Fly with Me (33 page)

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 fork 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.