Fly with Me (11 page)

“He’s asleep.
Nightshift, remember? Jesus, and you’re his wife.” Del dug in the
pocket of her jeans. “Have some compassion, woman.”

“Kirk won’t be
impressed if he finds out you’ve been on the roof of your house,”
Molly warned.

“Not to
mention Scott and Simon.” Ash pushed to her feet. “You could wait
until they’re home.”

“Are you
kidding me? They don’t knock off until eight o’clock tonight. I’ll
be doing the breast stroke in my lounge room by then.” Del started
for the door.

“We could
phone Bill or Vic,” Dee suggested, then, seeing her cousin scowl,
shrugged. “But then what fun would that be, right?”

“Seriously?”
Molly rolled her eyes. “She’s asking to be ripped a new one. As
soon as the blokes find out she’s been stuffing around up there on
the roof, they’ll be onto her like a ton of bricks.”

“Seriously?”
Dee retorted. “You think that’s ever stopped her?”

“Hey,” Del
protested. “What about you? For that matter, when has it ever
stopped any of us?”

“Good point.”
Dee shoved upright. “Let’s go.”

Ash sighed.
“And the day started so promising.”

Elissa looked
at her. “What? You’re scared of men or something?”

Del beamed.
“That’s the spirit!”

“Trust me,”
Molly said dryly, holding out her hand to Ash. “Some of the men in
this town are a little over-protective. It comes from being
backwoods Neanderthals.”

“This is the
twenty first century,” Elissa retorted. “Time for them to
modernise.”

“You’d think
so, right?”

Ash took
Molly’s hand, Del clasped Molly’s other arm, and together they
heaved her to her feet.

“Holy crap.”
Molly sighed. “I thought I was ungainly before the bump arrived.
That was nothing compared to now.”

“Yeah. You
can’t come up on the roof.” Del swung around. “Come on, Dee.”

“What?” Molly
grabbed the back of Del’s blouse, jerking her to a halt. “Don’t
think you’re going without me, sister.”

“Fine. You can
watch.”

“I’ll
supervise.”

Del
snorted.

Shaking her
head, Ash followed the women out into the hallway.

Elissa, not
quite knowing what to do, looked around the empty table before
pushing to her feet and following. Well, hell, there wasn’t
anything else to do, and watching a woman fix her own roof was -
well, a little weird. Educational, even. All she’d ever done was
phone her landlord, not attempt to fix it herself.

But she was a
little unsure about all this talk of the blokes’ reactions if they
found out.

Leaning
forward as they trod down the hallway, she whispered to Ash,
“You’re all kidding, right? About the men getting shitty?”

“Nope,” Ash
replied, more cheerfully than Elissa would have expected. “They
will not be happy campers.”

“So they’re
what, a little domineering?”

Dee laughed.
“A little domineering? Hear that, girls? A
little
domineering.”

“Domineering
doesn’t cover the verbal reaming they’ll give us if they find out,”
Molly added. “The boys’ll rip us a new one. But on the bright side,
who is going to tell them?”

“Exactly.
Jesus, it’s not like we’re helpless little damsels in distress.”
Del shoved the security screen open and strode out onto the
veranda. “Now stop whispering and being bloody scared.”

“It’s not
being scared.” Ash locked the wooden door and security screen.
“It’s actually being sensible. What if you fall off the roof?”

“Why would I
fall off the roof?”

“If you break
your leg, imagine what’ll happen when Ryder arrives in the
ambulance.”

“He can kiss
my skinny arse.”

“He’ll be too
busy ripping you a new one.”

“Then Dee can
nail him behind the ambulance so he forgets about me. The woman has
to be good for something.”

“Up yours,”
Dee said. “For that, you’re on your own.”

“What happened
to sisterhood?”

“You’re not my
sister.”

“We’re
cousins, that has to count for something. Blood thicker than water
and all that shit.”

“Look,” Elissa
finally said, “its your home, Del, you have a perfect right to do
whatever you want in it. Tell the blokes to rack off.”

“Don’t worry,
we do that often.”

“So this is a
regular occurrence?”

“Only if they
find out.”

“Oddly enough
they always seem to,” Molly muttered. “Can’t do a damned thing
around here without them finding out.”

“You haven’t
done a damned thing since you got pregnant,” Del pointed out.
“This’ll be the highlight of your seven months.”

“Besides,
who’s going to know?” Elissa followed them to the dark green Holden
Commodore parked in the driveway. “Is your house right on the
road?”

“Nope.”
Pressing the remote in her hand, Del unlocked the car. “It’s back
from the road and behind a stand of trees.”

“There you go,
then.”

It seemed to
be an unspoken agreement that everyone was getting into the same
car, so Elissa simply followed along.

Molly got into
the front seat, helped by Dee. Del slid behind the steering wheel.
Dee, Ash and Elissa got into the back seat.

“Cosy,” Dee
remarked.

“I’d be
happier if you were Scott squashed up against me,” Ash
muttered.

“Don’t start
groping me.”

“You
wish.”

“Jesus. Del, I
want to drive.”

“Shut your
cakehole,” Del replied. “You lot start fighting in the back seat
and you’re out.”

“Dad always
threatened that with us. Never worked.”

“That’s why he
got your Mum a mini van and he kept the car. Haven’t you figured
that out by now?”

Elissa
couldn’t help but grin as the banter continued. True, it was a
little caustic, definitely offensive if anyone in the car decided
to take it as such, and so politically incorrect that it was
downright funny.

It was also
educational. Very educational.

And watching
Ash joining in, in her own sweet, definitely non-offensive way,
Elissa felt her heart open a little more to these women who’d taken
her best friend to their admittedly impressive collection of bosoms
and bring out her old self. Elissa hadn’t seen Ash so happy or
content in a long time.

Clipping on
the seatbelt, she settled into the seat, content to just
listen.

Del swung the
car out onto the road and drove back towards town, turning onto the
main street. They passed the police station, fire station and
ambulance station and kept going, turning down a side street at the
end of the main street in the opposite direction to which they’d
come.

The road was a
little rougher.

“Cripes.” Dee
grabbed the back of Molly’s headrest. “The bloody council needs to
earn its rates.”

“Don’t worry,”
Del assured her. “I’m onto it.”

“How?”

“The mayor’s
wife wants that new two-piece pants suit in green. I order it once
this road is done.”

“Clever.”

“She’s going
to inform him this weekend that the road is a disgrace, and I order
the pants suit as soon as she comes into the shop tomorrow.”

Elissa looked
at Del’s reflection in the rear view mirror. “Ah…isn’t that kind of
like blackmail?”

“Bet your
arse,” Del replied unashamedly.

“Okay
then.”

Ash flashed
Elissa a grin. “It’s the country way apparently.”

Elissa feigned
sombreness. “I’m worried about you.”

“Too late.
Whatever has been done, has been done.”

The car swung
onto a potted driveway, wheels bumping.

“Holy crap.”
Molly laid a hand protectively over her belly. “You’ll put me into
labour.”

“I’m not
calling the vet.” Del angled the car around the curving driveway.
“His out-of-hour charges are ridiculous.”

Molly punched
Del’s arm.

“I have to
tell you, Molly, your perchance for violence is escalating with
this pregnancy. If you start getting the urge to eat raw meat, let
me know.”

“I’m not
having a werewolf pup.”

“Huh. I
thought I heard Kirk howling at the moon the night that bun was put
in the oven.” Del braked. “Here we are, girls. Everyone out, we’re
heading for the shed.”

Getting out of
the car, Elissa moved to the side so Dee could follow. Looking
around, she was struck anew at the quietness of the
surroundings.

Birds whistled
and twittered in the trees, the cool breeze held a hint of chill
though the sun was still warm, native bushes swayed, and the air
was fresh. Several grey clouds scudded on the horizon.

The house was
old, older even than some she’d seen in town. Grey stone walls, a
tin roof, and a big, sagging veranda. No garden in sight.

She turned
around slowly. There was grass, kind of. It grew more at the edges
of the clearing where the house and car stood. A shed was beside
the house, just as old, made of wood with a shiny new coat of white
paint and boasting a new wooden door.

Wow. This was
one isolated place. The bush ringed the clearing, a curving
driveway, and a block that possibly went further back. Neighbours -
well, she hadn’t spotted any. A couple of driveways etching off the
road but no houses.

Completing her
turn, she found Del watching her. Not knowing quite what to say,
she smiled. “Nice.”

“Thanks.”
Sliding her hands into her pockets, Del glanced around. “I bought
it.”

It was on the
tip of Elissa’s tongue to ask why she’d bought such an obvious
dump, but she refrained. “Don’t you get lonely?”

The blonde
shook her head. “After eight hours tending to customers I like the
peace. Plus there’s always something to do.” She gestured to the
shed. “I finished painting that yesterday.”

“By
yourself?”

“Yep.” Del
winked. “Got on a ladder and everything.”

Elissa looked
around again, trying to imagine owning anything like this, being
game enough to take it on, making that commitment. Then again, to
do what she wanted, be what she wanted... Know what she wanted.

Cripes, if she
knew that…

Taking a deep
breath, she smiled at Del, certainly not missing the searching
blue-eyed gaze. “Well then, let’s tackle the leaking roof. Are we
replacing tin sheets or something?”

Del laughed.
“Nothing so exciting. Even I’m not that handy.”

“Farris would
wish you to be so handy.” Dee started for the shed. “Handy in a
totally different way, of course.”

“Farris needs
a woman to occupy his mind.” Del strode to the shed door, opening
it and holding it back by toeing a small bucket in front of it.
“Maybe we should foist him onto Elissa.”

“Yeah.” Molly
brightened. “New woman in town and-”

“Oh no.”
Elissa peered into the depths of the shed, wrinkling her nose at
the smell of fresh paint. “No men. I’m over men.”

“Ooohhhh. So
you
did
have a boyfriend back in the city?”

“I’m just over
men in general.”

“Did someone
do you wrong?”

“Let’s
rephrase that to I’m over men and women in general.” When silence
met this, she looked around to find them all looking at her. “I
mean people. I’m over people.”

“You’re with
us,” Dee pointed out.

“You lot are
okay.”

Ash grinned.
“High praise.”

“Hmm.” Molly
squinted at Elissa. “I sense a good story here.”

“Not one
you’ll hear today, let me give you the tip.”
Or ever
.
Seeking to divert them, Elissa picked up a hammer, grimacing
inwardly at the grit on the handle. “So, where do we start?”

Del plucked
the hammer from her and hung it back on the hook. “With a step
ladder, a rag, and a silicone gun.”

Having no
clue, Elissa looked around.

Del dug in a
bag on the wooden table, pulling out an old rag. “Here, shove this
in your pocket.”

Her pocket?
The pocket on her lovely pink slacks? Elissa pulled her hand back.
“Uh…”

“Come on.” Del
shook the rag. “No time to waste. There’s a storm coming.”

That sounded
ominous, kind of like the beginning of a horror story.

Gingerly,
Elissa took the rag, using it to wipe her palm free of the grit
from the hammer handle.

Molly leaned
her shoulder on the door jam and watched in amusement, but said
nothing for which Elissa was grateful.

“Molly loves
cleaning,” Ash stated. “She’s a cleaning freak.”

“I’m not a
freak.”

“No, you’re a
sexy little maid.” Dee held some weird contraption while Del used a
pocket knife to slice off the end of a pointy thingy on a tube
thingy.

Everything was
a thingy. Elissa had not a freakin’ clue what it all was.

As if she’d
read Elissa’s mind, Del looked at her. “This is silicon made
especially for roofs and guttering to seal holes and stop raining
getting in. This,” she took the contraption from Dee and slid the
tube into it, “is the silicon gun.” She grinned. “You’re coming up
the ladder with me.”

Elissa’s
eyebrows shot up. “I am?”

“Hell yeah.
You’re my assistant.”

“This ought to
be good.” Dee grinned.

Elissa eyed
the paint-splattered ladder that Del was pulling away from the far
wall. “I don’t think I’d make a good-”

“Nonsense.
Every good woman needs the backup of another good woman. It’s what
makes the sisterhood.”

“Jesus.” Dee
rolled her eyes.

“Grab hold of
the other end,” Del instructed.

It was either
do it or refuse, so Elissa gingerly wrapped her hand around part of
the ladder.

“Get a firm
grip.”

She
readjusted.

“Tuck it under
your arm.”

“But it’s
dirty.”

“You noticed.
Do it.”

“But-”

“I’m going to
teach you to do a quick fix-it on the roof if it kills me, and the
rate we’re going it’ll kill me. Just grab the bloody thing.”