“I did not just hear my baby boy say that.” Julia turned to Elissa. “How do you like Gully’s Fall so far, dear?”
“I like it.” Elissa nodded. “I like it a lot.”
“Looking for a job, I hear.”
“Yes.” No point denying that now.
“Something will come along, it always does.” Julia winked. “For special people.”
Aw, that was sweet. Elissa grinned. “Thanks.”
It was a pleasant time, but they had to leave finally to allow Julia to finish cooking for her guests and setting the table for dinner.
The evening was relaxing, curled up in the armchair watching TV, Scott sipping on a coffee while reading a motorbike magazine with Ash tucked up to his side. Tilly lolled on the back of the sofa before gradually sliding down until she flopped into his lap.
Watching TV, Ash absentmindedly started rubbing the tabby’s belly, the purring filling the air.
That made Elissa think of Arthur, which in turn made her think of Simon. Not that he’d been far from her mind all day. It was just that she’d been busy enough to push her thoughts to the back of her mind and now they all came tumbling back.
Escaping to the kitchen with the excuse of getting a hot Milo to take to bed, she was waiting for the kettle to boil when Ash entered.
Her friend leaned against the bench and eyed her. “So, how are you?”
“Is this like an introduction thing?”
“No, this is the time we have a serious chat.”
“Huh. What about Scott?”
“What about him?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be snuggled up to him?”
“He’s got Tilly and a motorbike magazine, he’s good for awhile.”
“Wow. Does he know that?”
“He knows that.” Ash gestured with her hand. “So come on, tell me about this quitting business. What happened?”
Spooning Milo into a mug, she raised her eyebrows questioningly. At Ash’s nod, she got out another mug and spooned Milo into that as well. “Well, the truth is that Mum and Dad were living high on the hog. They were never in danger of losing the house, in fact, it was paid off years ago and their bank balances are as stuffed as feather pillows.”
Ash’s mouth dropped open.
“Yep.” Elissa added a teaspoon of sugar to both mugs. “Moz found out and told me. He was so angry I thought he was going to personally go down there and wring their necks.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t.”
“He knew I’d be more upset if he ended up in gaol on my account.” Elissa took the bottle of milk from the ‘fridge. “So it looks like I owe my parents a big, fat nothing.”
“Uh huh.” Ash studied her. “What about your contract?”
“Never signed the contract before I left, so Calum can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.” Elissa paused, thought for a second. “You know, that actually sounds good.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really.” Elissa smiled. “It really does.”
“So now you’re footloose and fancy-free?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Bracing her hands on the kitchen bench, Elissa rolled her shoulders. “It feels liberating. This is my life now, I make my own decisions based on what I want, not what I owe people.”
“Got a lot to catch up on.”
“I do.” Feeling content, Elissa grinned. “I really do.”
“So, did you check the newspaper for a job?”
“Nothing in there.”
“Huh.” Ash waved one hand in the air. “Never mind. All we have to do is put the word out and-”
“Don’t even start with pity jobs.” Elissa gave her a hard look.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Ash blinked innocently then frowned. “And they wouldn’t be pity jobs.”
“Ha! I know you.” Elissa pointed at her. “Nope, I’m doing this myself, Ash. I have to, I want to, I’m going to.”
“What if I hear something? Can I at least recommend you? I can at least do that.”
“Maybe. Does it have anything to do with shearing sheep or shovelling cow shit?”
“I thought you were open to any kind of job?”
“Well, you know what?” Flicking the switch on the wall off, Elissa grabbed the kettle and airily started pouring hot water into the mugs. “Maybe I will. Maybe being a farm hand will suit me just fine. Up with the birds, out in the open air, asleep by sunset. Just me and the cows, chooks and sheep.”
“And blisters, sunburn, sweat and chafing crack.”
“Good God, you have been hanging out with your girlfriends for way too long.”
Feeling a whole lot better about life, Elissa took her mug of Milo, bid Ash and Scott goodnight, and walked into her bedroom. Her gaze slid to the bed, her mind went into overdrive, and warmth slid right through her at the memory of what had happened there that morning.
Oh boy.
As much as her emotions were still chaotic, she couldn’t help the small smile. Okay, shoot her, but knowing that a handsome man had the hots for her, knew her story and still wanted her, accepted her just the way she was, found her not-so-perfect body desirable, well, that did a lot to soothe her more decadent emotions. The fact that she found him attractive in several different ways was also, well, nice.
One of those ways was that he really knew about life, about it’s potholes and mountains, its disappointments and broken dreams, yet still he could find hope, see the beauty around him, come out the other side of a dark tunnel and still laugh, still care, still embrace life and do it his own way, that cast him in a whole new light.
She didn’t know what she was going to do about it yet, but right now she was going to lie back, read her book and know that life was spread out before her. Right now, she had hope for the future.
Did that future include Simon?
No idea. But it was an option, another possibility that was her decision to make.
And that was the whole thing. It was her decision, hers and no one else’s.
~*~
True to his word, Simon didn’t seek her out pushing for an answer. On the second morning she had to admit that when she went for her early morning walk she felt a little surge of disappointment when he didn’t appear on his motorbike.
Still, it was a good thing, right? It gave her time to think, room to breath.
After spending a pleasant morning at the house, Ash and Elissa got food from the café before going to the newsagent to pick up the newspaper and have lunch with Molly, Dee and Del. The little kitchenette at the back of the shop was cosy, the door to the little back entry way open.
“No kittens today?” Molly placed a container of salad on the table.
“They’re all at Ryder’s place,” Dee replied.
“Ryder’s place? Isn’t his home your home, too?”
“He rents from his parents.”
“So?”
“So the flat upstairs is mine.”
“You’re not living in different places, are you?”
“Sure. Sometimes we’re at his place, sometimes at mine.”
“You are freaky.”
Dee flipped her the bird.
“And rude.”
Del took a bite of chicken sandwich. “You seem so surprised, Molly. You’ve known those two long enough now to know they’re not normal.”
“You’re right. I forgot. Pregnancy does something to the brain.”
“I wouldn’t go around blaming it on that,” Dee said. “It was evident when you arrived.”
“Up yours.”
“At least I didn’t meet my husband with my arse hanging out the window.”
Looking up from the sausage and salad she was devouring, Elissa’s brows rose. “You what?”
Molly shrugged. “No big deal. I lost the keys to Aunt Julia’s house and was trying to get in the window when it fell and pinned me on the window sill. Goldie just happened to be passing by-”
“No, tell it truthfully.” Dee waved her f
ork with a piece of homemade meat pie on it at her. “He got reports of a light at a deserted house and found you doing a B and E.”
“I wasn’t doing a breaking and entering, I was trying to get into my Aunt’s house because I’d lost the key. Big difference.”
“Sure, you keep telling yourself that.”
“More interesting than Dee sitting in a sand box in a nappy throwing sand in Ryder’s face,” Del drawled.
“What?” Elissa stared at Dee.
“Well, it probably was true,” Dee admitted. “Ryder and I fought a lot.”
“In a sand box? With a nappy?”
“Hey, don’t go thinking it was something kinky. We grew up together. That happened when all we could manage was to sit in a sand box.”
“Ah.” Elissa nodded in understanding.
Simon had found her crying her eyes out on a balcony four flights up on a rainy night. Not that that meant anything. Just a personal observation of the first time they met. Didn’t mean anything. Apart from how sweet he was, how caring. She could still remember him crouched before her, his chest bare, those rippling muscles and, oh boy, she knew how those muscles felt now. Especially pressing her down into a mattress and…Time for a drink.
Elissa hid her suddenly hot-feeling cheeks beneath the act of taking several swigs of Diet Coke and a big bite of the sausage and salad.
Ash licked a smear of mayonnaise off her finger. “So I wonder how Del will meet the man of her life.”
“Buying new tighty-whiteys from her shop,” Dee retorted instantly.
“Are you insane?” Del shuddered. “Tighty-whiteys don’t do it for me.”
“Is it the y-front thing? The pocket thing? The thing that pokes out of the pocket thing?”
“A good pair of fitting tighty-whiteys doesn’t let a man’s thing pop out.”
“It will if it’s a big enough donger.”
Elissa nearly choked on her food.
Molly grinned. “Is that the voice of experience, Dee?”
“Ryder doesn’t wear tighty-whiteys.”
“What does he wear?”
“What do you care?”
“Hey, I’m just asking.”
“If you have to know, he wears-” Dee’s words were cut off by the old fashioned bell at the front door dinging accompanied by a bellow.
“Deidre Miller! Get your arse front and centre right now!”
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” she muttered without blinking an eye.
There was distinct male laughter coming from the shop, a low murmur of deep voices.
“Dee!” The bellow came closer, as did the laughter.
Alarmed, Elissa looked towards the doorway.
“What’d you do now?” Molly queried.
A distinctly wicked smile curved Dee’s lips. “Dumb arse thought he could outwit me.”
“Oh boy,” said Del.
Next instant Ryder came barrelling through the door, took one look at Dee calmly chewing and crossed to her, one of his big hands landing on the table in front of her, the other on the back of her chair, effectively hemming her in as he leaned over the table. “You’ve got some explaining to do, woman.”
“You don’t say?” She gave his arm a push. “Do you mind? We have visitors.”
Ryder shot the women a glance. “They’re not visitors, they’re our friends.”
“Oh, because that makes all the difference.”
Elissa’s gaze went to the door as Kirk and Scott entered, Simon pushing in behind them as they flanked each side of the doorway, settling in to enjoy the show.
The room was crowded, but boy, a lot of it was pure male testosterone. All four of the men were tall, broad-shouldered, and made a pretty hot looking bunch in their various uniforms.
Then, his eyes dancing with laughter, Simon looked at her and winked. It was infectious, light-hearted, making her rising discomfort at the memory of him leaning over her in the bed vanish to be replaced with answering humour. Plus she was glad to see him, had admittedly missed him. So shoot her for being a little hot for the redhead.
She looked back at Dee and Ryder with admittedly a touch of fascination, because she really didn’t know exactly what was going on between them. They were a fiery couple in more ways than one. She’d have been really worried about the current situation if not for the fact that no one else appeared to be.
Picking up her Diet Coke, Dee took a leisurely swig - quite a task given that Ryder was so close to her - before lazily putting it back on the table and drawling, “What’s got your boner deflated?”
Elissa’s mouth fell open.
“You really thought you’d get away with it?” he demanded.
“I don’t think, I know.”
“Babe, this is going to backfire.”
“You think so, do you?”
“I know so.”
“Uh huh.”
Kirk moved around to stand behind Molly, stooping to kiss the top of her head before leaning his hands on the back of her chair. Scott did the same, and Elissa tensed, wondering if Simon was going to try anything similar.
She didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved when he instead stayed where he was, his delighted gaze on Ryder and Dee.
“You are not getting away with this.” Reaching into his back pocket, Ryder withdrew a rolled up article of some kind and slapped it onto the table beside Dee’s plate. “If you think I’m going to pay seventy six dollars for this comic, you’re mistaken!”
“Really?” Dee picked up the comic, studied it. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Wrong with it? Wrong with it? What’s wrong with it is the price!”
“Look, dumb arse, you’re the one who reads this comic.”
“I’m not paying that price.”
“Oh, yes, you are.”
He thrust his finger right beneath her nose. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“Now that you mention it-”
“When you gave Max this comic and sent him across to the ambulance station with it, I knew something was up. You always make me come grovelling in here for it. Then Max told me what it cost. Jesus!”
“That’s the cost, you’re just going to have to cough it up.”
“Not bloody likely.” Ryder shoved upright, folding his arms across his chest and scowling down at Dee.
Personally, if he stood over her scowling like that, Elissa was pretty sure she’d shrink with mortification.
Dee didn’t bat an eyelash. “No concern of mine if you want to shaft your little brother.”
“What?” Ryder stared at her.
“Your little brother who was kind enough to pay the price for your comic.” She took another sip of Diet Coke. “Such a sweet boy, loving his big brother so much he willingly paid seventy six dollars for his comic. Pity his big brother doesn’t think enough of him to pay him back.”
Ryder’s mouth dropped open.
Del was laughing outright, Molly, Kirk, Scott and Simon right along with her. Ash was grinning, and Elissa, well, she had to swallow her laugh down, not sure that it was really appropriate to laugh out loud.
Obviously that didn’t stop the rest of the group, but to be fair they were all old friends.
Then Simon looked at her, mirth in his eyes, inviting her to share the fun. Warmth swept through her at being included, the laughter bubbling up.
“Oh, I know what this is about now,” Ryder finally growled.
“Poor dumb bastard,” Simon managed. “Took you long enough.”
“You stay out of this, you braying jackass.”
That only made Simon laugh harder.
Ryder glared down at Dee.
Turning to face him, Dee stretched out her legs, crossed her ankles and folded her arms beneath her breasts. That had her fiancée’s gaze dropping to the generous bosoms pushed upwards by her movement, and he actually had to shake his head a little before looking back up to meet her deceptively lazy gaze. There was no mistaking the faint flicker of heat
in his dark blue eyes, but he was made of sterner stuff.
Everyone stopped laughing, their attention riveted on this latest development.
“What’s it about, babe?” Dee asked serenely.
“This is about that ridiculous seventy six dollar bill you tried to make me cough up the other day!”
“Do you think so?”
“I know so.”
“Huh. Well, perhaps if you hadn’t been such a dumb arse and left the door open for your furry grandchildren to run wild through my shop, this wouldn’t have happened, would it?”
“Furry grandchildren?” Elissa looked at Ash.
“I’ll explain it later,” Ash replied, eyes dancing.
“Anyway, the bill is paid now.” Dee paused, cocked an elbow on the back of the chair. “Amazingly, the inflated price of comics covered the bill nicely.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Now it would be nice if you paid your poor little brother his money back.” Dee smiled slowly. “Your Mum wouldn’t be impressed if she knew you made him pay seventy six dollars for your comic.”
“Me? I didn’t make him pay that!”
Dee studied her nails.
Ryder almost snarled, his teeth clenched and jaw tight.
Elissa felt a twinge of alarm, but a glance around the table showed everyone else just watching, captivated and in various stages of amusement.
Dee arched an eyebrow and met Ryder’s glare. They stayed like that for ten long seconds before Ryder finally bent down, bracing his hands on the back of the chair either side of Dee’s shoulders. “You are in so much trouble, babe.”
She actually smirked.
“So much trouble.”
Her smirk grew bigger.
“When I knock off tonight, you better be here.”
“Where else would I be at eight o’clock at night, dumb arse?”
“Hiding at your mother’s.”
She laughed in his face.
“So, so much trouble.” Ryder shoved back from the table, straightening to his full height to tower over his chortling fiancée. “So bloody much trouble.” Turning on his heel, he strode out the kitchenette.
“Well, that’s that bit of amusement done for the day,” Scott announced. “Time to go back to work.”
Grinning, Kirk gave Molly another kiss on top of her head before following Ryder out, Scott on his heels, Simon right behind him.
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