“No one in their right mind comes out on a night like this.” Tracy tapped the magazine. “See this dress? Totally awesome. I need it.”
“Want it,” Lori corrected.
“Need it.”
“How could you possibly need it? You have a wardrobe full of clothes you needed but hardly wear.”
“When I catch myself a rich farmer, I’ll need those clothes.”
“Farmers are rich one year, dirt poor the next, depending on the weather and crops and prices,” Lori pointed out, not for the first time. “Besides, marrying a farmer will require jeans and boots, not frilly dresses and high heels.”
“So I’ll just marry a man who manages farms from his mansion in the city.”
“Big plans.”
“A girl needs big plans if she’s going to get away from this pit of a town.” Tracy took a bite out of the pie sitting on a small plate by her elbow. “Lori.” Bits of pastry sprayed out. “You need to plan for the future.”
“I’m happy as I am.” Lori brushed a bit of pastry off the sleeve of her red jumper.
“You want to stay in this pit?”
“Peeron is a nice town.”
“You tell me what it’s got going for it.”
“Quiet. Small. Nice.”
“Pits, pits, pits.”
“Tell me how you really feel,” Lori said drily.
“You’ll never find a bloke in a place like this.”
“I don’t want a bloke.”
“Don’t be silly. We’ve been through this before. You get a bloke with money and you won’t have to work ever again.” Tracy waved one hand around to encompass the room. “You want to stay at this servo forever?”
“It’s not a bad place.”
“It’s not a good place, either.” Tracy shook her head. “I despair of you, Lori, I really do.”
Smiling, Lori swallowed a mouthful of coffee.
“So.” Tracy studied her face. “Saw Tommy’s ute out there.”
“Yep.”
“What’s going on with him?”
“Not a clue.”
Tracy’s eyes gleamed. “Think he’s getting it on with some woman?”
Not minding hearing a bit of gossip but refusing to enter into it, Lori shrugged.
“Or with some man?”
Lori shrugged again.
“I bet your sister knows something.”
Ali did know something. Lori had seen Tommy talking to her sister with quiet intensity one afternoon as she walked passed Tommy’s café and seen the two of them inside at one of the tables. Ali was good at keeping secrets, she knew a lot of things about a lot of people in Peeron, but she’d never breathe a word to anyone, never break a confidence.
With another shrug, Lori swirled the coffee in the cup.
“Has she said anything to you?” Tracy probed.
“Nope.”
“I bet you haven’t asked her, either.”
“Nope.”
Disgusted, Tracy slouched back in her chair. “You’re hopeless.”
Smiling, Lori drank the last of the coffee and stood up. “That I am.”
With a sigh, Tracy returned her attention to the magazine.
Pouring another cup of coffee, this one much stronger, Lori returned to the service office and set it on the bench beside her boss’s elbow.
“Ta.” One hand reached out and grasped the handle, little pinkie extended comically for such a big ham of a hand, and the cup disappeared behind the newspaper.
Only one other car pulled into the service station in the next two hours as the rain continued to beat down. Lori spent her time cleaning the service office before returning to the café to help Tracy wipe down the shelves of snack foods and restock.
Shaun stayed in the office until midnight before retreating to the little room off his office to do paperwork, his version of having a nap, which he’d do on and off all night.
Lori watched a few old shows on the television that was situated in the far corner. Tracy left not long after midnight, which meant that Lori would be in charge of both handing out the food in the café as well as pumping fuel for anyone who pulled in. If things got too busy, she could wake up Shaun to help.
The one concession that Shaun made was to make his employees wear an alarm that was connected to one in his office. If they got into trouble, they could press it, alerting him. Thankfully, they’d never had to use it.
Pulling it over her head, Lori tucked it under her jumper and prepared herself for a long night. Peeron could get busy when tourists and trucks went through, but on nights like tonight nothing further stirred. No doubt once the rain let up, the occasional truck or car would appear or pull in.
She was just fighting to keep her eyes open when the bell from the driveway dinged to alert her that someone had pulled up for fuel. Pulling on a heavy jacket, she rounded the bench and opened the door, stepping out to find that the rain had settled to a drizzle and the wind had grown colder.
At the sight of the ambulance parked at the bowser she shivered, telling herself it was the cold and not the possibility of seeing Matt.
Drawing closer, she saw Sally, the ambulance volunteer, sitting in the passenger seat. Sally waved at her but didn’t get out. Lori couldn’t blame her, not with the wind cutting like a knife.
Coming around the ambulance, she found a man dressed in the green overalls and heavy jacket of the St John Ambulance, the words ‘Paramedic’ in silver thread across his back. She didn’t have to guess to know who it was, even before he straightened with the fuel gun in his hand, that killer smile lighting up his handsome face.
“Hey, Lori,” Matt greeted.
Almost instantly she felt her cheeks flush, but thankfully she could blame it on the cold wind. “Matt.” Automatically, she held her hand out for the gun.
“I can do this, love,” he said. “You go inside and wait in the warmth.”
“Honestly, Matt, it’s fine.” She wrapped her hand around the gun. “You go and wait in the ambulance or the service office.”
Wrapping her hand around the gun probably wasn’t her best move, not when he didn’t relinquish it, instead keeping his big hand firmly wrapped around the handle. His skin was warm against her fingers.
He shuddered. “Hells bells, Lori, your hands are like ice.”
“Cold night.” She shook the gun a little. “I’m fine here, Matt.”
Reluctantly, he relinquished the gun into her hand.
Relieved, she slotted the nozzle into the tank and squeezed the lever.
Matt shifted, walking around her, and she gave a silent sigh of relief, thinking he was going to go to the service office. Instead, she felt a sudden warmth beside her, the cold wind blocked marginally by his body as he settled against the ambulance, placing himself between Lori and the biting wind. “Miserable night.”
“Yep.” She could practically feel the heat oozing from his body, he stood so close to her.
Okay, to be fair, he stood on the other side of the fuel hose, but she swore she could feel the heat of his body reaching out to her.
Fantasy time was not now. Refocussing on the job, she kept her gaze on the fuel gun.
“Must be quiet tonight,” Matt said.
“Yep.” Say something, dimwit! “It is.” Oh yeah, because that’s so much better.
“Quiet nights make for long nights,” he offered.
“Yep.” Could she sound any more inane? In an attempt to at least sound like she had a bit of a brain, she glanced up at him. “Quiet night for you?”
“Good thing. Certainly don’t want to be racing to an emergency in weather like this.” His eyes slid across her face. Startling her, he reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Wind’s playing havoc with your plait.”
Oh God, his hand lingered at her ear, pulling away briefly to caress along her jawline before he withdrew it completely to tuck into his pocket.
Lori didn’t know whether to sigh with relief or cry her eyes out.
What was the matter with her? Normally her fantasies played out in the safety of her bed, not out here in the freezing freakin’ wind.
Maybe because the object of her fantasies had just touched her as though he really cared. But then, Matt cared about everyone. It was his job.
Only she wasn’t his job.
Damn shame, that.
Mentally telling herself off for even thinking such foolish thoughts while on the job and with the object of her fantasies right before her in all his life-saving glory, Lori felt the trigger kick off and with relief she squeezed the trigger slowly, filling the tank right up. Re-hooking it onto the bowser, she went for the fuel cap but Matt beat her to it, screwing it into place before snapping the latch shut.
Smiling at her, he stepped back. “After you.”
He was such a gentleman. Unfortunately, that meant she had to walk ahead of him and knowing he could see the roll of her overly generous bum in the jeans she wore didn’t make that a nice prospect.
After several seconds, Matt fell into step beside her, not saying a word as he leaned forward to push the door of the service office open before she could even reach for it, standing aside so she could proceed him.
That produced the very pleasant sensation of having to brush past him as he moved close with the door in his hand. His clean, male scent went straight to her senses, nearly bringing her straight to her knees. Lord have mercy, the man was potent.
Moving around to the other side of the bench, Lori took the card from him and finished the transaction.
Watching her, Matt asked, “Where’s Shaun?”
“Doing paperwork out back.” She handed him the receipt.
Taking the receipt and card, Matt tucked it into the small folder he carried. “At least a bloke is around in case of problems.”
“Shaun looks after us,” Lori replied, not offended in the least with the assumption that a man around was good protection.
She’d worked nightshifts too long to not realise that a male could be a deterrent when there was trouble. Not always, true, but undeniable.
“I’ll see you later.” Matt smiled and swung around.
She couldn’t remove her gaze from him as he moved towards the door. Part of her wanted him to stay, the sensible side of her knew he had to go, and really, what was there to say to each other? It wasn’t as though she was very good with conversations, not with people she hadn’t known well all her life.
It caught her by surprise when Matt suddenly swung back and returned to the counter to look directly into her eyes. “Lori.”
“Yes?” Did he want a snack?
His dark eyes searched her face, bringing a blush to her cheeks. “Lori, would you go-”
Whatever he was about to say was cut short when the door slammed open and Sally appeared, windblown and breathless. “Gotta go, boss. Emergency.”
Matt immediately swung into action. “Let’s go.” Only at the door did he hesitate ever so briefly to glance back at Lori, then he was gone, the door shutting behind him.
Standing at the window, she watched as the ambulance lights flashed on and the ambulance pulled out onto the road and disappeared into the drizzle.
Wondering what Matt had been going to ask her, she picked up the mop and mopped up the combined water and dirt from their boots, rinsing the mop in the bucket before resting the handle against the wall.
Whatever he’d been going to ask, she wouldn’t know now.
The rest of the night passed with only a couple of trucks pulling in on their way through to their destinations.
It was six in the morning when Shaun ambled out from the backroom, rubbing his eyes and yawning. If the man had of had hair, she had no doubt it would have been sticking up in all directions from sleeping. As it was, he bore the indent of a pen on his cheek.
“Quiet night,” Shaun observed.
“Yep.”
“Huh.” He glanced at the clock. “Time to go home.”
Lori nodded. “See you tonight.”
“Yep.”
Neither needing to say anymore, Lori got her umbrella and keys and headed out into the dawn. The rain had stopped, but it was still cold.
She was halfway home when the car hiccupped several times, shuddered, and threatened to die. “Oh, crap.”
Pulling over onto the side of the road, she stepped out, walked around to the front of the car, lifted the bonnet, locked it up into position with the metal arm and peered down at the engine, though she didn’t know why she bothered because apart from a few little things she’d picked up from the mechanics at work, she hadn’t a clue about engines.
Biting her lip, she glanced around. Sunday mornings were always quiet, there was no one around. It looked like she’d probably have to walk home, leaving the car locked on the side of the road.
After one more hopeful glance around to see a friendly face out and about early, she caught sight of a familiar ute in a driveway on the other side of the nearby small park. And the driveway didn’t belong to the owner. Lori’s brows rose. Hello.
No sooner had she blinked than the door of the house opened and Tommy ran out, pulling on a thick jacket. He glanced around, spotted her and froze for several seconds before looking briefly back at the house. Then, unlocking the ute, he got in and started it.
Lori looked back at the house but the door was shut, not a sign of life from the occupant. If she hadn’t seen it herself she’d never have known that it was from there that Tommy had exited.
The ute pulled out onto the street and drove off.
Okay, that had been interesting, very interesting, but it didn’t help her predicament, which was being broken down on the side of the road. No mobile phone because she didn’t like them and refused to buy one, but right now it did have its attraction. Too late now.
Knocking on anyone’s door to use the phone wasn’t something she’d even contemplate, not when everyone would be sleeping in on a cold Sunday morning. Leaving the car and phoning the service station for the part-time mechanic later was the only thing of which she could think.
No sooner had she resigned herself to that fact than a car travelling in the opposite direction slowed, the driver spotting her. With a smile and a wave, he turned the steering wheel and pulled around in front of her car, braking and turning his engine off.
“Hello, Lori.” A smile wreathing his pleasant face, Chris Smith climbed out of the car.
Relief washed through her. Her guardian angel must have been watching out for her, because it was one of the mechanics from the job. “Hi, Chris. What are you doing out and about so early?”
“Heading to the city to visit my parents.” He gestured to the open bonnet. “Little care trouble?”
“Don’t know what happened, she just shuddered and died.”
“Hmmm. Let me have a look.” He bent over the engine. “Have you checked your oil recently?”
“Every week, just like Dad taught me.”
“Water?”
“I do check the basics.” Lori inwardly rolled her eyes.
“Last service?”
“Eight months ago.”
“Hmmm.” He started fiddling with some of the wires, checking the connections.
Stepping back from the front of the car, she folded her arms and glanced around. Hopefully he could fix the car enough for her to get home, at least.
Glancing back at him, she tried to squash the little churn of annoyance she always felt when around him. The confrontation he’d had with her sister a while ago in regards to her weight and employment prospects still needled, even though it wasn’t her problem and hadn’t been Ali’s either, since she’d upended a jug of water over his head and soundly slapped him with his apology-proffered flowers. But any man who figured a woman’s success was based on her weight was a jerk.
Okay, it didn’t stop her feeling self-conscious about her own overly generous curves when around people she’d just met, she was only human, but she certainly believed that a woman made her own success an
d should be judged for who she was, not what she looked like. Unfortunately, she also had to acknowledge that many people were judged by looks, it was a fact.
Some facts sucked lemons.
Shaking her head, she caught sight of something in her peripheral vision and turned her head to see a cop car pull in behind her car. The brawny cop got out, his face relaxed, his smile quietly confident and pleasant.
“Lori.” Adam Moor drew to a stop beside her. “Problem with the car?”
One of the few people she really felt comfortable with, Lori smiled widely. “Wow, your powers of deduction are awe-inspiring.”
“Thank you.” He looked at the open bonnet. “What happened?”
“Shuddered and died.”
“Picked a bad time.” Walking to the front of the car, he braced his hands on the metal and leaned in, the raised bonnet cutting him from sight. “’Morning, Chris.”
“Hi, Adam. You’re out bright and early.”
“Could say the same for you.”
“Oh, I’m on the way to the city to visit the oldies.”
Disliking the term intensely, Lori screwed up her nose.
“Right.” Adam grunted. “So, figured out the problem?”
“Think so. I just need to…”
Not understanding a word he said except for the ‘think so’, Lori leaned back against the side of the car, her arms folded, her breath coming from between her lips in little puffs of cold air.
No sooner had she relaxed than an ambulance appeared around the corner and pulled in right behind Adam’s cop car.
Holy cow, anyone coming past was going to think there’d been a major accident. Lori straightened and walked towards the ambulance, being met partway by both Sally and Matt.
Matt swept her face with a concerned gaze before looking past her to the car. “Everything okay?”
“Fine, just fine.” Lori waved in the direction of the car. “It’s just acted up a little and Chris is taking a look at it.”
“Chris?”
Was it her imagination or did Matt’s eyes narrow just a little? “Yes.”
“Lucky for you the mechanic found you,” Sally said cheerfully. “And not a bad looking one, either.”
Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters) Page 3