Second Chance (6 page)

“The girls won’t be around
forever.”

“One mark on my handsome face will
upset Dee.”

Dee quirked one brow in silent
query.

“Work with me, babe.”

“Okay.”  She jerked her thumb at
her husband.  “What he said.”

Ryder smirked.  “And you upset
Dee, you upset Del.  You don’t want to upset Del, do you?”

Moz looked down at Del.  “You didn’t tell me he was part of the marriage deal.”

She shrugged.  “Sorry, honey.”

“He might be a deal-breaker.”

She crooked her finger at him and
leaned upwards.  Moz obligingly leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. 
Whatever she said obviously agreed with him.  His eyes went a little hot and he
straightened.  “The deal’s back on.”

“What’d you tell him?” Molly
queried.

“Secret weapon,” Del replied.

“Care to share?”

“Never you mind, kitten.”  Kirk
gave her ponytail a gentle tug.  “You have your own secret weapons.”

“It might be a secret weapon
you’ll like.”

“Kitten, I like all your secret
weapons.”

“Oh, honey.”  She melted into him,
eyes sparkling with a mixture of love and laughter.

Kirk kissed her forehead and
leaned back, one arm around her shoulders as she rested against him.

Highly entertained by the antics,
Tam wasn’t aware of Grant approaching until a muscled arm appeared over her
shoulder, the warmth of his body at her back, the faint scent of his aftershave
tickling her nose.

“Here you go.”  A glass of Diet
Coke was placed on the table in front of her.

“Thanks.”  She watched as he
walked around the table, swinging his jean-clad legs over the bench to sit
opposite her.

He managed to do it without
spilling a drop of the Coke he held in his hand.  Impressive.  If she’d attempted
it everyone within range would have been wearing it.

Settling on the bench, he looked
across at her.  “Doing all right?”

“Sure.  Why?”

“Not many people can handle being
exposed to this mob in one go. It took me several goes.”

“What a load of crap,” Simon
said.  “You couldn’t wait to be with the ‘in’ crowd.”

Grant pulled a wry expression.  “Been
introduced to everyone, Tam?”

“Yep, and they seem a nice bunch.”

Grant glanced around.  “There’s a
couple missing, but you’ll meet them at some stage.”

“It’s a big group.”

“It’s because we’re expanding in
more ways than one,” Elissa explained.  “Scott and Ash have eight month old
Kurt, while Molly and Kirk have Lily.”

“Terrible Twos coming up.”  Molly
shuddered.  “Actually, she’s in the temper tantrum stage now.  She does
not
take after her father.”

Kirk just grinned and rubbed her
back.

Leaning lazily back on the bench,
arms stretched out each side on the backrest, legs outstretched, Simon drawled,
“Lis and I are expecting the pitter-patter of little feet in six months, Moz’s
putting the condom market out of business single-handedly because he’s determined
to have a wedding band on Del’s finger before a sprock sprouts, and Ryder’s
shooting blanks.”

“What?”  Ryder’s head shot up. 
“I’m not shooting bloody blanks!”

“You haven’t gotten Dee up the duff yet.”

“That’s because we’re not ready!”

Dee rolled her eyes.  “Please.  I
already have six kids.”

“Stepchildren?”  Tam was aghast. 
The buxom, generously curvaceous blonde looked a little young to have that
many.

“Five cats and Ryder.  What do I
need with more?”

“Babe,” Ryder said, pained.

“Or maybe you just can’t do the
job properly.” Simon indolently waved one hand in the air.  “Don’t be
embarrassed about it.  I hear it happens to some men.  Not me, of course. 
Obviously not Kirk or Scott, either.”  He smiled sympathetically.  “I hear
there’re implants for that kind of thing.”

“Jesus, here we go.”  Dee sighed.

Entertainment had nothing on this
group of friends.  Grinning, Tam took a sip of Diet Coke.

“There’s nothing wrong with me,”
Ryder retorted indignantly, turning to Dee.  “You’re getting pregnant tonight.”

“And you’ve got rocks in your
head.”

“I mean it.”

“Just so you can prove a point? 
No.”

Ryder growled.

She sighed.  “Oh for - listen up,
everyone.  I make him double condom before he gets near me, his sperm is so
strong.”

There was dead silence for a
second then everyone roared with laughter.

“I don’t think that helped, babe,”
Ryder said.

“Hey, I tried.”

Laughing, Tam looked across the
table to find Grant regarding her with amusement sparkling in his eyes.

“Like I said,” he stated, “small
doses first builds up the immunity.”

“I can take it.”  She grinned.

“Good to hear.  I’m kind of close
to them.”

Kirk reached for his glass of
drink, catching Grant’s attention.

“By the way,” Grant said to him,
“I think the Stealth Thief has struck again.”

“Really?”

“A pair of my black socks are missing.”

Kirk paused, levelled a look at
him.  “A pair of your black socks are missing.”

“Yeah.  I think they may have been
pinched off the line.”

“Holy shit,” Ryder said.  “You
better call out the FBI.  Your socks call for intense investigation.  That’s
top priority.”

“I don’t know how Dee puts up with you.”

“Don’t worry,” said Dee.  “Neither do I.”

“It’s because I’m an expert
lover,” Ryder announced.

Everyone groaned.

“Hey,” said Ryder. “I understand. 
The men are envious, the women are jealous.”  Leaning back, he airily waved one
hand in the air.  “That’s just the way I am.  I can’t help it.”

“He’s right,” Dee said dryly.  “He
can’t help it.”

This time everyone sniggered.

Plucking a chip from one of two
bowls that someone from the group had brought to the table, Ash regarded Tam. 
“So you and Grant went to school together?”

“Only up to grade four,” Tam
replied.

“You changed schools?”

“No, Grant left.”  Tam sighed. 
“Saddest day of my life.”

Grant’s eyebrows shot up.  “Really?”

Oops
.

“Because you were good friends?”
Ash queried.

“Um…”

Nibbling on a chip, Grant watched
her closely.  Was he wondering if she’d blurt out the shorts-yanking episode?

“Okay.”  Molly leaned forward. 
“There’s something going on here.  It was your saddest day and he has not a
clue.”

Ah geez
.

“So that means…” Molly’s face
brightened.  “You had a crush on him!”

“You did?” Grant paused in
reaching for another chip.  “On me?”

Resigned, Tam nodded.  “I did.”

“Really?”

“You never noticed.”

“You never said.”

“Why would I?  You had more of a
passion for your books than girls.”

Ryder snorted a laugh.  “Not much
different now.”

This produced a round of laughter,
but Tam didn’t miss the way Simon and Kirk were watching Grant thoughtfully. 
Simon was doing it lazily from beneath half-closed eyes - was the man tired or
something? - while Kirk just, well, looked.

It wasn’t like Grant was trying to
be subtle, he just continued to sit there watching her like she was something
new and strange.

“Most little boys will pull a
little girl’s hair or annoy her somehow when they fancy her,” Del mused.  “What
do little girls do when they fancy a little boy?”

Pull his shorts down in front
of the school.
  “Mostly just watch and pine.”

“You pined when I left?” Grant
asked.

“You’re not going to get bigheaded
about this, are you?”

Moz grinned.  “Aw, little Grant
had an admirer.”

Grant didn’t shift his attention
from Tam.  “Really, I never knew.”

“Surprise.”  She smiled brightly. 
“Luckily you moved away and I got over you.”

“Ouch.”  Scott winced in fake
sympathy.  “Mate, your ego just got blown up.”

“He’s a big boy.”  Picking up her
glass, Tam looked Grant right in the eyes.  “We all grow up.”

Grant scrutinised her face slowly,
thoroughly, lingering on her lips before finally meeting her eyes.  She could
swear she felt every lick of that suddenly warm gaze.  Then her mouth went dry
because geez, was that a little glimmer of heat in the pale grey depths
regarding her so steadily?  No, just had to be her imagination.

“Oh yeah, you’re all grown up,” he
murmured.

Oh boy.  Not sure how to read his
expression or the tone of his voice, Tam cleared her throat and glanced away.

“So, any boyfriends on the scene?”
Elissa queried.

Not going to touch that topic. 
Hell no.  “I’m a boring subject,” Tam replied.  “How about you?  Are you the
same Elissa who I hear sometimes sings here and gets everyone going wild?”

Elissa glanced at Simon, who
smiled lazily.  “That’s my woman, all right.”

Taking the hint from her husband, she
turned back to Tam.  “I don’t know about going wild, but yes, that’d be me.”

“No aspirations to make a career
of it?  I hear you’re really good.”

“Other’s had the aspirations.  I
have everything I want right here.”  Elissa smiled up at Simon.

The redheaded firie gave her a
resounding kiss.

Moz made a gagging sound.  “Sister. 
Sister
.”

“I’m sorry.”  Simon fluttered his
eyelashes at his brother-in-law.  “I forgot about your sensitive
sensibilities.”

“Never mind numb nuts,” Ryder
said.  “I’m starving.  Are we eating?”

“My exact question,” Simon
agreed.  “Let’s order.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t start
moaning before this.” Scott placed his empty glass down.

“I had a little snack before we
left home.”

“A little snack, huh?  What was
it?  Half a cow?”

“A
little
snack, dipstick.”

“Half a dish of lasagne,” Elissa
supplied.  “Two pieces of garlic bread and a biscuit.”

“Like I said, a little snack.”

“Jesus, you’re a walking stomach,”
Ryder said.  “You’re unbelievable.  It’s like being in the company of a human
pantry and fridge rolled into one.  Frightening.”

“This from the man who fire blanks
like a box of defective bullets.  Laughable.”

Settling back to enjoy the volley
of insults firing between the two friends, Tam couldn’t help but feel Grant’s
steady regard, and she risked a quick peek at him.  Sipping on his Coke, the
man was studying her thoughtfully. What was he thinking?

He surprised her suddenly by sliding
across a menu from the small stack in the centre of the table.  “Most of us
know what we want, but you might like to check out the selection.”

“Thanks.”  At least he wasn’t just
looking at her like he’d just discovered something interesting - or
disturbing.  Taking the reading glasses from her purse, she slid them onto her
nose, pushed them up with one finger and studied the selection.  “It all looks
good.”

“It all tastes good.”

“Mmm.”

By the time she’d decided, the men
were already getting up from the table.  She made to join them, only to have
Grant shake his head.

“I’ll get what you want.”

“Oh. Okay.”  She reached for her
purse again.  “Thanks.”

“On me.”

That had her head shooting up. 
“Grant, I can’t-”

“On me,” he interrupted easily.

Oh, she didn’t like that.  “This
isn’t a-”

“You can owe him.” Simon actually
patted her head as he moved past.

A gleam entered Grant’s eyes.  “I’ll
collect, don’t worry.”  With that, he walked away in the company of his
friends.

Okay, she really had to sort him
out.  Him paying for her meal, one she hadn’t expected to actually have at the
pub, had not been agreed upon.  It wasn’t a date.  She didn’t want him feeling
he had to pay because the other blokes had their wives and fiancée with them.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed
herself.  It was okay, she was overreacting.  She’d pay him back later, all was
good.

“So,” Dee commented, “you must
have made quite an impression on Grant back in the day.”

“I think he made more of an
impression on me,” Tam replied.  “It was a long time ago.”

“Uh huh.”

Not about to poke that sentence to
see what it provoked, Tam switched her attention to Ash.  “So where are you
from, Ash?”

Ash smiled.  “Other side of Australia.”

“What made you leave?”

“I wasn’t happy there. How about
you?  Where are you from?”

“Originally I was from a big town,
moved to the city, and then came here to have a break and help out Aunt Maree.”

“Family?”

“Only child.  Mum and Dad still
live in the town where I was born.  It’s a nice place.”

“But you left?”

“Not a lot of work there.”

Ash nodded understandingly.

“So, no boyfriends?” Molly
persisted.  “No significant other?”

“Like I said, I’m pretty boring.”

“So you’re single.”

Easy to answer that one.  Tam
waved her hand in the air.  “No wedding or engagement rings.”  No need to
mention anything further.

“Just a Bandaid.”

“Huh?”

“Your finger.”

Tam looked at her hand and spotted
the Bandaid.  Kind of hard to miss since it featured cartoon characters.  “Mrs
Preston’s vicious budgie, Oliver.”

“Oliver.”  Molly looked dubious.

“Don’t dismiss Oliver,” Elissa
advised her.  “He may be only a little budgie but he bites like an eagle.”

 “Come on!  An itty bitty budgie?”

“Don’t scoff until you’ve tried to
clean his cage,” Tam said.  “That little bugger is vicious.”

“I hear you,” Elissa agreed in
sympathy.

“You never know what bites,” Del drawled.  “Just ask Moz.  He nearly got bitten by Mrs Montague for daring to give her a
gentle reminder that her pet pooch was getting rounder.”