Second Chance (21 page)

“Why on earth would you leave it
on the veranda overnight?” Elissa queried.

“I washed her,” Yvonne replied. 
“I didn’t put it back on immediately and forgot about it.”

Elissa nodded.

Yvonne looked at Grant.  “This
Stealth Thief is going too far.”

“Could be worse,” Elissa said. 
“Jaci can’t find her thong underwear she left in her laundry basket near the
clothes line.”

“How could underwear possibly be
compared to a
very
expensive collar?”

“I don’t know.”  Elissa held her
hands out, palms up.  “I was just trying to make you feel better.”

“Nothing will make me feel better
until my collar is returned.  I’m going to the cops.”  Yvonne’s eye narrowed. 
“Enough is enough.”

Tish and Grant joined Elissa at
the window as they watched Yvonne storm out.

“She forgot her wormer.”  Elissa
appointed at the counter where the packet of worming tablets lay.

“No wonder she’s irritable,” Tish
said.  “Itchy bum will do that to you.”

Grant and Elissa laughed.

As the day’s clinic passed it
became evident that the Stealth Thief was upping the ante.

“It’s weird.”  Julia held her grey
tom, Oscar, on the consult table as Grant took his temperature - never
something met with favour, as evidenced by Oscar’s tail lashing and disgruntled
expression.  “I mean, why take socks?  A stuffed toy?  And for goodness sake,
the roster from the fire station?  What’s that about?”

“Someone’s idea of a joke maybe?” 
Grant withdrew the thermometer, found the temperature normal.

“I don’t get it.”  Julia looked
broodingly at Oscar.  “The Stealth Thief stole a variety of things during the
night.”

“Uh huh.”  Grant picked up the
stethoscope.

“Surely someone has seen
something?”

“Apparently not, going by the fact
that the Stealth Thief is alive and stealing.”

Julia left not long after.

By the time the clinic drew to a
close, Grant had had enough about the Stealth Thief.  Whoever it was, his
stealing spree had escalated the previous night.

When the town figured out who it
was, the poor bugger was going to get lynched.

Arriving at Maree’s house that
evening to take Tam for dinner, he was taken aback to discover that the Stealth
Thief had widened the radius of his thefts.

“My black and pink bra is gone,”
Tam announced.

“Geez, and that was one of my
favourites,” Grant said.

Aunt Maree cut her eyes to him.

Oops.  “Not that I’ve ever seen
it.  I just like pink and black.  Together.”

She just shook her head.

“I’d admire that attempt of saving
your arse if it actually worked,” Tam commented.

About to reply, Grant’s attention was
caught by a spray of lilies and irises.  “Whoa, Maree.  Robby’s lashing out.”

Immediately Maree and Tam exchanged
a glance.

Crossing to the vase, he looked at
the flowers.  “Really nice.”

“Um - time to go,” Tam said
hurriedly.

“Sure. I-” Grant stumbled to a
halt as his gaze fell on the small white card sitting at the base of the vase. 
“What? 
What?
”

Tam sighed.  “The flowers are
mine.”

Grant picked up the card.  “
‘To
Tamara, My Angel on Earth’
.”  He looked at Tam.  “What is this?”

“Secret admirer.”  She plucked the
card from his hand.

“Secret admirer?  You don’t mean Farris?”

“Not Farris.  He’s been dating Marion.”

“Marion?”

“Cute little redhead?”

“Oh.  Marion.”  So who the bloody
hell was sending flowers to Grant’s woman?

“Grant?”  Tam touched his upper
arm, her expression worried.  “Are you all right?”

“Let me get this straight.  You
have a secret admirer.”

“Hey, it shocked me, too.”

Maree continued to leaf through a
magazine at the kitchen table.  “The flowers appeared out of the blue.”

Tam tossed the card into the bin. 
“I just got home and the flowers were here.”

“You have no idea who sent them? 
Not even a vague idea?”

“Nope.  Every time  the flowers
come, there’s no name.”

Every time?
  This was
getting worse.  “These aren’t the first flowers?”

“No.”  Tam studied him.  “Grant,
you’re okay, right?”

“Okay?”  He stared at her.  “My
girlfriend is getting flowers from a secret admirer and you’re wondering if I’m
okay
?”

“It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

The flicker of jealous anger
burned a little brighter.  He pointed at the vase.  “You haven’t thrown them
out.”

Tam’s eyebrows rose.  “Are you
jealous?”

“I’m your boyfriend, Tam.  Someone
is sending you flowers!”

“But they don’t mean anything to
me, remember?”

Didn’t she get it?  “So why are
they still here?”

Patiently, she placed one hand on
his shoulder, looking up at him with an understanding expression.

That understanding expression
grated.  Probably because he knew how ridiculous he was being, but still, she
was
his
girlfriend.

“Grant,” she said gently, “I don’t
keep the flowers.  I’ve been taking them to our clients.”

“Really?”

“Yes.  I mean, they’re beautiful
so why waste them?  The last bunch went to Miss Criddle this morning.”

Taking a deep breath, he nodded. 
“Okay.”

She dimpled.  “Your being jealous
is really rather sweet.”

Sweet?
  Feeling a touch
offended, he frowned down at her.  “How so?”

“Because it’s so unlike you.”

“That’s because it’s you.”  As
should be perfectly bloody obvious.

“Aw, Grant.”  Coming up on
tip-toe, she kissed his cheek.

Automatically his arm slid around
her to hold her close.  “I’m still annoyed.”

“With me?  Why?  I didn’t do
anything, I swear.”

That caught his attention, bringing
his gaze back down to meet her eyes.  At the uncertainty reflected within the
green depths he silently cursed, pushing his anger down as he cupped her
cheek.  “Not with you.  With whoever sent the flowers.”

“I’m sure it’ll stop soon.”

“Yeah, well, if I find out who it
is I’ll make him think twice about messing with my woman.”

“It’s only flowers.” Tam might
have spoken soothingly but there was no missing the flicker of delight in her
eyes at his words.

He gave a grunt.

“Come on.”  She gave him a quick
hug before stepping back.  “So, are we going to dinner?  Or are you so mad your
appetite is gone?”

With a sigh, he rolled his
shoulders. “Dinner.”

“I’ll just get my purse and
glasses and be right back.”  She left the room.

Grant leaned back against the
kitchen counter.

“My my,” Aunt Maree drawled,
crossing her legs and leaning elegantly back in the chair.  “Never thought I’d
see the day our calm, sweet-natured vet got jealous.”

“Everyone knows Tam and I are
going out together, what kind of low-life decides to start sending her
flowers?  How am I supposed to feel?”

“How about secure?  Tam isn’t the
kind of girl to play around or get taken in by some man sending her flowers.”

“I know that.”  A touch of
unaccustomed irritability went through him.  “I trust her implicitly.”

“Yet you’re so jealous.”

“I won’t pretend I don’t want to
punch this bloke’s lights out when I see him.”

Rather than proceed to verbally
berate him for being such a jealous idiot, Aunt Maree smiled in approval.  “I
do love a man’s man.”

Grant blinked.

“Sweetie, my Tam’s a lovely girl. 
To have a man who cares about her, who’ll stand up for her, who treats her like
a precious gem, it’s all I could wish for her.”  Standing, she folded her
magazine and winked.  “But the fact that her boyfriend is all those things
and
a caveman when needed?  Bonus points.”  Walking past him, she patted his cheek
fondly and left the room.

Scratching his head, Grant stared
at the doorway where she’d disappeared.  People sometimes confounded him, they
really did.  Some women would have ripped him for being jealous, yet here was
Maree Banner, elegant civilized woman personified, being in full approval of
his apparently caveman antics.  Go figure.

But hey, he couldn’t help it.  Tam
brought out every protective, caveman instinct in him.  If he could drag her
away to his lair and keep her to himself, he would.  He grinned.  So sue him,
he didn’t give a shit.

Tam chose that moment to walk back
in, stopping dead in the doorway to eye him warily.

“What?” He pushed away from the
counter.

“You’ve got a strange smile on
your face.”

“I have?”

“And a weird look in your eyes.”

“Just getting all caveman, baby.” 
Moving close, he slid one arm around her, smacked his hand on a very curvy
buttock and squeezed.  “Really caveman.”

Her eyes widened.  “Grant, Aunt
Maree is around here somewhere!”

“So let’s go back to my cave and
beat up the bed.”

Her mouth fell open.  “Did you
just say…beat up the bed?”

“Hey, I’m not too good with lusty
words but I’m trying.  How about - let’s go back to my cave and boink like
bunnies.”

In amusement, her eyes crinkled
enchantingly at the corners.  “Bunnies live in burrows.”

“Work with me, baby.  This is new
territory for me.”

“You’re not exactly inexperienced
with intimacy.”

“Intimacy.”  He smirked.  “Is that
what you call it?”

“What has gotten into you?”

“The idea that someone is chasing
you has my blood lust up.”

“Your blood or your lust?”

“I have this overwhelming urge to
mark my territory.”

“I’m not going to have to get a
rolled up newspaper, am I?”

“I’m not talking about humping
your leg.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You’re not making my sexy talk
easy.”

“Is that what you call it?”

He gave an exaggerated sigh.  “I’m
not good with sexy talk.”

“That’s okay.”  She cuddled close,
eyes sparkling up at him.  “I like your sexy talk.  I know where you’re coming
from.”

“I have to say, my forte is in
action rather than words.”

“Totally agree.”

Resting his forehead against hers,
he gazed deeply into her eyes.  “Tam?”

“Yes?”

“Can you tell Ryder I’m hot in
bed?”

“Poor baby.  Are you feeling a
little insecure?”

“I just want you to boast about me
a little.”

“Would a full page ad in the local
rag suffice?”

“I think so.”

Twisting her hands into the front
of his shirt, she grinned and tugged him down.  “Kiss me, you fool.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  Enjoying the
banter, the closeness, he kissed her with enthusiasm.

A lot of enthusiasm.  So much so
that by the time he lifted his head they were both breathing heavier.

“I’d invite you to my bedroom,”
Tam admitted huskily, “but Aunt’s here.  No go.”

“There’s my cave.”

“What about our reservations at
the pub?”

“Are you serious?”  Grabbing her
hand, he tugged her towards the doorway.  “You’d choose dinner over a romp in
the sack with me?”

“When you put it so romantically…”

Chapter 8

“This is outrageous!”

Startled, Tam looked up from where
she was hosing the soap off Mr Duncan’s back.  “What?”

Mr Duncan, an elderly man who
needed assistance with showering, sighed.  “That’s the missus.  Going on and on
about someone stealing her granny panties.  Like anyone would want them.”

“Someone stole them?”  Tam turned
off the water.

“Yep.”  With a  frail hand he
wrung out the face washer and tossed it into the basin.  “Why anyone would want
them, I have no idea.  They’re not even fancy.”

The idea that Mr Duncan, who was
ninety four, would even consider fancy panties was a little mind boggling to
Tam.

Then again, maybe fancy panties
were a man’s fantasy.  Grant sure liked her fancy panties.  He was particularly
partial to the ones with the bow right above her mound.

Just the memory of him fingering
it had the power to make her hot.

Dragging her mind back to the job
at hand, Tam handed her client a towel so he could dry his face and arms while
she attended his back.  “Do you think it’s the Stealth Thief?”

“Who else?” He scrubbed his sparse
hair dry.  “Only one dumb enough to steal granny panties.”

The bathroom door slammed open and
Mrs Duncan stood there in all her frail glory.  Thin, wiry, like a little bird
as she peered through her glasses at her husband.  “I’ve had enough!  First it’s
one of my gardening gloves, then it’s my wash cloth from out of the laundry,
and now it’s my panties from the laundry basket!”

“You’re letting in the cold,” her husband
said.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“My willy’s shrivelling up.”

“My panties are gone!  My
favourite pair!”

“All your panties are the same
colour and style.  And I’m getting colder.”

She shut the door with a thump,
folding bird-like arms over her shrunken chest.  Wiry white curls bounced on
her head as she transferred her gaze to Tam.  “This thief will get my foot up
his bum if I catch him with my panties!”

Tam grinned.

“Don’t laugh.  I’m telling you, my
foot, his bum.”

Mr Duncan gestured to the sink. 
“Hand me my undies and stop whining.”

She plucked the undies off and
handed them to Tam.  “We ought to form a vigilante group.”

Kneeling down, Tam slid the undies
over Mr Duncan’s feet.  “I’m sure the police are onto it.”

“Onto it?  They have no idea who
the Stealth Thief is.  I’m telling you, it’s some cocky kid or deviant man.  I
mean,
my panties
, for goodness sake!”

Mr Duncan gestured again.  “Shirt,
woman, shirt!”

Without missing a beat, she tossed
the shirt to Tam, unintentionally hitting Tam full in the face.  “The things
going missing are ridiculous!  This is no joke anymore.  No joke!”

Pulling the shirt from her face,
Tam blinked.

Mr Duncan scowled.  “Can’t I have
a nice shower in peace anymore?  That’s all I’ve heard about all morning - your
knickers.  You’re upsetting my digestion.”

“What’s your digestion got to do
with my knickers?” Mrs Duncan asked indignantly.

Uh oh.  Tam slipped the shirt over
Mr Duncan’s skinny arms and picked up the long pants herself before she wore
them on her face, too.

“At least someone got into them,”
Mr Duncan snapped.

Tam almost slipped on the floor. 
Holy crap!

“It’s been awhile for you, sonny,
because last time you got into my knickers you lost the key to the handcuffs!”

Crap on a stick!  She was not
hearing this!

Biting her lip, Tam knelt down and
pulled his socks on.

“You got out of the handcuffs,” Mr
Duncan retorted.  “What’s your problem?”

“Only because my hands are small
enough that I managed to wiggle them out with the help of all that lube you
have stashed in the drawer.”

“Good Lord, woman, that was last
week!  Get over it already!”

Hoo boy.  Quickly slipping on his
shoes, she pressed down the Velcro fasteners and straightened with a bright
smile. 
I heard nothing
.   “Okay, you’re all done, Mr Duncan.”

Mr Duncan was glaring at Mrs
Duncan.  Oh boy, if looks could kill.

Clearing her throat, Tam started
gathering up the used towels.

“Maybe you need a taste of my
walking stick,” Mr Duncan threatened, plucking it off the basin where Tam had
hooked it earlier.

Oh shit.  Tam clutched the sodden
towels to her chest.  “Oh…um...Mr Duncan, I’m sure-”

“Is that right?” Mrs Duncan stuck
her scrawny chin in the air, the loose folds of skin at her neck wobbling.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’m sure-” Tam began desperately.

“Yeah, that’s right,” he repeated.

“Now, really, this-”

“Stay out of it,” they both
snapped at once.

Tam froze, eye huge, frantically
wondering if she could wrestle the walking stick off Mr Duncan without breaking
any of his fragile bones.

Mrs Duncan placed one hand on her
hip, stuck it out, tossed her thin curls back and drawled, “You think you got
it in you, honey?”

Whoa. Tam glanced at Mr Duncan.

He smiled, eyes gleaming.  “I can
tame you,
honey
.”

What?

“Been doing it all my life.  Not
going to stop now.”

Fingers clenched in the towels,
Tam switched her gaze to Mrs Duncan, and her eyes widened even more.  Holy
crap, surely that wasn’t -

“You found the keys to the
handcuffs yet?” Mrs Duncan asked a trifle huskily.

He smirked.  “Bedside table with
the lube.”

“Got enough lube?”

“New bottle.”

Tam didn’t know what to say, which
way to look.

She was saved by Mrs Duncan
grabbing the towels, tossing them onto the floor, her little bird-like hand
clutching her arm while with the other hand she threw the bathroom door open.

“Time for you to go,” Mrs Duncan
said.

“But the floor-”

“Go.”

“It’s wet!  If you or your husband
slip-”

“I’ll mop it up with the mop.” 
Mrs Duncan gave her a shove towards the kitchen.  “Get your bag.  Go.  See you
tomorrow morning.”

Less than a minute later, protests
about duty of care and their safety being compromised by wet floors ignored,
Tam found herself on the front veranda with bag in hand, staring in disbelief
at the ceramic dog on the top step.

She’d just been thrown out of the
house by a pair of horny pensioners.

A pair of horny, kinky pensioners.

There came the sound of a slap, a
giggle, and a clink of metal.

“Wait a minute,” Mr Duncan
wheezed.  “Just gotta get my breath first.”

That was enough for Tam.  She was
down the steps and in the ute as fast as she could go.

She couldn’t help it, a grin
breaking out on her face as she drove off.  It was funny on one hand, she’d
never expected to stumble across a pair of kinky pensioners, but on the other
hand it was heart-warming to know that a couple, no matter how old they grew,
could still enjoy a healthy sex life.

A little stomach-churning,
however, because it made her wonder a little wildly about her grandparents.

“So do not want to go there.”  She
pulled into the angle parking in front of the newsagent.

A quick detour to the café to pick
up a container of cold meat and salad, and she was back in the newsagency,
walking down the aisle and into the kitchenette at the back.

Del, Dee, Molly, Elissa and Ash
were already seated, all in various stages of unwrapping their lunches.

“I was starting to wonder if you’d
arrive,” Del said.

“I’m here.”  A little
nerve-shattered, true, but nevertheless…  Tam sat down, popped the lid off the
salad container.

“Busy morning?” Ash took a bite of
sandwich.

“Always busy.”

“You know your shirt is wet?”
Elissa queried.

Tam glanced down to see slowly
fading patches right over her boobs.  “Cripes.”

“What happened?”

“Got a little wet showering
people.”  Shaking her head, Tam speared a piece of pork.  “Hazards of the job.”

Molly grinned slyly.  “Especially
when it involves the Duncan’s.”

Mindful of the confidentiality
clause of the job, Tam shrugged.  “Showering anyone can result in getting wet.”

“I’m sure it can.”  Molly’s grin
widened.  “But put that wet shirt together with the fact that you left their house
a whole lot faster than you went in, and I’m thinking a whole other story.”

Not able to confide in them, Tam
shrugged again.

“Mrs Duncan practically threw you
out the house.”

“How do you know?” Dee popped the tab on her tin of Diet Coke.

“I was driving past right at the
moment Tam was booted out.  The shock on her face was classical.  Want to bet
what she saw?”

“Bet?”  Dee grimaced.  “I don’t
even want to think about it.”

“I think it’s lovely,” Ash said serenely.

“That the Duncan’s are getting
their kink on?”

“No, that they love each other
still.  Isn’t that what we all want?”

“Yeah, but you have to admit they
take it to a whole other level.”

Hmmm, okay, so the Duncan’s sexcapades weren’t secret.  Interesting.  Tam took a mouthful of tomato, lettuce
and grated Parmesan cheese.

Molly pointed her wrap at Tam.  “I
took Mrs Duncan to Ellor’s Loop with me one day so she could pick up a few
things we don’t have here in Gully’s Fall.”

“That’d have been an entertaining
drive,” Del commented.

“You bet.  She dragged me into the
sex store.”

Somehow, Tam wasn’t surprised.

Elissa grinned.  “Bet that was
unexpected.”

“I know, right?”  Molly nodded. 
“So when we left, I had a tub of this edible body chocolate-”

“No way.”

“Way.  Mrs Duncan did me one
better.  She had a ball gag.”

Everyone stopped eating and
stared.

“Right,” said Dee.  “Ryder is
never
going to Ellor’s Loop with either Mr or Mrs Duncan.  Ever.”

“I don’t think they can shock
Ryder,” Del said.

“I’m more worried about what he’ll
bring back home with him.”

They all laughed.

Except Dee.  “I’m dead serious.”

“Speaking of kinky and daring…” 
Elissa turned to Molly.  “Body chocolate?  How did Kirk like that?”

“He laughed his arse off.”

“Really?”  Del frowned.  “That was
a bit mean.  He didn’t want you to lick it off him?”

“It wasn’t that.  It’s just I was
in the early stages of pregnancy with Lily and had these massive cravings.  I’d
eaten half the tub of body chocolate by the time we got back to Gully’s Fall.”

A burst of laughter went around
the table.

“Laugh it up,” Molly said.  “He
ate the rest on bread while listening to my story about the trip and Mrs
Duncan’s ball gag.”

They laughed harder.

“Then we went and had hot sex.”

“Without the body chocolate,” Dee snorted.

Molly smiled widely.  “Honey, what
Kirk did to me would have melted that chocolate right off.”

“We wouldn’t have needed the
chocolate to start off with,” Ash murmured, her cheeks pinkening with laughter
when they all made ‘oohhhing’ sounds of admiration.

“If we’re going to play
one-upmanship, then I’m throwing my hat in the ring,” Del declared.  “Moz
doesn’t even make it to the bedroom sometimes.”

Elissa started to groan.  “No! 
He’s my brother-”

“He jacks off in the car?” Dee asked.

“You dick.”  Del smacked her
shoulder.  “I mean, the hallway!”

“He jacks off in the hallway? 
Dirty bastard.”

“He’s done
me
in the
hallway.”

“Oh my God.”  Elissa stuck her
fingers in her ears.

“Too late,” Del told her.

Dee grinned.  “Huh.  Ryder did me on
the stairs.  Several times.”

“So the indent in the wall is from
your arse cheeks?”

Dee flipped her cousin off.

“Simon did me on the hammock.” 
Elissa grinned.  “That was interesting.”

“Does that make you a swinger?”
Ash asked.

Molly shook her head as everyone
laughed.  “Sad, Ash, very sad.”

They all looked at Tam.

“What?”

“Your turn,” Dee said.

“Hey, I haven’t been going out
with Grant as long as you girls have been with your menfolk.”

“Don’t tell me you and Grant haven’t
done the dirty.”  Molly waved the wrap in her hand around.  “Not with the way
he looks at you like he wants to rip your clothes off.”

Tam smiled.  “He looks at me like
that?”

“Honey, he wants to suck you like
a lollypop.”

Oh yeah, he’d done that several
times, all right.  Made her go up in flames.

Tam smiled modestly.  “Let’s just
say he’s hot in the sack.”

“Oh, come on.  More than that. 
We’ve shared.”

“There’s something wrong with you
girls.  That was over-sharing.”

“That’s the price you pay for being
part of our circle.”

That the women at the table
included her in their friendship was heart-warming.  Heart-warming enough that
Tam confessed impulsively, “We did it on the lawn behind his house one night.”

“There you go,” Del said.  “Was
that so hard?”

“Well done.”  Molly patted her
hand.  “It gets easier.”

Ash just grinned.

The sound of the bell at the front
door had Dee getting up to attend a customer.

“So, have you discovered the
identity of your secret admirer?” Elissa queried.

“No.”  Tam frowned.  “I rang up
the florist in Ellor’s Loop, but they wouldn’t give me the name of whoever paid
by credit card, just said if I gave them my phone number, they’d pass it on.  Confidentiality
and all that.”

“It’s just flowers, not a bomb.”

“I thought Grant was going to
explode when he first discovered them.”

“Man gets a woman on his brain, he
suddenly turns all protective and possessive and shit.”  Del wiped her mouth
with a napkin.