavement to the gate, he kept his eye on her.
She hadn’t moved. It almost didn’t look like her, the colours were different at that time of evening.
It was that in-between moment, when daylight hadn’t quite given up and night hadn’t fully arrived.
The sky hovered in shades of violet and deepening blue, and the air was heavy with scent — jasmine, salt, and warm earth cooling after the day.
Maybe she was just enjoying it all. But, as he approached and saw her tense profile, somehow he doubted it.
‘Mum,’ said Dan clicking the garden gate closed behind them.
Kate stood up and walked to the steps, holding on to an upward strut, a wide smile on her face. ‘Darling! How lovely to see you both!’
Augi stepped forward before Dan could, and Kate embraced her warmly. It still surprised him how natural that was now — how Augi no longer froze, no longer hesitated, but returned the affection easily.
As they turned back toward the chairs, arm in arm, Dan looked up at the house.
MacLeod’s Cottage.
He’d always thought cottage a ridiculous show of modesty for a house that was anything but — from the high roof silhouetted against the darkening sky, to the delicate decorative trims and the wide verandah, to the great pōhutukawa arching over it all.
It had been built with the confidence and pride of an early settler, on a scale far grander than anything around it at the time. These days, wealth had crept in all around them — plate glass, modern lines — houses that took up more land and demanded more attention.
And yet, over more than a century, the name had come to fit. It meant warmth, comfort, history, and not least, family.
Dan stepped up onto the verandah. The sea was invisible from this angle, but its presence was undeniable, carried on the wind. He bent over and kissed his mother’s cheek, then settled beside Augi and took her hand. Kate watched them with a gentle smile.
‘It’s not like you to sit out the front,’ he said.
Kate followed his gaze. ‘No.’ She glanced around.
‘Ngaire used to sit here. I remember keeping her company when I was little. My mother, Hope, would be round the back in the garden, but Ngaire liked to see who was coming and going. I used to think she was waiting for someone.’ She gave a small shrug.
‘It’s partly why I let it get overgrown for so long.
I wanted to hide. Forget.’ She looked back at them. ‘But now…’
‘Like Sleeping Beauty,’ Dan said lightly.
Kate laughed. ‘Exactly. I feel like I’ve woken up.’ Her voice steadied. ‘I’m ready to face the future now. Whatever it brings. No more hiding.’
Something tightened in Dan’s chest. For most of his adult life, his mother had simply been Mum. Solid. Unchanging. But lately he was seeing her as a woman in her own right — someone with history and loss and courage.
‘That’s very good,’ Augi said, squeezing his hand as if aware of his thoughts. ‘Facing the future is the hardest thing we do. It’s something I’ve only just learnt myself.’
Kate studied her. ‘You’ve been through a lot.’
‘I have,’ Augi said. ‘But so has everyone, in one way or another. I’m lucky. I’ve had good people beside me.’
Dan could have stayed right there — listening to her voice, holding her hand, letting the moment stretch — but they hadn’t come for that alone.
Kate seemed to sense the shift. ‘I have a feeling you didn’t just come for a visit,’ she said, leaning forward to top up her drink. She sat back, cradling it, eyes moving between them. ‘What’s happened?’
Dan and Augi exchanged a look. He let go of Augi’s hand and leaned forward too, suddenly very aware of how much this mattered.
‘I think we’ve come to a conclusion,’ he said.
Kate frowned slightly. ‘That sounds rather final.’ She tilted her head. ‘In a good way?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘A very good way.’
He took a breath. ‘It seems I may have accidentally made one of your dreams come true.’
Augi laughed out loud and shook her head. ‘Trust you.’
He turned back to his mother. ‘As you know, a few weeks ago, I had my DNA tested,’ he said. ‘I guess I was curious about where I came from and who I was.’ He shrugged. ‘Coming home does that to you.’
Kate nodded. ‘So… did you find out?’
‘Not in the way you mean,’ he said. ‘I already knew who I was. But I did find something else. Something technical. Something that matters to solicitors.’
Kate’s face paled slightly in the candlelight.
‘What?’ she asked.
Augi leaned forward. ‘I check Ancestry daily — it’s a research habit. Today something new appeared.’ She glanced at Dan. ‘Daniel came up as a match. Linked to the Kowalski line.’
Kate stared at her.
‘When I traced the connection,’ Augi continued, ‘it became clear that Daniel’s link goes back several generations. Through John Kowalski.’ She met Kate’s gaze. ‘Daniel is John Kowalski’s great-grandchild. Which means…’
‘You,’ Dan finished quietly, ‘are his grandchild. Hope was his daughter.’
Kate didn’t move.
The pōhutukawa branches creaked overhead as the breeze lifted. Her hair stirred around her face and she drew her shawl closer as she shivered.
‘I’m sorry,’ Augi said softly. ‘I know this is a shock. But there’s no doubt about it. John Kowalski must have returned after the war, in early 1946. Hope was born in December.’
‘Ngaire saw him again,’ Kate whispered.
‘Yes.’
Kate closed her eyes.
‘It makes sense,’ Dan said. ‘What Uncle Hemi — what everyone — hinted at. Ngaire’s husband Tamati wasn’t Hope’s father. And he was never going to be. They must have married to protect each other. To give each other cover. Best friends, but nothing more.’
Kate reached into her pocket and pulled out the photo.
‘Lucy once said he looked like someone in love,’ she murmured. Her mouth trembled. ‘My grandfather. And I never knew.’ Tears slid down her cheeks.
‘Mum, what is it? I thought this would be good news. You’re the closest relative. The house is yours now.’
She shook her head. ‘Yes. I know.’ She looked out into the darkening garden. ‘But I’m thinking about my grandmother. Living her life without the man she loved.’ Her voice broke. ‘That makes me sad.’
Dan nodded, suddenly understanding. He turned to Augi who rose.
‘I think we should leave now,’ she said. ‘You need time to process this.’
Kate nodded distractedly. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’m sorry it’s upset you,’ said Dan.
She grabbed his hand. ‘Daniel — I feel sad for my grandmother. But I’m also happy she loved someone kind enough to give her the one thing he could — a home. That’s no small thing.’
Dan blinked back tears that threatened. What the hell? He never cried. He looked at Augi who took his hand.
‘It is,’ she said to Kate. ‘Call us if you need us.’
‘I will,’ said Kate. ‘And thank you again.’
As they reached the car, Dan looked back briefly to see his mother hadn’t moved. He was in two minds as to whether to go back to her, but Augi shook her head.
‘Honestly,’ she said. ‘I think it’s for the best. We’re all close by if she needs us, but she had a lot of thinking and remembering to do.’
He smiled back at her. ‘What would I do without you?’
‘Luckily,’ she said, getting into the car, ‘I’m not going to let you find out.’
As he slid into the driver’s seat beside her, they kissed, and he knew he’d rediscovered not only his trust in people, but a love that would last forever.