Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters)

by Verdenius, Angela

  Matt cast her an expressionless look.

  “Yep, lucky.” Tucking her hands into her pockets, Lori glanced back at her car before turning her head to look back at Matt and Sally, only to find Sally texting something on her mobile and Matt looking steadily at herself. Unnerving. “Uh - so I’m fine. Are you on your way home?” Dumb question, bozo. He doesn’t take his ambulance or his volunteer home. Though for all she knew, maybe he did bring Sally home.

  No sooner had the thought crossed her mind most unwelcomingly than she knew it was untrue. She’d never once seen Matt bring anyone home.

  Blushing, she added, “I mean, are you on the way back to the substation?”

  Matt nodded. “Got some paperwork to do and the ambulance to re-stock, then its home time. So you are sure you’re okay?”

  “Oh, I’m fine.” She smiled. “I have a cop and a mechanic here.”

  Pocketing the mobile, Sally shivered. “All right then, Matt, let’s head for the substation and warmth. See you, Lori.”

  Lori could see the reluctance to leave in Matt’s eyes, which surprised her, but then he nodded and started to move away.

  Another car passed without slowing, then a ute came into sight. It slowed down and pulled in right beside Lori.

  Tommy nodded to her.

  “Hi.” Not wanting to acknowledge that she’d seen him leave a house not his own in the early dawn of Sunday morning, Lori returned his nod. For all she knew, he could have shifted house and now lived there.

  Tommy’s regard of her was sharp. “Everything all right?”

  “Car died.”

  He didn’t even look towards the front of the car where Adam had straightened and was now regarding them both. “Yep.”

  Not knowing what else to do - it hardly seemed appropriate to say ‘out and about early, aren’t you?’ - Lori cleared her throat and just looked at him.

  Tommy held her gaze for several long seconds, only breaking it when Adam started forward. “Seeing as how you’re all right, I’ll go.”

  “Fine. Thanks.” Lori stepped back, relieved to see the ute disappear into the distance.

  Standing by her side, Adam said quietly, “Lot of people out and about early today.”

  “Yep.” Shivering as a cold gust of wind ruffled her hair, Lori glanced away, only to find the ambulance had started to move forward but had now stopped, Matt gazing at her with concern through the windshield.

  There was no doubting he’d seen Tommy and her exchanging stares.

  Lori gave him a little wave and a mouthed ‘thank you’, relieved when he had no choice but to leave.

  She could feel Adam’s gaze on her but she steadfastly watched the ambulance drive away without saying anything further. Adam didn’t pry, but no way was she going to say what she’d seen, even though she had to admit she was a little unnerved by Tommy’s reaction to her seeing him.

  No sooner had the ambulance gone than Chris stuck his head around the corner of the bonnet. “Try to start it up, Lori.”

  Wanting only to get home and away from everyone, Lori hopped behind the steering wheel and started the car. It coughed once before purring to life. She almost slumped in relief.

  Coming around to the driver’s side, Chris leaned down. “Book the car in when you’re on day shift and I’ll look at it.”

  “Is there much wrong?”

  “Nothing I can’t fix.”

  That’s all she wanted to hear, that and - “Will it keep going until then?”

  “No worries. Just have it in by the end of the week.”

  “I have a couple of days off after tonight, then day shifts. I’ll book it in for Thursday.”

  “No worries,” he repeated.

  “Thanks, Chris, really.”

  “He nodded and straightened. “I better get going. Have a good day, Lori.”

  Politely, she waited for him to leave, watching in her side mirror as Adam approached. Leaning down, his elbow resting on the frame, he studied her. “Everything okay, Lori?”

  “Everything’s just fine now the car’s going again.” She smiled reassuringly at him. “I’m going home for a hot shower and bed.”

  He regarded her for several seconds before nodding. “You know where I am if you need me.” Straightening, he walked back to the cop car.

  Knowing he wouldn’t leave until she did, Lori indicated and pulled out onto the road, heading for home.

  Oh yeah, Adam hadn’t missed Tommy’s weird regard of her, and for that matter neither had Matt. Lori could only hope that it would all blow over. Peace and quiet were her preferred state, not ripples that directly affected her.

  She just hoped this particular ripple wasn’t going to touch her.

  As she pulled into her driveway, she saw Tommy’s ute at the end of the road. He looked once in her direction before pulling away and driving out of sight.

  It wasn’t that easy to shrug away the unease that went through her.

  Chapter 2

  Standing in line at the grocery store, Matt’s quiet contemplation of his surroundings were interrupted by, “G’day, Matt.”

  Turning, he smiled down at Mr Parker, or as the elderly man was known in Peeron, ‘Old Man Parker’. “’Morning.”

  Eyes bright, Old Man Parker leaned closer. “Heard about the big crash yesterday.”

  Matt’s eyebrows shot up. “Crash?”

  “Quite a to-do. Involved Lori Mackay.”

  The blood in Matt’s veins went ice cold. “What?” Lori had been in an accident and he hadn’t heard about it? What the hell-

  “Yep. Harry Dunsley saw it all yesterday morning when he was on his way back to bed from the bathroom. Looked across the park to the highway and there he saw it, plain as day.” Old Man Parker shook his head. “Adam was there, the ambulance, the car that belongs to that idiot mechanic Chris Brown.”

  Oh, for… Matt’s shoulders sagged in relief. “That wasn’t a crash.”

  “Metal everywhere,” Old Man Parker continued with relish. “I heard that Lori almost had to be given the kiss of life.”

  “Mr Parker, I was there-” Matt began.

  “You gave her the kiss of life?”

  “No.” Though he wouldn’t mind kissing that mouth of hers, those plump lips that curved into such a shy smile.

  “So who did? Chris Brown?”

  “No one gave Lori the kiss of life.” Matt ignored the little flash of anger at even the thought of the mechanic getting anywhere near Lori’s mouth. “It was all exaggerated.”

  “Oh?” Old Man Parker was quivering with curiosity. “So why was the cop there, the ambulance?”

  “Her car broke down, that’s all.”

  “Sure she wasn’t almost carjacked? ‘Cause I hear that happens in the big cities all the time, and considering that all of you were there-”

  Matt mentally rolled his eyes. “Carjacking doesn’t happen all the time in the city.”

  “Huh.” Old Man Parker grunted. “Guess you’d know, coming from the city and all.”

  “Lori’s car broke down, Chris stopped to help her, Adam happened along and saw the cars on the side of the road and we came upon them as well.”

  “So you suspected someone was hurt?”

  “Well, we didn’t know. It was a precaution to see if they needed help.”

  “Because someone was hurt?” another voice behind him piped up.

  Looking around, Matt did a mental groan. Mrs Swanson was watching him as avidly as Old Man Parker. In fact, he realised as he glanced around, there were a few people nearby watching him, all listening unashamedly.

  “Must have been Lori hurt.” Mrs Hubble, who lived across the road from Matt and the Mackay sisters, nodded her head wisely. “When I first heard of the accident, I brought a container of hot soup across to the house but no one was answering the door.”

  “That’s because Lori was probably asleep,” Matt explained. “She worked the nightshift.”

  “Or maybe, if she had a broken leg, she couldn’t
get to the door fast enough,” Mrs Hubble said.

  “If she had a broken leg, Mrs Hubble, she’d still be in hospital.”

  “Still?” Mrs Swanson leaped upon that word like a hungry dingo on a hapless sheep. “So she was in hospital!”

  “No!” Matt lowered his voice when they all stared at him. Christ, he was starting to get a mild thumping in the back of his head. “Nothing happened. Lori is fine, Chris fixed the car, she drove home, she slept. That’s it. Nothing happened.”

  Mrs Hubble raised one over-plucked eyebrow. “No need to get testy, son.”

  “Sorry.” Matt took a big breath. “A few things on my mind.”

  “Really?” Old Man Parker queried. “You live here by yourself, don’t you?”

  “Yep.” Glad for a change of subject, Matt watched in relief as Mrs Swanson went through the checkout.

  “I reckon young blokes need a father figure to talk to. You can talk to me.”

  Oh, that was so not happening. Matt took one look at the eager expression in Old Man Parker’s eyes, followed by the avid gleam of Mrs Hubble right behind him, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Or run.

  However, he was made of sterner stuff. He’d lived with his sisters, after all, and they’d never managed to break him, even when they’d dressed him up like a girl and used him as their own real live doll. The perils of being a three year old boy with eight year old twin sisters. His cousin had rescued him many times until he grew old enough to realise he didn’t have to do as the twins told him. Unfortunately, not soon enough to stop his mother taking photos of him with the twins - them in their pretty frocks, him in his. The family still chortled about it.

  “I appreciate the offer,” he told Old Man Parker seriously. “If I ever find the need, I know where to go.” Not to Old Man Parker, unless he wanted his heart-felt talks spread around the neighbourhood.

  Mrs Swanson had passed through the checkout and the checkout chick, a teenage girl named Hallie who wore braces and flirted with the Goth scene, waved him forward. Placing his items on the counter, he eyed the door covertly from his periphery vision. Not long now and he could escape.

  Not yet, however.

  “Guess you do a lot of chatting with that young Ghost,” Old Man Parker continued.

  “Oh, he does.” Mrs Hubble nodded, her tightly curled hair not moving an inch. “I see him go over there sometimes.”

  “We’re mates.” Matt handed over money to Hallie, who tried to keep the blank expression on her face though her eyes sparkled with mirth.

  Matt couldn’t help but grin at her.

  “Must be good friends with the Mackay sisters, too,” Mrs Hubble said.

  “We’re friendly.” Taking the change, Matt pocketed it while Hallie packed his items into a plastic bag.

  “Friendly enough to jump their back fence.”

  “Short cut. It was raining.”

  “Up onto their veranda?”

  Turning to face her, Matt raised his eyebrows. “Mrs Hubble, you live across the street. How could you see into the back yard?”

  She smiled triumphantly. “I was visiting Shirley, who lives right behind the Mackay house. I saw you jump the fence.”

  Good grief. Taking the plastic bag from Hallie, who was now grinning openly, Matt said hurriedly, “Well, gotta go. Nice talking to you all. Have a lovely day.”

  Making his escape out into the sunshine, he drew a relived breath. Small towns were friendly, everyone knew everyone, but sometimes it made things a little hard, especially with a couple of dedicated gossipers with way too much time on their hands.

  Driving home, he couldn’t help but start laughing. This was what he’d wanted, a small, friendly town. The business and stress of the city was something he’d chosen to leave behind, so he’d have to suck up the good with the bad. Besides, even he had to admit that sometimes the gossip was really entertaining.

  Pulling into his driveway, he glanced over at the Mackay house. All was quiet. No doubt Lori was still sleeping, it was only eleven in the morning and she’d have gotten home about seven o’clock and gone to bed after feeding Ghost’s cats.

  Ali and Ghost were away for the week on one of the ghost hunting expeditions that his friend enjoyed, so Ghost’s furry horde were the responsibility of Lori’s, though Matt had a spare key as well for emergencies and to help out as needed.

  Knowing the furry horde were a menace at the best of times, he decided he might as well go over and check what mayhem they’d been up to while left alone.

  After packing away his purchases, he headed over to Ghost’s house on the other side of the Mackay’s home, letting himself in the front door.

  Yep, the furry horde had managed to get into mischief between the time Lori had fed them and now. Four hours alone and the vase of flowers that Ghost’s mother insisted he needed was lying on its side on the floor, the flower petals of some unknown flower had been eaten and then unceremoniously retched up on the carpet - no doubt Abraham’s doing, the big tabby did love his flowers - and the feather duster was now somehow jammed up under a picture that hung over the sideboard.

  Mort loved the feather duster but how the hell the cat had managed to jam it under the painting was beyond Matt. He got it down and tossed it near the stairs leading up to Ghost’s writing room on the second floor.

  Mauve poked her nose out from under the blanket on the sofa, eyed Matt through crossed blue eyes, gave a dainty sniff and withdrew her head back under the blanket, effectively dismissing him.

  It wasn’t finished. Noticing shredded paper on the floor, Matt followed it into the kitchen. Yep, the perpetrator was fast asleep on the shredded magazine. Millie sighed, rolled over and got comfortable again on the magazine.

  Deciding she might as well keep it now, Matt went in search of the last furry hellion, Max. He found him in the front bedroom fast asleep, looking the picture of total innocence. Abraham was curled up close against him and they both opened their eyes to blink sleepily at Matt.

  A box of condoms had been ripped open and packets lay strewn over the floor and bedside table.

  “Seriously?” Matt asked. “Condoms? No bloke likes to touch another bloke’s condoms, guys. Please, don’t do this to me again.”

  Abraham yawned and Mort tucked his head between his paws and went back to sleep.

  Tidying up quickly, Matt checked the litter trays in the laundry. All were clean, no doubt attended to by Lori. The food bowls in the kitchen were empty, so Matt washed them and left them on the draining rack.

  Apparently cleaning bowls meant it must be time for a snack because the furry horde descended as if by magic from their various places, eyes bright and bodies all aquiver with excitement. Mauve wove her way between Matt’s legs, and Mort almost tripped him up when he tried to escape.

  The only thing he could do was fill several bowls with cat biscuits and run while he could, leaving the furry horde ploughing into the biscuits as though they’d never been fed in weeks. Locking the front door behind him, Matt shook his head. If Ali and Ghost ever had kids, no one would survive. He could just imagine the furry horde running amok with little Alis and Ghosts. It was almost a nightmare.

  Sniggering a little at the image, he returned to his own house.

  Pouring a cup of hot coffee, he went through to his back veranda and sat down, enjoying the quiet of the day. Several days off and he planned to do some gardening, wash the car and figure out the best way to approach Lori for a date.

  Yep, he’d decided he’d put it off long enough. He’d almost managed to ask her the other night at the servo but the emergency had interrupted. Maybe he’d go over later this evening before she went to work. That’d be the go. Ask her in a friendly manner, let her know he was no threat, though why anyone would think he was, was unbelievable. His sisters would die laughing if they heard that, precisely why he’d never tell them.

  But Lori was so different to the women he’d dated in the past. Shy, sweet, she invaded his imagination as no one had e
ver done. It was as though there was something between them, something he couldn’t see but feel, something that drew him to her.

  At first he’d thought it had been his imagination, that he just found her attractive anyway with her glossy brown hair, big green eyes, soft lips, and those curves that every night somehow crept into his dreams to tantalise him. Even now, if he closed his eyes, he could just about imagine those bountiful breasts overflowing his palms, those generously curved hips pressed to his lean hips, those rounded limbs entwined with his own, her scent invading his senses, her sweet taste on his lips…

  Christ, he was getting a hard on just imaging it. The real thing would have to be a hundred times better.

  It had never taken him this long to ask a woman out, either, but Lori wasn’t the easiest woman to get to know. Hard to know when she was so quiet around him, only speaking to when spoken to, and if he hadn’t heard her arguing and laughing with Ghost, he’d never have believed her capable of much else, which just went to prove that hidden waters run deep. And he had no doubt that Lori was a deep pool waiting to be discovered. Kind of like a rose bud spread open and her petals exposed. Which kinda led to more erotic thoughts-

  A sudden cry jolted him from his musings, his coffee spilling out of his hand as he jumped to his feet. Lori! There was no doubt that the cry was hers, and it came from her backyard.

  Leaping off the veranda, Matt bolted across to the side fence, hauling himself up and over within seconds to land in the Mackay backyard. Immediately his gaze fell on where Lori was sitting in the grass, one leg drawn up as she gingerly cradled her ankle.

  “Lori? What happened?” Swiftly he crossed to her side, dropping to his knees beside her.

  Startled, she looked up. Her face was white, her eyes dark pools of pain. “Matt?”

  “Yeah.” His experienced gaze swept down to where she cradled her ankle. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I think I twisted my ankle. I turned and slipped, and it really hurts.” She bit her lip. “But I’m okay.”

  Brushing her hand aside, Matt started to feel gently along her calf and down to her ankle.

  Quickly Lori stretched her leg out, drawing her nightgown down to cover her rounded thighs, but even though aware of the soft flesh briefly bared to his gaze, Matt was more concerned with her ankle. Probing gently, he looked at her. “Hurts?”