Call On Me (20 page)

“I repeat –
ewww.” With a shudder, Ali took another bite of toast.

“Hey, she’s
eighty three, not dead.”

“Oh, that’s
just so wrong!”

“Speaking of
wrong…” Lori arched an eyebrow.

“Hey.” Ali
narrowed her eyes. “If you heard all this, how come you didn’t ring
me to see if I was all right? Or wake me up? When, exactly, were
you told?”

“The first
time?”

Groaning, Ali
closed her eyes. It hadn’t taken the gossips long.

Lori smiled.
“Don’t worry, Adam got to me first. He spied Mrs Hubble peeking out
of her bedroom window – well, not exactly peeking, she did have the
blind all the way up and her nose pressed to the window so she
didn’t miss anything. He knew the word would spread and didn’t want
me to worry. So he told me last night nothing bad had happened, you
were fine and it was a false alarm. Then this morning, right before
I left work, Old Man Parker was walking his dog past the servo and
had great delight in informing me that you and Ghost had gotten
into a fight, Maxine informed me there was broken glass from the
front window where you’d apparently hurled a vase, and finally Matt
told me if we needed anything to call him. By the way, nice job of
replacing the window so fast.” Lori grinned.

“Oh
har-de-har.” Taking another sip of tea, Ali shook her head. “The
gossip in this town is out of control.”

“Oh, it’s only
a few people.” Lori’s smile faded. “However, the one thing that was
perfectly clear was that something happened involving you and
Ghost.”

Putting down
the toast, Ali looked at her. “Yeah.”

When she didn’t
say anything further, Lori again raised her eyebrows in silent
query.

Taking a deep
breath, Ali pushed the plate of toast away and cupped her hands
around the hot mug of tea. “Things have gotten a
little…weird…between me and Ghost.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Chewing
on her bottom lip, Ali didn’t quite know where to start or even how
much to say. It just didn’t seem right to blurt out, ‘Oh, by the
way, Ghost and I had mad monkey sex on the bonnet of my car the
other night.’ Nu-uh.

“Are you two
arguing about something? Because you’ve had arguments before but
it’s never involved the police.”

“There was no
need for the police,” Ali replied sharply.

“So why was
Adam here?”

Ali sighed.
“Chris turned up, Ghost went all caveman, and Chris was worried and
phoned the cops. It was nothing, end of story.”

“Wow.” Lori
scratched Minx’s back gently, making the old cat arch and purr.

Silence fell
between them. Thinking she’d gotten out of it pretty easily, Ali
drained the mug of tea and stood up.

Lori quickly
looked up at her. “What else happened?”

“Huh?”

“You said
things are weird between you and Ghost. You two are great friends.
What happened? Why are things weird?”

Crap. “I don’t
know.”

Lori’s
expression was pure scepticism.

“Look.” Ali
rubbed the back of her neck. “We’ve said a few words, a few things
happened…it’s nothing serious.”
Right. Geez
. “I’m sure we’ll
work things out.”
Probably not in this lifetime
. Hoping her
sister’s curiosity was satisfied, Ali tossed the leftover toast in
the bin and washed the few dishes before placing them on the
draining rack.

No sooner had
she started for the door than Lori asked quietly, “That’s not
everything, is it?”

Stopping near
the doorway, Ali looked back over her shoulder. “Of course it
is.”

“No, it’s not.”
Lori’s gaze was steady. “You and Ghost go back a long way. We all
go back a long way. Something major happened between you two,
something that’s making you jumpy and unhappy.” Before Ali could
argue, she held up one hand. “I’m not a fool, Ali. I can see how
distracted you are. Heck, the way you’ve been acting to avoid him
is a big tell.”

“I’m not-”

“I know you,
sis, so don’t pull that crap with me. If you don’t want to tell me,
fine, but don’t try to make me believe it’s all okay. Okay?” Lori’s
face was set.

No, her little
sister wasn’t a fool. They were close, sharing a lot of things but
not everything, and right now Ali wasn’t ready to share. “Later,
Lori. Not right now.”

“No worries.”
Lori nodded but worry was evident in her eyes. “I’m here if you
want to talk.”

“Thanks.” She
glanced up at the kitchen clock. “I have to get ready for
work.”

“Sure.”

Not long after,
dressed for work, Ali walked past the kitchen and saw Lori still
sitting in the chair, Minx on her lap, the Milo still at her elbow.
Lori’s head was resting on one hand, her eyes shut, her breathing
already becoming deeper.

Affection
washed through her, and she moved into the kitchen and across to
the table, shaking her sister’s shoulder gently. When Lori’s eyes
opened, Ali said softly, “You better shower and go to bed,
sleepyhead. If you fall asleep here you’ll wake up with a crick in
your neck.”

“Yeah. Yeah,
okay.” Blinking, Lori shifted, picking Minx up to cradle her in her
arms as she stood. Pushing a stray strand of hair back from her
plait, she started across the room, Ali following.

As the sisters
parted in the hallway, Ali heading for the door and Lori for the
bathroom, Lori said, “I’m always here, you know.”

Ali flashed her
a smile. “Yeah, I know.”

Nodding, Lori
smiled back and disappeared into the bathroom.

Outside the sun
was shining, the warmth of the coming day already permeating the
air. With her jacket slung over one shoulder and her handbag over
the other, Ali jumped down off the veranda and headed for the
garage. Slowing down, she checked Ghost’s place but all seemed
quiet.

Relieved, she
opened the garage and got her car out. Driving to work she had the
radio on enjoying the music when she saw someone jogging along the
footpath. There was no need to guess who it was, his blonde hair
was clear to see even from a distance.

As she neared
she couldn’t help but study Ghost. His back to her didn’t detract
from him. Instead, she had a great view of his buttocks in those
short shorts, the muscles flexing in the strong thighs as he
pounded the pavement in a rhythmic stride. His singlet emphasized
the broadness of his shoulders, his biceps and triceps bunching and
stretching as he swung his arms, lifting one arm to wave to someone
passing by on their pushbike who obviously greeted him. His blonde
hair was pulled back in the customary ponytail, the ends down past
his shoulders to bounce against his broad back.

As she neared,
Ghost looked over his shoulder at her, his expression growing grim,
and she had no doubt that his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses.
Oh yeah, he was still out of sorts.

Well big deal,
so was she.

Keeping her
gaze forward she passed him, but no way could she help glancing
back at him in the rear-view mirror. Oh yeah, the man was muscle in
lithe motion as he continued to stride it out. He was one luscious
hunk, trim, muscular, and mouth-wateringly handsome. Odd that she’d
never noticed that until recent events.

Regardless, why
was he so intent on trying to be with her? What could she possibly
have that would even be remotely attractive to him, apart from big
boobs, perhaps? She knew he was a boob man, had known it for a long
time, but her boobs certainly weren’t perky and they were a hell of
a lot more than a nice handful.

Coming upon a
woman walking her dog, she felt herself grow morose. Now this was
the kind of woman to whom most men were attracted. Her hips didn’t
bulge, her boobs were perky, and her legs were long and sleek. She
was trim, taut and terrific, and yes, beautiful, a more perfect
match for a man like Ghost. There was no way she could measure up
to this unknown woman. Ali was short, round and while not ugly, she
wasn’t going to win any beauty contests. She didn’t jog, much
preferring to walk and literally stop and smell the roses – hey,
her neighbours had some awesome roses – and to prove everything,
she attracted losers.

Who left her on
the side of the road.

She bet no one
would leave the beauty she’d just passed on the side of the road.
Hell no, the men would be rolling out a red carpet all the way to
her door.

Mood falling,
Ali kept driving, turning into the motel staff car park minutes
later. Good thing she’d given up on men, because right now they
were her least favourite species on the planet.

After snakes,
of course. But not by far.

Pulling into a
parking bay, she locked the car and walked through the staff
entrance to the reception area. After stashing her bag away, she
sat down at the reception desk and pulled up the days bookings on
the computer. She’d just cast her eyes down the listings to see who
had arrived and who had left when Vic walked into the reception
area from the restaurant.

“Hi, Ali.” He
wiped his hand through his well-oiled hair.

When would the
man ever stop oiling himself up? Anymore and his hair would slide
right off his head. “Hey, Vic.”

“So” He leaned
against the reception desk and peered over the top at Ali.

In answer, she
raised both eyebrows at him.

“So,” he
repeated. “Rough night last night?”

“Huh?”

“Cop cars
arrived at your house, there was screaming and yelling, Ghost was
put into handcuffs and taken to gaol. Quite a night, so I hear.”
Gaze avid, he leaned closer, dropping his voice. “You were
cautioned after you threatened to knee Adam in the – you know –
family jewels.”

Goddamn
gossips!
“Nothing like that happened, Vic.” Coolly, she glanced
back at the computer screen.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“So what
happened?”

“Thought I had
a prowler and called Adam. Turned out it was a false alarm.”

“But Ghost was
there, right?”

“Yeah, he’d
come over the back fence as usual for a visit and I’d mistaken him
for a prowler.” Ali glanced back up at Vic’s disappointed
expression. “Anything else I can help you with?”

His sudden leer
was as oily as his hair. “Yeah. How long has Ghost been jumping
your back fence for night visits?”

Glaring, she
retorted, “He’s one of my best friends, Vic, so get your mind out
of the gutter.”

“If that’s how
you treat your best friends-”

“Don’t go
there, Vic.” She stabbed one finger in his direction. “Or your wife
might find out about
your
little sojourns around the
neighbourhood.”

Immediately he
reared back in indignation. “Hey, I visit my mother regularly.”

“Yeah, but what
if gossip started over innocent visits and turned them into
trawling the neighbourhoods for wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am visits
while using your ‘Mum visiting’ as an excuse?”

“That never
happens!”

“And the big
fiasco at my house didn’t, either.”

Vic glared back
at her for several seconds before calming down. “Yeah, I see where
you’re coming from. Okay, sorry. Truce?”

She managed a
smile. “Truce.”

“Bloody
gossips, huh?”

“You got
it.”

Walking around
the reception desk, he entered the manager’s office, sat down and
commenced work. Thank goodness.

Minutes later
the reception door opened and Ali looked up from the accounts she
was working on to smile in greeting. “Good morning. What can I –
oh, for God’s sake!”

Chris rushed up
to the desk, another bunch of flowers in his hand and a concerned
expression on his face. “Alissa, I am so glad you’re all
right.”

“I’m fine. Now
please go.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see Vic leaning
back in the chair as far as it would go so he could see past his
office door, his gaze riveted on the scene. “
Now
.”

“Not until you
let me apologise, Alissa. I know you didn’t want the police called
last night, but when Sinclair started to manhandle you and-”

“He didn’t
manhandle me!” Sweet baby Jesus, save her. “Now, please go
away.”

“Fine.” Placing
the flowers on the desk, he held up his hands. “But at least let me
apologise for the other night. I didn’t mean to make you
uncomfortable about your weight, I-”

This could not
be happening. Grabbing the flowers, she stood up. “If you don’t
leave now I’ll shove these flowers so far down your throat that
you’ll be farting fragrance for a year!”

Now at the
doorway, Vic’s fascinated gaze ping-ponged between them. At the
doorway to the restaurant, Cheryl, one of the waitresses, stood
with her mouth open.

This had to end
– now.

Cheeks flaming,
Ali stormed around the desk, grabbed a handful of Chris’s
mechanic’s overall and pushed him through the door. Once outside
she slapped the flowers back at him. “I don’t want to see you
again. Ever. Understand?”

“Let me
explain.” He tried to hand the flowers back, his expression one of
serious concern. “My sister was overweight and hugely unhappy, and
I helped her lose weight and get a good job. I helped her friend do
the same. I can help you, Alissa, if you’ll let me.”

“Let you?” She
could practically feel the steam coming from her ears. If she
hadn’t noticed a car turning into the entrance to the motel, she’d
have let loose a volley of swear words at the dunce before her.
Instead, she ground out from between clenched teeth, “Get this
through your thick head once and for all, Chris. I like my job, I’m
happy with myself even if I don’t fit society’s perception of the
ideal woman, and if you ever –
ever
– turn up at my place of
work again and humiliate me like this, I will not be responsible
for what I do or say. Understood?”

“I really think
you haven’t given this much thought-”