Fly with Me (17 page)

“Well, while
you’re all resting yours’, I guess I better get the drinks as
well.” Simon looked at them all sitting at the table. “Seeing as
how I had to go out in the cold to get you all food, you ungrateful
bastards.”

“I’ll have
coffee,” Ryder said.

“Coffee,”
Scott agreed.

“Tea,” Kirk
added.

Plugging in
the kettle, Simon busied himself preparing the hot mugs of drink
while Scott finished heating the chips. His friends’ conversation
hummed pleasantly behind him, the sound of rain hammering on the
roof, and Simon felt satisfied.

Right until he
realised the rain was coming down harder and Elissa might still be
on the road. Shit, would she be on the road still? Had she gone
straight home? Was she on the side of the road? Had she remembered
to put the hazard lights on?

Hot, steaming
liquid splashed out of the last mug he was placing on the table,
Ryder shoving his chair back with a curse.

Ignoring him,
Simon grabbed the phone from the wall and dialled Ash’s phone
number. When she answered, he demanded, “Is Lis home?”

“Who?”

“Lis. Elissa.
Is she home?”

“She just came
home a few minutes ago. Did you want to speak to her?”

“No. No, it’s
fine.” Relaxing, he took a breath, closed his eyes, only to open
them again. “A few minutes ago? She didn’t drive through the
downpour, did she? I told her not to. I told her to pull over if it
started teeming down. She better have pulled over-”

“She was home
before the rain turned heavy again. Simon, are you all right?”
There was a clear mutter in the background, a startled silence,
then Ash asked a little more cautiously, “Simon?”

“It’s all
good, Ash. I’ll catch you later. ‘Bye.” Lis was home safely. Good.
He hung up the phone and turned around to find all three friends
watching him with various degrees of amusement and contemplation.
“What?”

“What?” Ryder
tossed the now dirty dishcloth into the sink. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Simon
dropped into the chair, digging out a handful of hot chips from the
bowl in the middle of the table to plop onto his plate. “What?”

“Mister
All-Calm-and-Collected turns all Mr What-Did-I-Tell-Her and you can
ask ‘what’?”

“I don’t have
a clue what you’re rabbiting on about.” Simon added two Dim Sims
and a Chiko Roll to the plate, eyeing it while practically
drooling. The smell was yummy, it was hot and greasy, and it was
cold and wet outside. Perfect combination.

“Jesus, he
can’t be serious,” Ryder said in disbelief.

Taking a big
bite out of the Chiko Roll, Simon raised his eyebrows at the
ambo.

“You were out
with Elissa,” Scott stated.

“She offered
me a lift back. It was raining.”

“She was
pissed at you. What did you do?”

“Nothing.”
Taking another big bite of food, Simon sighed happily.

“If she was
pissed at you to start with, she wouldn’t have offered you a lift
home,” Kirk pointed out. “When the car pulled up she looked a
little tense, but then you said something to her that got her
pissed at you.”

“Oh, that.”
Simon waved his hand laconically. “I just warned her to be careful
on the road.”

“Uh huh. Just
warned her. That was it.”

With a small
smirk, Ryder looked at Scott. “A warning got her all pissy.
Just
a warning.”

“More than
that,” Scott said bluntly. “What else did you tell her? Oh, should
I add
before
you chucked her under the chin like a kid?”

“It certainly
didn’t help her mood,” Ryder said happily.

Finished with
the Chiko Roll - man, he was hungry - Simon picked up a Dim Sim.
“Oh, that. She just looked tired, so I suggested she sleep in
instead of getting up at dawn and walking. Woman needs some
rest.”

“She won’t get
rest being mad at you.” Ryder picked up his mug of coffee.

Kirk calmly
regarded Simon. “Interesting.”

“Mmm?” Simon
looked at him.

“I’ve never
known any sheila in this town to get angry with you -”

“He’s too
damned lazy to get anyone’s back up,” Ryder interjected.

“- and I’ve
never known you to give a woman orders when it’s not called
for.”

“I didn’t
order her,” Simon replied. “I was telling her what to do if the
rain got heavy.”

“Elissa’s
driven in rainy weather in the city, I’m sure she knows what she’s
doing.”

“You still
tell Molly all the time.”

“That’s
different.”

Simon
snorted.

“She’s my
wife.”

“You tell Del,
too.”

“She’s my
friend.”

“You tell
everyone.”

“That’s my
job.”

“And it’s my
job as her friend and a member of the emergency services to inform
her of what to do when danger is imminent.”

“Jesus,” Ryder
said. “The big words are starting.”

Grinning,
Scott broke his pie in half, only to look disappointed when steam
didn’t curl out. “Well, shit. This is lukewarm.”

“Heat it up.”
Ryder shoved the paper bag containing his pie towards him. “Do mine
as well.”

“You lazy
bastard. All you’ve done is come over here, drink our coffee and
eat our food.”

“What’s your
point? And will you hurry? Some of us have to go back to work.”

Simon studied
Kirk who was scrutinizing him in turn. Hmm, his friend was doing a
lot of thinking, but Kirk being Kirk, not a lot of what he
was
thinking was showing on his face. He had cop face down
to a T.

“Something on
your mind?” Simon queried.

“You don’t
seem bothered that she was angry with you.”

“Anger is
better than crying.”

That had all
the men straightening, Scott turning around from where he stood at
the microwave. “What do you mean crying?”

No point
hiding it now. His friends knew something was up and hell, they
wouldn’t talk anyway. What was said between these walls stayed
here. He could tell some of it but her story wasn’t his to reveal,
not even to his friends. “Tears. Throwing her mobile out the
window.”

“She did
what?” Ryder stared at him over the rim of his mug.

“Yep. I
spotted her sitting in the car, saw her stressed out, went to see
if she was all right and next thing the phone is out the window and
on the ground. I picked it up, went over to her, and man, I’m
telling you, the woman is stressed to the max.” Simon paused,
looked at Scott. “Ash say anything about Lis being unhappy?”

Scott started
to shake his head, only to frown and stop. “Well, I know Elissa is
having a few issues, that’s all. Ash didn’t say much about it. I
don’t know if she knows more or not.”

Ryder placed
the mug on the table and reached for the bowl of chips. “The girls
were all out together earlier. Dee didn’t mention she was
unhappy.”

“Huh.”

“In fact, Dee
likes her. Says she has to educate her, though.”

Simon laughed.
“Holy crap, there goes the neighbourhood
and
the nice
girl.”

Ryder grinned
widely.

“Doesn’t solve
the mystery of why she’s so unhappy.” The microwave dinged and
Scott carefully took the pies out and placed them back on the
table. “Maybe she’ll open up more to Ash while she’s here.”

Taking a now
steaming pie, Simon split it in half with a knife. Maybe Scott was
right, maybe Lis would open up to Ash. Regardless, he was
determined to help her find renewed joy in life. He wanted those
tears gone from her eyes, the tension from her shoulders, and
laughter back on her lips. He just had to get her to trust him,
spend a little more time with him.

Good thing he
had a plan.

Chapter 5

The ground was
damp from the rain which had finally stopped around midnight. The
morning was chilly and dark grey, the dawn just emerging.

Standing by
the open gate, Elissa tucked her hands deeper into her pockets as
she waited for a little more light to emerge before she started her
walk.

The night
hadn’t been restful, both her mother’s words and Calum’s echoing in
her head, making her irritable, mentally itchy, restless. Not to
mention wondering what the hell had possessed her to tell Simon
everything. Cripes, she didn’t even know the man that well, yet
there she’d been, spilling her guts to him.

She’d been
awake since three o’clock reading in bed with the door shut so she
didn’t disturb Scott and Ash.

Cripes, Scott.
She couldn’t help but shake her head and grin a little. He’d heard
about the roof episode and true to the girls’ warnings, there he’d
been, standing at the sink looking really hot in his fire fighter’s
uniform, quietly and firmly giving them a lecture on safety and the
foolhardiness of climbing on roofs.

Ash had simply
listened politely, nodded, then walked over, grabbed the front of
his shirt, pulled him down for a kiss, and while he was still
arguing with her- or trying to - she’d whispered something in his
ear that had made his eyes go from annoyed to hot. Then Ash had
glanced over her shoulder at Elissa and winked.

Elissa
couldn’t very well kiss Scott to divert him like Ash did, so she
simply nodded. Okay, part of her could have fired up and gotten
indignant at the lecture, but on the other hand she appreciated the
fact that he loved Ash and cared about his friends enough to try
and protect them, and he’d included her in that circle which was
heart-warming, made her feel like she belonged. It was strange to
feel included in a protective gesture she’d only ever felt around
her brother.

The sound of a
vehicle in the distance drew her attention, an old ute driving into
view. It slowed down, slewing across the road to park near her at
the gate.

An older man,
lean, his face lined, looked out at her. “You all right,
missy?”

Warily, she
eyed him. “Fine, thank you.”

His gaze went
to the house behind her before moving back to her face. “You must
be Ash and Scott’s friend.”

“I’m
Elissa.”

“Jack Stanton,
commonly known as Old Jack Stanton.” He held out a work-roughened
hand.

Gingerly
taking his hand, she had hers given a good hearty squeeze and shake
before he released it. “You’re up early.”

“Country air,”
she responded.

“Yeah.” He
nodded. “Need a lift somewhere?”

“Thanks, but
no.” Cripes, she didn’t even know him. Stranger danger and all
that. Mind you, she walked along the road alone so…

“Righto. Well,
I better get moving.” He nodded at her. “Nice to meet you. Say
g’day to Scott and Ash for me.” Putting the ute in gear, he drove
back onto the correct side of the road and disappeared towards
town.

Okay, that had
been interesting.

The grey had
lifted a little more, lightening the sky, so she decided to start
walking. She had a lot to think about, one of which was what the
hell she was going to do with her life. She had no job, no plans.
True, this was a holiday combined with Ash’s wedding, but it was
also a time to sort out what she wanted to do with her life.

Setting a good
pace, she mulled over her thoughts. The mobile, unfortunately, was
buggered. Whether it was the water or the way it had hit the
ground, it wasn’t working. Okay, maybe that was fortunate. Okay,
yes it was fortunate. No way anyone could ring her on it or leave
messages. She could just forget about it, and hell, she figured she
wouldn’t bother even buying another one. Not yet, anyway. Go mobile
free, that could be one of her new decisions. Moz knew where she
was, everyone did, so they could ring the house if they wanted. Her
mother liked to keep up appearances, she wouldn’t get unpleasant on
the phone if Ash or Scott answered it. Nope, she’d be all polite
and shit, waiting to spew her venom for when Elissa got on it. Even
then, if she knew that someone other than Elissa was in the room,
she’d have to be careful what she said. Gotta keep up
appearances.

Bugger
appearances. Elissa hunched her shoulders. She was sick of keeping
up a good front, trying to pay her dues. So sick of it.

Another engine
in the distance, this one powerful, rumbling loudly as it neared,
and she watched as a big black and chrome motorbike roared down the
road towards her. Instead of passing her, it slowed, the rider
expertly guiding it smoothly to a stop right beside her.

Now she was
wary. Hell, she was all alone in the early morning, no traffic
around, and here was a bikie. A big bikie, the jeans he wore
hugging powerful thighs, the leather jacket stretched across broad
shoulders. Heavy boots planted on the ground each side of the bike
as the rider straddled the powerful machine, keeping it upright
with ridiculous ease.

Glancing
around, Elissa took a step backwards. Jesus, why hadn’t she thought
to carry something with her? Such as a
mobile phone
? Oh
right, of course, that had buggered up from hitting the ground
before drowning in a puddle.
Great going, genius.

At least he
didn’t kick the stand on and get off, so he obviously didn’t have
any intentions of grabbing her and doing something nefarious. Or
maybe it was just that women with more generous curves than was
socially acceptable didn’t turn him on. Saved by a plump arse and
round thighs.

Then again, he
was still sitting there, his hands busy undoing the strap under
that strong chin.

Hmmm. He
seemed vaguely familiar.

Big hands
grabbed the black helmet each side and drew it off to reveal a
classically handsome face, a faint smile on firm, masculine lips, a
sprinkling of freckles across a straight nose, and warm hazel eyes.
Immediately, she relaxed.

Simon rested
the helmet on one thigh. “’Morning, Lis.”

What did one
say to a man one had spilled their guts to? “Hi.” Her gaze swept
over him and the bike. “Yours?”