“Be totally buggered without them,” her workmate agreed. “So, you got plans for this afternoon?”
“Apart from walking home?” Charley took her shoulder bag out of the cupboard. “Not really.”
“What is it with you and walking to and from work?” Bev shuddered. “I’m too buggered after running around to walk.”
“I only walk to work when I’m doing a morning shift and don’t have anything to do on the way home.” Charley headed for the door. “It’s nice, clears the head.”
“And makes you all sweaty and shit.”
“True, but you can’t have everything. Plus,” she added as she walked out into the corridor, “I wouldn’t do it if it was stinking hot.”
“It’s summer!”
“Okay, it is hot. Thanks for pointing that out to me.”
“Just doing my good deed for the day. Have a nice walk!”
Striding along the pathway away from the sprawling nursing home, Charlie breathed in deeply of the warm afternoon air. Yes, it was hot, but most of the way was dappled shade thanks to the trees growing along the footpath. Once she hit the main road the trees would stop, allowing the hot sun to beat down. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten to bring her hat so the possibility of getting some sunburn was very real.
Walking in the shade of the trees was nice, and she set her mind to enjoying that, but as she stepped out onto the sun-laden footpath she cringed a little. Argh, hot!
No sooner had the thought hit her than a car pulled up alongside her. Glancing sideways at the vehicle keeping pace with her, she did a double take at the sight of the man behind the steering wheel.
Gary was definitely the last person she’d expected to see.
The passenger window slid smoothly down. “Charley.”
Halting, she eyed him warily. “Gary.”
Inside the air conditioned car he looked cool, calm and collected, the pale grey summer suit lending to his tranquil air.
“I’m sorry I got mad the other night.” He gestured to her. “Get in.”
Lips pursed, she glanced away. After the way he’d treated her, did she really want to get in close quarters with him?
“Please, Charley,” he coaxed. “My behaviour was abhorrent. I was wrong. Please, let me make it up to you.”
“Make it up?” Her eyebrows rose. “How can you possibly make it up? You-”
A car behind Gary’s hooting sharply stopped her words, the driver indicating to drive impatiently around him.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet to talk about this.” Gary looked over his shoulder at the traffic behind him before transferring his worried gaze back to her. “Please, Charley? I want to explain.”
After a few second’s hesitation, she sighed as another car overtook his parked vehicle, the driver staring curiously at her as he passed. It was unusual for Gary to stop on a major road, he’d never done anything spontaneously in the weeks she’d known him. A phone call would be more his style, or simply turning up at her door, but to stop on a major road and basically plead for her to accompany him, well, maybe he really was sorry. Maybe he had a good explanation.
Ignoring the little as if whisper in the back of her mind, she relented. Opening the passenger door, she slid into the air conditioned interior, the leather seats hugging her gently as she settled and clipped on the seatbelt.
Gary smiled approvingly, checking the road before pulling out into the traffic. “I thought we’d go to this little café in Bellaview, have a coffee and a chat.”
“Bellaview is a little out of the way, isn’t it?”
“It’s a lovely café in the vineyards. Very discreet, very elegant.”
Oh yeah, he was all about the elegant. Biting her bottom lip, Charley stole a sideways glance at him. “We could just go to a café in town.”
He didn’t answer.
“I’m still in uniform.”
Now it was his turn to cast her a sideways glance. “No one will see us.”
“And just what is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Look…” Gary took a deep breath, managed a small smile. “Charley, let’s not get angry with each other, see double-meanings where there aren’t any. I just want to have a nice cup of coffee and a chat, all right? Talk out the disagreement the other night, come to an understanding.”
Folding her arms, she subsided back in the seat to stare out the side window as the houses grew more elegant, then further apart as they entered a more rural area.
Maybe he was right, maybe she was seeing hidden meanings where none were intended. At least he’d come to her, apologised, and even more in his favour he wanted to discuss things.
That’s what mature adults did, right? So why did she feel uneasy? A little petulant?
Uh-oh. Petulant. Ahhh. You’re still sulking. Damn, girl, you can hold a grudge. Grow up. Get a set. Wait, I can’t get a set. I don’t own a set and won’t unless I go for plastic surgery which, by the way, is not on the cards. And why am I having this ridiculous conversation with myself?
Mentally berateting herself for being childish, she managed to say pleasantly, “I think this is a good idea, Gary. We need to get our points of view out in the open.”
“We do,” he agreed quietly.
Making an effort, she switched the topic. “I haven’t been to this café before. It’s in the vineyards, you said?”
“Right smack-dab in the middle. Surrounded by vineyards on all sides.” Indicating, he turned off the main road onto a smaller road and the engine powered smoothly as he accelerated to the speed limit.
“You’ve been to it before?” Charley admired the scenery.
“A couple of times. Willard recommended it.”
Of course he did. Admirably, she refrained from repeating her thoughts aloud. “I see.”
“They serve a good wine with dinner, we’ll have to come out sometime,” he continued congenially.
“Maybe,” she said noncommittally, then, before she could continue, something darted across the road.
Horror-struck, she watched an oncoming car hit the animal, saw it disappear beneath the car, shocked when the car kept coming, passing them without stopping.
It took mere seconds.
“Stop!” she cried. “He hit it!”
“What?”
“Stop the car!”
“I don’t-”
They were almost to the scrap lying in the middle of the right lane. “Stop the bloody car!”
“All right, all right!” Gary slammed on the brakes, easing his foot up at the last second to avoid burning rubber.
The car passed the little animal lying so still on the road before coming to a stop. Charley had the seatbelt off and was out the door before he could do more than demand, “What’s the rush? What one earth is the matter? Are you sick?”
“Didn’t you see it get hit?” She hurried back along the road, closing the small distance rapidly.
Now she could see it was a cat. Thin, the tabby and white fur ruffling slightly in the warm breeze. Heart in her throat, she knelt beside it, reaching out to lay her hand under it’s paw to rest against it’s chest, rewarded by the rise and fall of the ribcage.
“Hey, kitty,” she said softly, her hands shaking slightly as she gently stroked the head.
“Charley, what one earth - oh, for God’s sake!” Repulsed, Gary recoiled back a few steps. “Leave it alone. It’s dead.”
“No, it’s still alive.” She slid her hand under the side of cat’s head, alarmed when she felt warm wetness on her skin. “It’s bleeding.”
“Diseased, probably.” He made a disgusted noise. “Come on, Charley, leave it.”
The heat from the bitumen seared the back of her hand. Of course it would be hot, no doubt burning the poor creature lying on the ground. “Have you got a towel or something in the car?” When there was no reply, she looked up to find him glaring down at the cat. “Gary? A towel?”
“No.”
There was no doubting he wasn’t going
to help. There was nothing for it but to lift the little cat up without anything to wrap it in. Leaving it on the hot bitumen wasn’t an option.
Carefully sliding her hands beneath the thin body, wincing at the feel of hot road and warm blood, she lifted it up gingerly but securely, careful to support the head on her forearm as she straightened.
“For God’s sake! What are you doing?” Gary demanded.
Ignoring the blood smearing her shirt, she started back towards the car. “We have to get it to a vet.”
“Are you for real?” He strode along beside her. “That thing isn’t getting into my car.”
“Don’t be silly.” Worriedly, she cradled the unconscious cat closer to her. “We can’t leave it-”
“We bloody well can.”
Surely he didn’t mean it - he couldn’t possibly mean it - she made for the passenger door, only to stop, aghast, when he actually shoved ahead of her to block the doorway. “Gary?”
“No.” His lip curled in distaste. “Look at yourself, Charley. You’ve got that thing’s blood on your clothes.”
Wide-eyed, she stared at him. “It’s injured. We can’t just leave it.”
“It’s not getting into my car.”
Was this really happening? She swallowed. “I’ll hold it on my lap.”
“This is a fifty thousand dollar car. That diseased, mangy mongrel isn’t getting into it.”
Protectively, she hunched over the thin body in her arms. “Please, Gary. Every second counts.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” He threw his hands angrily into the air. “It’s going to die anyway. Racing around and spending money on it, spoiling our afternoon, and it’ll all end in it dying anyway.”
Her heart thudded heavily, the heat of the sun prickling her arms even as a cold chill chased through her. “Gary -”
“It’s dying,” he insisted between gritted teeth, revulsion clear on his face. “Put it down.”
“No.” Horrified, worried about the cat, unable to believe that he could actually react so cold-bloodedly, Charley shook her head. “Please, Gary. Please. I’ll be careful, I promise it won’t get blood on anything.”
“No.” Coldly, he raked her face with an unrelenting gaze, his lips tight.
Dimly she registered the sound of an approaching vehicle, but her focus remained on the man before her. “Please.”
“Put that cat down and get in the car,” he ordered. “Now.”
She shook her head again, stepping back, a lump rising in her throat. “It’s only a little cat. It’s defenceless. It’s hurt. Have some mercy, some heart.”
“I won’t tell you again,” he practically snarled. “Get in the car now. Without the cat.”
It hit her hard. The man before her, the man she’d dated over the past weeks, the debonair man who was always so correct, so in control, was cold-bloodedly expecting her to dump a defenceless, hurt animal and just drive away to enjoy a cup of coffee.
She couldn’t do it, wouldn’t do it. But the knowledge that she was going to be left here in the middle of nowhere with a bleeding cat while she waited for a taxi to come and get her, that by the time it came it would be too late, that the taxi might refuse to allow her to bring the cat, had tears filling her eyes. She tried one last time. “Gary, please.”
His eyes remained merciless. “Me or the cat, Charley.”
A tear spilled over to trickle down her cheek, but she raised her chin to meet his gaze determinedly and with no small amount of disgust. “No contest.”
A car door slammed shut but she barely noticed, fear and loathing filling her. Fear for the cat, loathing for the bastard standing before her. Hopelessness at knowing the cat would surely die before she got it back into the city to a vet. “Give me my bag, I’ll phone for help.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” His gaze shifted to the side.
Only then did she register that someone was walking around the back of the car.
“Charley?” The voice was deep, concerned.
Cat cradled against her, blood coating her fingers, she turned to see a tall, broad-shouldered figure approach. She might not be able to make out his features clearly through the haze of tears, but she knew that voice. Relief coursed through her. “Blue.” Oh, thank God.
“What’s going on?” Coming up beside her, his arm brushed against hers as he reached out to touch the cat in her arms. “Oh shit, poor little thing. Did you hit it?”
“No.” Her voice wobbled.
“Is it still alive?”
“Yes.”
“It needs to be kept warm. Here.”
She blinked the tears aside in time to see Blue shrug out of his t-shirt, powerful muscles moving smoothly beneath tanned skin as he bent toward her, his face concerned as he carefully wrapped the shirt around the cat, being so gentle yet efficient as he slid the material between the cat and her hand, allowing Charley to shift her hold so he could secure the shirt around the cat.
Gary made a sound of disgust.
“There’s a vet not far from here,” Blue said.
“It’s not going in my car,” Gary said tightly. “You take it.”
Blue straightened, his gaze narrowing contemptuously on the other man before flicking down to take in Charley’s expression. Gently, he brushed his thumb across her damp cheek. “You all right, Charley?”
“Can I come with you?” She hated her wobbly voice but was so damned relieved to see him.
“Of course-”
“Take the cat,” Gary barked out. “Charley, get in the damned car.”
There was a split second of silence and then Blue seemed to grow. Not visibly, but something around him, something in the way he went so still, his shoulders seeming suddenly bigger, the flex of powerful muscles in his arms, the sudden deadly light in his eyes.
She was afraid he’d leap on Gary, but instead he placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her gently, protectively, into his side as he said with menacing quiet to the other man, “I’ll be seeing you later.”
Gary’s mouth opened but no words came out, his skin going a shade paler, his gaze flickering between them.
Without another word, his big hand coming under hers to help support the cat, Blue led her around the car and across the road to his old battered ute. Silently, he opened the passenger door, helping her slide into the seat, leaning in and over her as he positioned the seat belt, snapping it securely closed around her.
The cat cradled in her arms, the warm brush of Blue’s skin against her, his clean, male scent filling her as he moved over her, Charley fought the insane desire to cry as relief poured through her, the knowledge she was safe, the cat was safe. The certainty that Blue would take care of them both.
Pulling back, Blue caught her gaze and wobbly smile, and with soft expression he gave her forehead a quick, unexpected kiss, a brief, reassuring brush of his lips before straightening and shutting the door. Within seconds he was in the driver’s seat sliding the sunglasses onto his nose, the engine coming to life, and then they were on the road back to the city.
Gently, she stroked the cat’s head with a finger, scared it’d die, worried about the pain it might be in. When the breaths continued to make the little chest rise and fall, she looked out the windshield at the city on the skyline.
“What happened?” Blue asked quietly.
Her finger continued to lightly stroke the cat’s head. “It got hit by a car that didn’t stop.” When he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him. “I couldn’t leave it.”
“No,” he agreed. “I wouldn’t have, either. Every life is worth saving, no matter how big or small.”
Of everything he could have said, it was this that had her relaxing a little. “Thank you.”
“Nothing to thank me for.” His gaze remained focused on the road. “Did anyone tell you about Dog?”
It took her a few seconds to realise. “Luke’s dog? Called Dog?”
“That’s the one. Do you know the story?”
“No.”
“Luke was driving along a road in the middle of nowhere and discovered Dog tied to a guide post on the side of the road. Poor little bugger was just a pup, loaded in fleas and worms and crap.” Blue smiled slightly. “Literally crap. Shit all down Luke’s jeans when he picked him up. But Luke didn’t care. He stripped off and drove back to the city in his jocks, shirt and work boots and I can tell you that was a sight for sore eyes. He rang me to bring him some clothes, and I met him just outside the city with clothes and a box for Dog.”
“He put Dog in the back of the ute?”
“No way. He had the crappy, wormy, flea-ridden, mangy scrap on the floor of the ute. Cost him a fortune at the vets. Luke and Dog have been inseparable since then. My brother loves that mutt, nothing he wouldn’t do for it. Nothing he wouldn’t do for Duchess, either, the cat he and Mikki saw tossed out of a car in a box, even though this wild, scared, tiny thing tore his hands and chest up in a panic. My brother has a way of finding strays.” Blue’s head turned and he smiled at her. Even though she couldn’t see his eyes through the dark lenses of the sunglasses, she felt the warmth of his gaze. “We were brought up to know the worth of living things, be they furry or not. You’re doing the right thing, no matter the outcome.”
“I know. But thanks.” She met his gaze seriously. “For everything.”
“It’s all good, Charley.”
Quiet filled the cabin as the road passed beneath the wheels of the ute, the city grew closer, and the injured cat, securely wrapped in Blue’s shirt, continued to breathe in Charley’s arms even as blood dampened the cloth.
Chapter 4
Sitting in the waiting room, Charley wrung her hands, linking and unlinking her fingers, wondering what was happening. They’d come in, told the vet what had happened, and the cat had been whisked away.
Thank goodness it had a microchip, it meant it belonged to someone, but what worried her was how thin it was, as though it wasn’t used to eating well.
Sitting beside her, arms folded across his naked chest, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, Blue watched the TV up on the wall. Or she thought he was watching the TV until he reached out and took her nervously pleating fingers in one big hand with a comforting squeeze.
The Wells Brothers: Blue Page 9