Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters) (9 page)

“Bit early in the day, isn’t it?”

“Light beer.  I only drink light
beer.”

“No coffee?  Ever?  Isn’t that a
little unusual in your job?”

“Ha ha.  I meant I need a drink.”

“Problem?”

The silence was heavy, then, “You
want a drink or not?”

Interesting.  “Sure, why not? 
Where do you want me to meet you?”

“How about I come to your place?”

“No worries.  You can help me
weed.”

“Yeah, because that’s what I want
to do on my day off.”

“Hey, if you just sit there
watching me while I work, then Shirley who lives behind me is going to think
you’ve got a crush on me.”

“Give her something to think
about.”

Matt laughed.  “Bring the light
beers.”

“Got two right here.”

Matt looked around to see Adam
come strolling around the side of the house, a paper bag in one hand, his
mobile in the other cradled against his ear.

Flicking off the phone, Matt
placed it on the table and studied Adam.  In the months he’d been in town he’d
gotten to know Adam well.  His job as an ambo and Adam’s as one of the local
cops meant they crossed paths professionally and from there a friendship had
formed.

Adam set the bag down on the table,
pocketing his mobile at the same time.  Dressed in a singlet and baggy shorts,
his bare feet shod in thongs, his hair mussed and dark shadows under his eyes,
he didn’t look like the big, calm cop Matt knew.  Well, big, yes, there was no
way to deny that, not with those broad shoulders and heavy muscles, but calm,
however, there was definitely an undercurrent under the calmness and it wasn’t
a peaceful one.

“Rough day?” Matt queried.  “Even
though it’s not even lunch time yet?”

“You could say that.”  Adam looked
around at the garden.  “What’re you doing?”

“Gardening.  You know, weed, trim,
rake?”

“Huh.”  Adam flopped down into one
of the chairs and pulled a light beer from the bag, tossing it to Matt before
pulling out another beer and crumpling the bag up.

“Only two?”  Matt queried.  “One
each?”

“One a day, that’s my limit.”  Stretching
out his legs, Adam kicked off his thongs.  “Nice quiet place you got here,
Matt.”

Even better because it was beside
Lori’s house.  “True.”

Taking the other chair, Matt toed
off his sneakers and sunk his feet into the grass.   Popping the tab, he took a
sip.  Ice cold, it certainly hit the spot.

“Yep,” Adam said.  “Nice and
quiet, no worries.  You’re a lucky man, Winters.”

Matt slanted him a look.  Always
the epitome of calmness, Adam had a definite cloud of something hanging over
him.  “Problem?”

“What makes you say that?”  Adam
took a swallow of beer.

“You look like you’ve got the weight
of the world on your shoulders.”

Adam stared at the wheelbarrow
without saying a word.  The silence stretched out.

Leaning back in the chair, Matt
rested his head against the backrest and closed his eyes.  If Adam wanted to
talk, he would, and if not then it was rather nice sitting out under the sun
sharing a cold beer with a friend.

“Women,” Adam finally said.

Ah
.  Matt cracked open one
eyelid.

“Women are the scourge of men everywhere.”

“Harsh.”

“Trust me, if you…” Adam sighed,
his voice trailing away.

When he didn’t speak any further,
Matt probed, “If I what?”

“Nothing.”  Taking a mouthful of
beer, Adam swilled it around his mouth and swallowed.

When silence fell again, Matt
decided that he might as well do some other fishing if Adam wasn’t going to
share his issues.  “So, this Tommy bloke.  The café owner.  What’s he like?”

“Why?” Adam asked.

“Just curious.”

Taking a thoughtful swig of beer,
Adam studied Matt.  “Had a run in with him?”

“Nope, just wondering.”

“He’s okay.  Gives me no
problems.”

“You’ve known him a long time?”

“All my life.  We grew up together,
though we were never close friends.”

“So he’s not violent or anything?”

Adam’s expression didn’t change,
though his gaze grew sharper.  “Giving you any problems?”

“No.  Just wondering.”

“Then no, he normally isn’t a
violent man.”  Adam studied him intently.  “Care to fill me in?”

Matt swirled the beer around in
the can.  “He came and saw Lori this morning, seemed angry about something.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  She denies any knowledge
of why, but I was just wondering.”

“Wondering what?”

“What do you think?” Matt asked a
little impatiently.

Adam eyed him for several seconds
in silence before glancing over at the Mackay house.  “I think you’re sweet on
Lori, is what I think.”

Not about to deny it, Matt just
met his gaze silently.

“And I’m thinking that you’re
wondering if Lori has some kind of relationship with Tommy.”

“She denied it.”

“And she’s correct.  So why are
you doubting it?”  Adam inclined his head towards her house.  “Lori doesn’t
lie.”

“I never thought she did,” Matt
replied.  “But when a man comes around breathing fire, then something is going
on.”

“Nothing romantic, that’s for
sure.  I know her.”

“I know.”

“Do you have any idea of Tommy’s
problem?”

“Not a clue.”  Matt looked at
Adam.  “You haven’t heard of anything between them?  Anything bad?”

Adam gave a bark of laughter. 
“Lori do anything bad?  Trust me, Matt, that girl hasn’t got a bad bone in her
body.  She’s just a sweet girl.”

“Whose waters run deep,” Matt
muttered before he could stop himself.

“Ah, so you figured that out.” 
Adam’s eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement.

Matt looked at him.

Adam slanted his beer can in
Matt’s direction.  “I’m not stupid.  Lori’s sweet but there’s more to her than
meets the eye.  She can get fiery when the time calls for it, don’t worry.  I
know her.”  At Matt’s scowl, he burst out laughing.  “And no, there’s been no
romance between me and Lori.  We just got on really well from the time we were
kids.  She’s like a little sister to me.”

There was no denying the relief
that Matt felt even as he shrugged and leaned laconically back in the chair. 
“No worries.”

“Yeah, sure.”  Still grinning,
Adam took another drink of beer before placing it on the table.  “So, you’re
sweet on Lori and suspicious of Tommy.  Good instincts.”

Matt shot him a look.

“Tommy isn’t himself lately.” 
Lips pursed, Adam gazed out into the garden.  “A few people have commented on
it.  Man hasn’t come to me, though, so I guess he’s dealing with whatever it
is.”

“Whatever it is, he seems to think
that Lori knows about it.”

“Has she said anything to you?”

“She denied it, remember?”

“Hmmm.  Maybe I should have a word
to her.”

“Yeah, because that will make her
happy with me.  I thought you were my friend, arsehole.”

Unperturbed, Adam tracked a
butterfly that meandered past him.  “I’ll just do a little quiet digging
around, see if there’s anything going on that I should be aware of.”  He slanted
Matt an amused look.  “And don’t worry, I won’t drop you in the shit with your
sweetheart.”

“Good.”  Deciding it was time to
change the subject, Matt studied him.  “So why are women not on your list of
top favourites this morning?”

Almost immediately Adam’s face went
expressionless.  “No reason.”

“Yeah, right.”  Matt arched one
eyebrow.  “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain new blonde in town,
would it?”

“What blonde?”  Going by the
narrowing of his eyes, it was more than obvious that Adam knew exactly what
blonde to whom Matt was referring.

“The one who tipped water into
your lap?  No one missed the way you practically dragged her out of the
restaurant, Adam.  Then she disappeared from town for a short time before
turning back up again a couple of days ago, and you look like someone who found
the end of the rainbow and ended up with a pot of crap rather than one of
gold.  What’s the problem?”

Scowling, Adam drained the tin and
crushed it in his big hand, dropping it onto the table and leaning his head
back against the chair.  “Let’s just say she’s a thorn in my side.”

Intrigued, Matt rolled his beer
can between his palms.  “How?”

“She just is.”

“Old school friend?”

“Barbie’s a couple of years
younger than me.  I used to go out with her sister.”

“Barbie’s the blonde?”

Adam grunted.

“So how is she a thorn in your
side now?”

“Old story.  Nothing I want to
talk about.”

“I thought that’s what you came
here for?”

“No, I came to relax with a
friend, not cry into my hankie about a sheila who drives me insane.”

“Drives you insane, huh?”

When Adam gave him a stare, Matt
took the hint.  “No more Barbie.”

Adam just grunted again.

When he left an hour later, Matt went
inside to wash his hands before following through with his intentions of
heading over to Lori’s house to ask her out on that date.

The phone rang and he answered, “Hello?”
only to groan seconds later.

The ambulance officer working had
fallen foul of some gastro bug and been taken home.  The only other paramedic
available to man the ambulance was Matt.  There went his day off and he knew,
glancing at the clock, there went his chance to ask Lori out.  There was no
time to go over and chat her up, and he certainly wasn’t going to rush it.

Looked like it was another job for
tomorrow.

Damn it.  Right then it felt as
though the universe was conspiring to keep him away from Lori.  However,
tomorrow was another day.

Hopping in the shower, he nodded. 
Tomorrow, come hell or high water, he was asking her out.  Nothing and no one
was going to stop him this time.

~*~

The next morning, her ankle
feeling almost back to normal, Lori hopped into her car and headed into town. 
The café was quiet when she pulled into the parking space in front of it and
she was about to hop out when she saw a woman walking out the front door. 
Tears sparkled in her eyes and she hurriedly wiped them away when she saw Lori.

Getting out of the car, Lori
asked, “Are you all right?”

“Fine.  Thank you, I’m just
fine.”  Taking a deep breath, the woman looked at her, blinked and looked again
before taking a step closer.

Now Lori recognised her as the woman
who had watched her as she passed her house the day before, there was no
mistaking the short, curly hair and the shape of the face.  Only now she could
see that the woman’s hair was tinged with grey at the temples and her face had
a few lines on it.

Before the woman could say
anything, Tommy appeared in the doorway, a scowl on his face which just grew
darker when he saw Lori.  His gaze flicked between her and the woman.

The woman glanced back at him,
opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed it again and swung
around to walk away rapidly.

Watching her, Lori wondered who
she was, she certainly wasn’t a local.  Dimly she remembered her arriving a
while ago, she’d fuelled up several times at the service station.  A quiet
woman, she didn’t say much and kept to herself, but there was something wrong.

“Lori,” Tommy said.

Switching her gaze to him, Lori
noticed he was still scowling, only his scowl this time was aimed right at
her.  Closing the door of the car, she nodded at him.

He glanced around before pushing
the door open behind him.  “Come inside.  We have something to discuss.”

Entering the café, she saw that it
was empty.  Turning, she was surprised to see Tommy lock the door and flip the
‘closed’ sign in the window.  A little uneasy, she looked up at him.  “Is
everything all right?”

“No,” he said, “it’s not.  Now sit
down.”

Not liking his tone and not so
certain that she’d done the right thing, Lori straightened her shoulders.  “I
beg your pardon?”

“Sit down.”  He moved across to
one of the tables at the far end of the café, only to look around when he
realised she wasn’t following.  Still scowling, he wiped his hands across the
front of his apron.  “All right.  Please, Lori, sit down.”

Crossing the room, she stopped
before the table to look up at him.  “I want to know why you’re so mad at me. 
I haven’t done anything to you.”

“It’s not you.”  He hesitated,
“Well, not totally you.”

“It’s not me at all,” she
retorted.

He glared at her for several
seconds before sighing suddenly and rubbing his brow.  “Lori, please sit down. 
I need to discuss something with you.”

Relieved as some of the anger
ebbed out of his voice, she slid into the booth, watching as he lowered himself
down opposite her.

Resting his forearms on the table,
he regarded her.  “You saw me leave that house the other morning.”

Not denying it, she nodded.

“It’s not my house.”

“I know.”

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed
one thumb across a scratch on the table top.  “It belongs to a woman I’m
seeing, Harriet Keller.”

“Okay.”  Now Lori suspected she
knew what this was about.

“She doesn’t want anyone to know
that we’re seeing each other.”

“Why not?”

“She just doesn’t.”  Pain was
reflected in Tommy’s eyes.

“I still don’t see what this has
to do with me.”

“You saw us.  Don’t tell anyone.”

Lori couldn’t believe it.  “This is
why you came to my house yesterday practically baying for blood?  Just to tell
me to mind my own business and not gossip?”

A muscle in his jaw clenched. 
“Yes.”

Anger flickered through her.  “A
simple request would have done.”

“I know.  I’m making that
request.”