“No, drongo. I meant he’d go on the roof and come through the manhole.”
“I’ll bolt it.”
“He’ll just get you in the kitchen.”
“Or lounge.” Del swallowed a mouthful of drink. “Shower. Veranda.”
“Main street.”
Elissa looked at Dee, wondering what she’d say to this.
“Don’t laugh,” Dee said. “Ryder nailed me against the back of the shop the other night.”
“Big deal.” Molly shrugged. “No one could see you.”
“No, you ninny. I mean outside the back of the shop.”
Even Del’s mouth fell open.
“Yeah.” Dee nodded. “I was just finished watering those big flower pots and he was getting off his bike.”
“Motorbike,” Molly clarified for Elissa’s benefit. “Big motorbike. He looks hot in leather.” She paused. “So does Kirk.”
“And Scott.” Ash sighed dreamily.
Dee tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “One second Ryder’s kissing me, the next he’s got me up against the freakin’ wall with my undies around my ankles, grabs my leg behind the knee, which is pretty impressive, and next thing he’s - well, there you go.”
“You’re going to stop there?” Del demanded.
“You’re my cousin. Ew. Yes, I’m going to stop there.”
“He did this in broad daylight? What if I’d come out of my shop which, might I remind you, is right next door to yours? I’d have fried my brains out seeing your white arse scraping up against the brick work.” Del paused. “I wouldn’t have burned my eyes watching Ryder, though.”
Oops, that wasn’t a good thing to say about her cousin’s fiancée. Elissa shot Dee a look, expecting her to fire right back at Del, only to see Dee smirking.
“I’ve seen his naked arse many times. It’s all mine.”
“But in daylight?” Del repeated.
“I see his arse all times of the day and night.”
“No. I mean he actually shagged you in broad daylight?”
“You are so easy.” Dee laughed.
Del threw her hands up in disgust. “So he didn’t nail you behind the shop!”
“Oh, he did. It’s just that it was almost dark so no one was around.” Dee’s smile grew wider. “He’s nailed me in the daytime in plenty of places. Want to discuss the little table in the back of the newsagency where we have our lunch break?”
“Shit, no.”
“How about the table at the picnic place?”
“What? You dirty cow. I’ve eaten there as well.”
“Over the bonnet of my car.”
“No wonder it has a dent in the middle of it.”
“In the aisle of the newsagency.”
“Jesus. Haven’t you ever heard of a bed?”
“Sure. He nails me there, too. Ryder nails me whenever and wherever he can.”
“What a lovely word, ‘nail’. Doesn’t he make love?”
“Sure. While he’s nailing me. The man is very focussed on the nailing.” Dee grinned. “So am I.”
“Stop. Please. I’m going to need therapy.” Del turned to Molly. “What about you?”
“What about me?” Molly pointed to her belly. “We’re doing it. This is proof.”
“Doggy only? No other position?”
“Wow, we’re really doing this?” Elissa couldn’t believe they were discussing it so openly while she, a stranger, was actually listening.
“Better bloody believe it.” Del didn’t bat an eyelid. “Strike while the iron’s hot.”
“Like Ryder does,” Dee put in.
“You’ve had your shagging turn. I want to know about this pregnancy sex.”
Molly’s eyes twinkled, delight dancing in the green depths. “I can still lie on my side in the bed, you know.”
Cripes, this was almost too much information. Elissa didn’t know where to look.
Ash grinned. “And you can still lean against the table.”
Shocked, Elissa stared at her. Where had the dispirited girl she’d known gone? Not to mention the fact that even before Ash had been assaulted, she’d never indulged in such frank discussions and laughed about it. “Who are you?”
“I fell from grace,” Ash answered without an ounce of apology. “Once I met these two I was a goner. Then Molly came along and my gutter days were complete.”
“Don’t tell me you’re shocked.” Dee studied Elissa, one eyebrow arched. “Big city girl like you? You’d have seen your share of sex stuff.”
“Well…yeah. But I’m not used to sitting around discussing it so frankly.”
Dee, Del and Molly looked at each other. Ash just took a sip of her Diet Coke and watched. Elissa glanced from her glass to the women then to Ash, wondering if she’d just stuffed up a friendly discussion no matter how bizarre it seemed.
“We need to educate her,” Dee announced.
“Can’t have her hanging out with us and not knowing anything.” Del pointed at Elissa. “You might not have a man yet - do you have a man?”
“No.”
“Me neither. Doesn’t mean we have to be ignorant.”
“Hey.” She straightened. “I’m not ignorant. I know about sex.”
“Yeah, but mate, if you can’t talk about sex with friends it’s weird.”
“Ash and I never discussed it that much and we’re best friends.”
“That’s really sad but don’t worry, we’ve educated her.” Del picked up her glass. “You’re our next project.”
Elissa looked at Ash.
“Just go with it,” Ash advised her, amused. “It’s so much easier.”
“And fun,” Molly added. “Don’t forget the fun.”
“By the time we’ve finished with you, you’ll be a full bottle on sex and men.” Dee paused. “A bit twisted, maybe, but what the hell? Life’s short. So, no boyfriend?”
At the sudden switch of topic, Elissa blinked. “No.”
“No husband? No fiancée?”
“No and no.”
“You’re lucky.”
What the hell? Elissa gaped. “But you and Ryder-”
“The man is a sex machine and easy on the eyes, but he’s such a dumb arse at times.”
“Ah.” Molly started laughing.
“What?” Del looked at her. “What do you know?”
“Kirk saw the kittens running rampant through the shop.” Molly laughed harder. “Oh my God, he so wanted to hang around and see Dee rip Ryder a new one!”
“That idiot.” Dee scowled. “I’ve told Ryder millions of freakin’ times not to forget to shut the door when the kittens are in the flat. I swear to God, it goes in one ear and out the other with him.”
“How much did you ream him?” Ash asked, a touch of sympathy in her voice for the hapless Ryder.
“Not near as much as I wanted.”
“Felt sorry for him?”
“No. He got all hot and bothered about it all and nailed me against said door.”
“Jesus.” Del rubbed her eyes. “You two need to take more cold showers.” She jerked her head up, glared. “And don’t start on showers.”
Dee smirked.
“Speaking of showers-” Ash began.
“Don’t you start!”
“No, not that. Cripes.” Ash rolled her eyes. “Veering away from the gutter for several minutes, let’s get to weather.”
“Weather? Holy crap, is that what we’ve descended into?”
Personally, Elissa thought it was a far safer subject, definitely more of the kind with which she felt comfortable.
“Showers. Rain. There’s a storm coming, did you know?”
Del stared at her. “So?”
“Did you get your roof fixed?”
“Oh shit.”
It was Dee’s turn to roll her eyes. “Honestly, Del. You haven’t done it yet?”
“Well, no.” She frowned. “How big a storm?”
“More than just a shower, apparently.”
“Shit. Bugger.” Del shoved a hand through her hair, the thick blonde strands flowing through her fingers. “When?”
“Tonight.”
“Right.” She shoved to her feet.
“Where are you going?”
“To fix my roof, what else?” Del drained the rest of the drink and hurried to the sink.
“Aren’t you going to phone the roofer?” Ash queried.
“It’s Sunday, genius.” Del rinsed the glass out and placed it on the draining board. “Ed’s day off.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t mind-”
“I don’t need a man to do things for me.”
“Oh boy.” Molly shook her head. “I can ring Kirk-”
“He’s asleep. Nightshift, remember? Jesus, and you’re his wife.” Del dug in the pocket of her jeans. “Have some compassion, woman.”
“Kirk won’t be impressed if he finds out you’ve been on the roof of your house,” Molly warned.
“Not to mention Scott and Simon.” Ash pushed to her feet. “You could wait until they’re home.”
“Are you kidding me? They don’t knock off until eight o’clock tonight. I’ll be doing the breast stroke in my lounge room by then.” Del started for the door.
“We could phone Bill or Vic,” Dee suggested, then, seeing her cousin scowl, shrugged. “But then what fun would that be, right?”
“Seriously?” Molly rolled her eyes. “She’s asking to be ripped a new one. As soon as the blokes find out she’s been stuffing around up there on the roof, they’ll be onto her like a ton of bricks.”
“Seriously?” Dee retorted. “You think that’s ever stopped her?”
“Hey,” Del protested. “What about you? For that matter, when has it ever stopped any of us?”
“Good point.” Dee shoved upright. “Let’s go.”
Ash sighed. “And the day started so promising.”
Elissa looked at her. “What? You’re scared of men or something?”
Del beamed. “That’s the spirit!”
“Trust me,” Molly said dryly, holding out her hand to Ash. “Some of the men in this town are a little over-protective. It comes from being backwoods Neanderthals.”
“This is the twenty first century,” Elissa retorted. “Time for them to modernise.”
“You’d think so, right?”
Ash took Molly’s hand, Del clasped Molly’s other arm, and together they heaved her to her feet.
“Holy crap.” Molly sighed. “I thought I was ungainly before the bump arrived. That was nothing compared to now.”
“Yeah. You can’t come up on the roof.” Del swung around. “Come on, Dee.”
“What?” Molly grabbed the back of Del’s blouse, jerking her to a halt. “Don’t think you’re going without me, sister.”
“Fine. You can watch.”
“I’ll supervise.”
Del snorted.
Shaking her head, Ash followed the women out into the hallway.
Elissa, not quite knowing what to do, looked around the empty table before pushing to her feet and following. Well, hell, there wasn’t anything else to do, and watching a woman fix her own roof was - well, a little weird. Educational, even. All she’d ever done was phone her landlord, not attempt to fix it herself.
But she was a little unsure about all this talk of the blokes’ reactions if they found out.
Leaning forward as they trod down the hallway, she whispered to Ash, “You’re all kidding, right? About the men getting shitty?”
“Nope,” Ash replied, more cheerfully than Elissa would have expected. “They will not be happy campers.”
“So they’re what, a little domineering?”
Dee laughed. “A little domineering? Hear that, girls? A little domineering.”
“Domineering doesn’t cover the verbal reaming they’ll give us if they find out,” Molly added. “The boys’ll rip us a new one. But on the bright side, who is going to tell them?”
“Exactly. Jesus, it’s not like we’re helpless little damsels in distress.” Del shoved the security screen open and strode out onto the veranda. “Now stop whispering and being bloody scared.”
“It’s not being scared.” Ash locked the wooden door and security screen. “It’s actually being sensible. What if you fall off the roof?”
“Why would I fall off the roof?”
“If you break your leg, imagine what’ll happen when Ryder arrives in the ambulance.”
“He can kiss my skinny arse.”
“He’ll be too busy ripping you a new one.”
“Then Dee can nail him behind the ambulance so he forgets about me. The woman has to be good for something.”
“Up yours,” Dee said. “For that, you’re on your own.”
“What happened to sisterhood?”
“You’re not my sister.”
“We’re cousins, that has to count for something. Blood thicker than water and all that shit.”
“Look,” Elissa finally said, “its your home, Del, you have a perfect right to do whatever you want in it. Tell the blokes to rack off.”
“Don’t worry, we do that often.”
“So this is a regular occurrence?”
“Only if they find out.”
“Oddly enough they always seem to,” Molly muttered. “Can’t do a damned thing around here without them finding out.”
“You haven’t done a damned thing since you got pregnant,” Del pointed out. “This’ll be the highlight of your seven months.”
“Besides, who’s going to know?” Elissa followed them to the dark green Holden Commodore parked in the driveway. “Is your house right on the road?”
“Nope.” Pressing the remote in her hand, Del unlocked the car. “It’s back from the road and behind a stand of trees.”
“There you go, then.”
It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that everyone was getting into the same car, so Elissa simply followed along.
Molly got into the front seat, helped by Dee. Del slid behind the steering wheel. Dee, Ash and Elissa got into the back seat.
“Cosy,” Dee remarked.
“I’d be happier if you were Scott squashed up against me,” Ash muttered.
“Don’t start groping me.”
“You wish.”
“Jesus. Del, I want to drive.”
“Shut your cakehole,” Del replied. “You lot start fighting in the back seat and you’re out.”
“Dad always threatened that with us. Never worked.”
“That’s why he got your Mum a mini van and he kept the car. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
Elissa couldn’t help but grin as the banter continued. True, it was a little caustic, definitely offensive if anyone in the car decided to take it as such, and so politically incorrect that it was downright funny.
It was also educational. Very educational.
And watching Ash joining in, in her own sweet, definitely non-offensive way, Elissa felt her heart open a little more to these women who’d taken her best friend to their admittedly impressive collection of bosoms and bring out her old self. Elissa hadn’t seen Ash so happy or content in a long time.
Clipping on the seatbelt, she settled into the seat, content to just listen.
Del swung the car out onto the road and drove back towards town, turning onto the main street. They passed the police station, fire station and ambulance station and kept going, turning down a side street at the end of the main street in the opposite direction to which they’d come.
The road was a little rougher.
“Cripes.” Dee grabbed the back of Molly’s headrest. “The bloody council needs to earn its rates.”
“Don’t worry,” Del assured her. “I’m onto it.”
“How?”
“The mayor’s wife wants that new two-piece pants suit in green. I order it once this road is done.”
“Clever.”
<
br /> “She’s going to inform him this weekend that the road is a disgrace, and I order the pants suit as soon as she comes into the shop tomorrow.”
Elissa looked at Del’s reflection in the rear view mirror. “Ah…isn’t that kind of like blackmail?”
“Bet your arse,” Del replied unashamedly.
“Okay then.”
Ash flashed Elissa a grin. “It’s the country way apparently.”
Elissa feigned sombreness. “I’m worried about you.”
“Too late. Whatever has been done, has been done.”
The car swung onto a potted driveway, wheels bumping.
“Holy crap.” Molly laid a hand protectively over her belly. “You’ll put me into labour.”
“I’m not calling the vet.” Del angled the car around the curving driveway. “His out-of-hour charges are ridiculous.”
Molly punched Del’s arm.
“I have to tell you, Molly, your perchance for violence is escalating with this pregnancy. If you start getting the urge to eat raw meat, let me know.”
“I’m not having a werewolf pup.”
“Huh. I thought I heard Kirk howling at the moon the night that bun was put in the oven.” Del braked. “Here we are, girls. Everyone out, we’re heading for the shed.”
Getting out of the car, Elissa moved to the side so Dee could follow. Looking around, she was struck anew at the quietness of the surroundings.
Birds whistled and twittered in the trees, the cool breeze held a hint of chill though the sun was still warm, native bushes swayed, and the air was fresh. Several grey clouds scudded on the horizon.
The house was old, older even than some she’d seen in town. Grey stone walls, a tin roof, and a big, sagging veranda. No garden in sight.
She turned around slowly. There was grass, kind of. It grew more at the edges of the clearing where the house and car stood. A shed was beside the house, just as old, made of wood with a shiny new coat of white paint and boasting a new wooden door.
Wow. This was one isolated place. The bush ringed the clearing, a curving driveway, and a block that possibly went further back. Neighbours - well, she hadn’t spotted any. A couple of driveways etching off the road but no houses.
Completing her turn, she found Del watching her. Not knowing quite what to say, she smiled. “Nice.”
“Thanks.” Sliding her hands into her pockets, Del glanced around. “I bought it.”
It was on the tip of Elissa’s tongue to ask why she’d bought such an obvious dump, but she refrained. “Don’t you get lonely?”
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