Anahera took a deep breath on the doorstep of the fire station, struck harder than she’d thought she would be by the sight of Matilda sitting with her face buried in her hands, the comforting bulk of her body shaking with rough sobs.

Anahera remembered running up to hug that body as a child, her face squashed into the softness of Matilda’s belly. Maybe she’d found such happiness in Matilda’s arms because her own mother had been shaped the same, with wide hips and soft curves. And maybe it was for that same reason that she’d been unable to hug Matilda ever again after the day she walked into the cabin and found Haeata’s broken body.

“Auntie,” she said, using the same respectful tone she’d always used when it came to her mother’s best friend. “It’s Ana.”

Moving a chair to face Matilda’s, she reached out to place her hand on the sobbing woman’s knee. “The whole town’s doing everything it can.” The -Lees—-Julia’s parents and owners of the -supermarket—-would soon be bringing in sandwiches for the searchers, while two grandmothers had just walked in with towels for those who might get caught in the rain. “Will is, too. I ran into Tom during the search and he said Miriama’s face is all over the news websites.”

She’d been surprised by the cop’s clear -dedication—-she’d expected him to be marking time, paying his dues for whatever infraction it was that had caused his superiors to bury him in the career black hole of Golden Cove. But he wasn’t only doing his job, he was picking up and looking under every possible rock.

Matilda lifted her -tear--ravaged face. “Ana,” she whispered, as if becoming aware of her for the first time. “Taku kōtiro, Ana. Not so little anymore.” Her smile was more a reflex action than anything like the huge beam of warmth Anahera remembered. “You’ve been gone a long time, girlie.”

“I was in London.” Of course Matilda knew that, but staying silent didn’t seem like the right choice. “Miriama was all skinny legs and scraped knees when I left.”

The smile gained a touch more depth. “You should’ve seen her at thirteen. How that girl used to moan about how she was so skinny. Couldn’t put on weight even if she stuffed her face with doughnuts and chips.”

“It obviously worked in the end.”

A laugh that lit up Matilda’s face. “Wasn’t the junk food, eh. She gave up all that and started -running—-said if she looked like a runner anyway, she might as well be one.” Rubbing away her tears, she sat up, and when she next spoke, it was in Māori. “I don’t know if it was the power that came from the exercise, or if her body just kept on growing as it was always going to, -but… You saw. My beautiful Miriama.”

“She has a glow about her.” A dazzling thing the cop clearly believed had attracted the wrong kind of attention, but it was equally obvious that Matilda didn’t want to think about -that—-she wanted and needed to talk about her girl, about all the wonderful things Miriama had done and would do in the future.

Anahera listened with a patience that would’ve startled her mother. The young Ana hadn’t been able to stay still; she’d wanted to achieve a million things at once, wanted to snatch at so many dreams. That innocently hopeful part of Anahera had somehow survived her father and the hellish battleground of their family home, but it hadn’t survived a cold cabin and the woman she most loved in the world lying dead on the floor.

Anahera had married Edward partly because he’d caused a tiny spark to alight inside her, as if her hope was shrugging off the frost to come out of hibernation. Then he’d snuffed out that struggling light with a betrayal she’d never seen coming.

“The only thing I ever worry about with Miriama,” Matilda said, “is that she wants so much. Not things like jewelry or cars. No, my girl wants life. Wants to see the world, wants to go to all the places she admires in the magazines.”

“She won’t forget you,” Anahera reassured the older woman. “She’ll come back to visit.” Anahera sat there in silent testimony of her words, for Golden Cove didn’t easily let go of its own.

“Ah, Ana, you don’t understand.” Matilda shook her head. “I was always scared that a man would charm her with big promises of making her dreams come true and she’d believe him and be left broken.”

“She’s too smart for that,” Anahera said.

“Yes. And now she’s with Dr. de Souza, so I can stop worrying.” The older woman leaned forward to brush her fingers over Anahera’s cheek. “I’m sorry about your husband. I hoped for so much for you, my little Ana who flew so very far from home.”

And fell, Anahera thought. Fell and shattered while another woman wailed for the man who’d been Anahera’s husband, a man who’d promised to love her and cherish her forever, a man who’d told her they’d have a small family of their own.

So many dreams. So many promises. So many lies.

Miriama had been smarter than Anahera.

21

Will was able to cross Te Ariki’s name off his list within half an hour of leaving the fire station. The young man’s uncle confirmed Te Ariki had been out on a fishing trawler since four days earlier.

He decided to talk to Miriama’s rival for the scholarship next, wanting to clear that possibility before he moved on, but he had some trouble tracking down Kyle Baker, as Vincent’s younger brother was out with a search team. When Will did finally find him, it was on the beach. Kyle was just standing there staring out at the crashing waves.