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Fraser. Not that they all have a happy ending.” He winked. “Last movie we watched ended up costing me a fortune. I decided to stop for chicken take away on the way home. I hit the curb and punctured a tire.”
    “Oh no.”
    “Oh yeah. And it gets worse.” He grinned. “Problem was I couldn’t get the wheel off and I’d forgotten my phone. By the time I walked back to Dorrie’s to use her phone to call the breakdown people, she was in bed.”
    Jo giggled. “Oops.”
    “Big oops. I never lived that down. Every time we have chicken now, I get teased about spare tires.” He paused, patting his stomach. “Yes, Dorrie uses both meanings of the phrase.”
    She eyed his flat stomach. “You look fine to me, but I must admit I do the same to my brothers.”
    “It’s getting cold.” Pip called.
    “We’re coming.” Jo got up and grabbed John’s hand pulling him to his feet. “Oh, your hands are cold.”
    “Cold hands, warm heart. Though why they are cold I have no idea. It’s lovely and hot out here.”
    Jo smiled and then jumped at the mild electric shock that passed between them. “Sorry. My shoes keep doing that on this decking.”
    “No worries. I assumed it was your natural electric personality.”
    She laughed as they walked across to the others. “I’ll blame that next time. Sounds much better than my shoes.”
    He looked over the selection of food. “This smells wonderful.” He picked up some chicken.
    “Better than take out any day. And it won’t even cost you a new tire.” She looked at him hoping he wouldn’t mind the teasing.
    He laughed. “Just as well. The exchange rate is horribly high today.” He took a bite. As he swallowed he added, “Tastes much better than the take away.”
    “I told you it would. Rob’s barbie’s are to die for.” She lowered her voice. “I think that’s why Pip’s marrying him. So she never has to cook again.”
    “Sounds like a plan to me.” John chuckled. “Back home Barbie is a doll my niece plays with. She has loads of them.”
    “I remember them. I had both a Sindy and a Barbie. I spent hours playing with them and my brother’s action man.”
    “I had several action figures,” John grinned. “Most from my favorite TV shows.”
    Jo laughed. “My brothers did, too. They would never call them dolls, no matter how much I pushed it. Only girls have those. His favorite was from Star Trek. ”
    “That program gave me nightmares. I woke every night for weeks terrified Mr. Spock was going to mind melt me.”
    “You mean mind meld.”
    “Oh…I thought he was going to melt it.” John laughed at himself. “Oh well. Believe it or not, one of my favorite shows was Skippy the Bush Kangaroo .”
    “Oh, wow. You guys got that in England?” Jo finished plating her meal, ignoring the others around her. All that mattered was John.
    “Yep. Along with Neighbors and Home and Away .”
    “Do you still watch them?”
    “If I’m home from work in time, I watch Neighbors . Though we’re probably months behind you in both of them.”
    Jo nodded. She took a bite of the chicken and chewed slowly. “So what do you do?”
    “I’m an analytical chemist. Test water samples all day long.”
    “Oh, that sounds thrilling.”
    John laughed. “Sometimes I drive miles to stand in a river to fill test tubes.”
    “That makes waiting on tables sound fun.”
    “It’s not bad. Bit cold at times, and rather wet, but as long as I don’t go in too deep, the Wellington boots keep me dry. Then I take the samples back to the lab and run tests on them. Actually, apart from Dad, we all work in the medical line—more or less.”
    Jo walked with him back to the chairs overlooking the edge of the verandah. “Do you miss it?”
    “Work or my family?”
    “Both.”
    John ate for a moment, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “My family, yeah. I live at home, so they’re always around at some point. Work? Nah, not so much.”
    “You live at home? Seriously? At