Adam's Thorn

Table
of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Bio

Other Books by this Author

Foreword

I
found that some overseas readers were having difficulty with the Australian
slang, so I thought a list of the slang I’ve used will help while reading the
following story.  If I’ve forgotten any, I do apologise!  Also, you’ll find
some of our Aussie words have different spelling to the US.

*
please note that sizes in the US and Australia differ, so when reading of a set
dress size, check the conversion on-line if you want!

 Cheers,

Angela

Australian
Terms/Slang

Arvo
- afternoon

Barbie
- BBQ

Beaut
-  beautiful,
awesome, great, wonderful

Bewdy
- as in ‘awsome,
great’

Biccies
- biscuits.  The
same as cookies

Bikie
- biker, person who
rides motorcycles.

Bloke/s
- man/men

Bloody
- a swear word ‘no
bloody good’, in place of ‘no damned good’

Boofhead
- idiot,
simpleton, etc.  It’s an insult, though sometimes we use it as a term of
affection.  It depends on how it is said and meant.

Boot (of a car)
- trunk

Budgie smugglers
- men’s
bathers, small, brief and tight-fitting

Buggered
- many Aussie use
it as a slang word for ‘broken’ (it’s buggered), ‘tired (I’m buggered), and ‘no
way’ (I’m buggered if I’m going to do that).  Just some examples

Bung/Bunging
- as in ‘bunging
onto something’, putting on something (bung veggies on a plate, putting veggies
on a plate), usually in a careless or ‘easy’ manner.

Chemist
- pharmacy

Chips
- in Australia we have cold crunchy chips form a packet, or hot chips known in some countries as
French Fries 

Crash cart
- resuscitation
trolley in a hospital or medical setting - used for life threatening situations
such as cardiac arrest

Dander
– temper

Dill
- silly, idiot

Doona
- like a padded quilt
that fits inside a cover and lies on the bed.  Can have the warmth of two,
three or four blankets, etc.

Donger
- penis.  Also
another meaning is a place people sometimes sleep in, such as ‘dongers’ on mine
sites.

Dunny
- toilet.  When used
in the terms ‘built like a brick dunny’, it refers to something built solid,
unmoveable.

Garbo/s
- the person/s who
drive and/or load garbage onto the garbage truck.

Giggle-box
- TV, television

Got his/her/their goat
–
annoyed him/her/them

Hoon/s
- person/people who
indulge in antisocial behaviour.  Great explanation in Wikipedia

Iced coffee/chocolate
- a
milk drink flavoured with chocolate or coffee

Lolly
- sweetie, candy

Loo
- toilet

Lug
- face

Milo
- chocolate malt
drink.  Can have it hot or cold. Yummy!

Moosh
- slang for
face/mouth

Mobile phone
- cell phone

NAD
- No Abnormalities
Detected

Nong
- idiot

Nooky
- sex

Panadol
- paracetamol,
similar to Tylenol in the US

Pav/s
- Pavlova/Pavlovas -
best dessert ever!

PCYC
- Police and Citizens
Youth Club

Pedal Pushers
- three
quarter pants/knickerbockers

Porking
- having sex

Primapore
- sticky patch
with a pad in it, a medical dressing

Pub
– hotel

Quack
– derogatory term for
a doctor

 
RAC
- Royal Automobile
Club of Western Australia.  Covers insurance, holidays, loans, etc

Red backs -
poisonous
spider, black in colour with a red stripe on its back.

Rotty
– Rottweiler breed of
dog.

Rubbers
– condoms

Seasol
- gardening mix used
to nourish plants

Servo
- service station

Shag
- sex

Sheila
– female

Slab
– carton of beer.

Snaggers
- sausages

Soft drink
- soda, fizzy
drink

Tea
- some people call the
evening meal dinner.  In my family, we’ve always called it tea, as in breaky,
dinner and tea, or breaky, lunch and tea.

Thongs
- worn on the feet,
same as ‘flip flops’

Tickled pink
- delighted

Tim Tams
- a brand of
Arnott’s Biscuits. Yummy!

TLC
- Tender Loving Care

Togs
- bathers, swim suit

Torch
- flashlight

Tucker
– food

Twistie
– a brand of
cheese-flavoured snack food – very yummy!

Ute -
small truck

Vegemite
- most Aussies
find this spread yummy, many non-Aussies find it too salty.  Here’s the hint -
if you ever have Vegemite, use it spread thinly, never thickly!

Yamaha & Suzuki
-
‘brands’ of motorcycles.

You wally
- silly

Wanger
- penis

Waterworks
- crying

Whopper
- a lie

Driving
- In Australia, you cannot get a driver’s licence to drive a car until you are 17 years old. 
You get your Learner’s Permit (which requires you to drive only in the company
of a qualified driver), then at 18 you can go for your Probationary licence
(you can drive on your own but at restricted speed limits), and then finally
you are a fully qualified driver.

Chapter 1

The little Ford Laser whipped past
the police patrol car to disappear into the distance.

Sitting inside the patrol car,
Adam glanced at the speed camera reading.  He half expected it to read 200 kms
per hour or something equally ridiculous, but no, the current bane of his
existence wasn’t speeding.

Gazing after the Laser, he
brooded.  He wasn’t a brooding man by nature but since she’d come into town,
he’d started brooding.

Barbie Declan.  Blonde and busty,
with a voluptuous hour-glass figure, she wore pretty, lacy, floaty kind of
clothes that hugged or skimmed all those lush curves.   A full-bodied woman who
exuded a confidence that had more than one man giving her a second glance. 

Barbie Declan.  The dark cloud on
his silver lining, the burr under his saddle, the dark spot in his bright
world.

The thorn in his side.

Scratching the side of his jaw, he
frowned, wondering just how long she intended to stay in Peeron.  It was a
quiet little country town and certainly didn’t need the likes of Barbie
stirring up trouble.  That she was trouble, there was no doubt.  Always had
been, always would be.  She’d blown into town, glared at him, given him the
cold shoulder, and brought out every old resentment he’d thought long gone.

Resentment or anger?  He’d have
thought his actions that night so long ago would have gotten it out of his
system, that and quite a few years and a whole hell of a lot of experience.

Shaking his head, he straightened
in the seat, clipping on the seat belt with a firm movement.  That night was in
the past where it belonged and he had no intention of dragging it up into the
light of day.  It certainly wasn’t one of which he was proud, but it wasn’t, he
had to be truthful, one of which he was particularly disgusted.

Starting the car, he checked the
traffic before pulling put onto the highway.  Deliberately pulling his thoughts
from a certain blonde, busty babe, he concentrated on the traffic, following
the path he’d mapped out earlier in his mind.  Not that there was much pathway,
being he was on the main highway which led right through town.

Checking some of the more common
side roads leading to the river and up Lovers Lane, he waved to Old Man Parker,
who was fishing in the river.  His dog lay not far away, snoozing happily.  Back
up the road, onto the main highway, and down some of the roads leading to the farms.

All was quiet, the occupants of
the few cars he passed waving to him.  He’d grown up in Peeron, leaving it for
a number of years before asking for a transfer back home after having had
enough of the cities.

Yep, give him the smaller,
friendlier towns, especially one in which he knew almost everyone.  It was like
working form home, in a way.

Smiling, he turned off a farm road
onto the highway, and was still smiling until he turned a corner to find a
certain Ford Laser parked on the side of the road, a jack near the back wheel, a
certain busty blonde struggling to loosen the nuts holding the wheel on tight.

Not a car was in sight or she’d
have had help.

The smile disappeared form his
face as, with a silent curse, he pulled in behind the Laser.  Duty called,
however unwelcome.

The relief on her face when she
glanced up turned to something a whole lot less welcoming.  Her finely arched
brows lowered, those lush lips tightened, and her gaze lowered to the tyre
again as she recommenced struggling with it.

“Flat tyre?” He came to a stop beside
her.

“Nothing I can’t fix,” she replied
coldly.

Watching her white-knuckled grip
on the tool, he arched a brow.  “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”  She swiped the
back of one hand across her brow, impatiently pushing back the heavy fall of
blonde hair that tumbled over her shoulders.

Adam held out his hand.  “Let me.”

“I can manage.”  Ignoring him, she
applied pressure on the bar.

“I can help.”

“I don’t need your help.”

His normally even temper slipped a
notch.  “Give it here.”

“No.”  The bar slipped off the
nut, almost making her lose her balance.

Why the hell did she have to be
so bloody stubborn? 
“Barbie, hand it over.”

“I said, I can manage.” 
Straightening, she glared up at him.

“And I said, hand it over.” 
Without waiting, he grabbed it from her hand.  “Move aside.  Please.”

She actually made a grab back for
the bar.  Unbelievable.

Catching her wrist in a firm hold,
Adam looked her right in the eye.  “Don’t.”

Those pale blue eyes flashed, the
irises startling against the black of her thick lashes.  “Adam-”

He pointed at her.  “Step back.”

“Or what?”

There it was, the challenge. The
muscle in his clenched jaw ticked, but he turned his back to her instead of
replying.  Nope, he was more in control now, had a lot more experience in
people trying to pick a fight.

Squatting down, he fitted the bar
to the nut and exerting a little effort, loosened the nut.

He could almost feel the annoyance
rolling off her in steaming waves.  From the corner of his eye he could see the
floaty material of her dress, the pale peach colour shot through with pastel pink,
the breeze fluttering the hem just below her knees.  A soft, flowery scent blew
right into his nose.

Barbie’s scent.  Once she’d
preferred harder scents, sharper, but like her clothes sense it seemed her
choice of perfume had improved.  Her rudeness, however, left a lot to be
desired.  Regardless, he had been brought up to help damsels in distress, even
ones whom he’d -
Stop right there!