Second Chance (4 page)

“We really need to go-” she began
uncomfortably.

“Nonsense.”

Too late anyway, Grant had walked
up to them, his smile firmly back in place as he greeted them all.  “Scott, Mrs
Preston, Tam.”

“Oh, you know Tam already?”  Mrs Preston’s
curious gaze flicked between Grant and Tam.

“I met him while taking Mr
Haddell’s dog for his needle,” Tam replied.

“We knew each other in school,”
Grant said at the same time.

“Really?”  Mrs Preston’s lips
pursed thoughtfully.

“Huh,” Scott said.

Grant’s eyes levelled on Tam.  “I
was hoping to bump into you again.”

I bet
.  “And look what
happened.  Here I am.”  With a tight smile, she brushed her hand against her
client’s back.  “Well, if you’re ready to go, Mrs Preston?”

“I’m not,” was the blunt reply. 
“You were saying, young man?”

Grant’s gaze never left Tam. 
“About that catch-up?”

Oh crap, surely he isn’t going
to do this now?  Diversion tactics. 
“Give me a call.” 
So I can refuse
in private
.

He must have seen the warning in
her eyes, his own narrowing slightly in return.  “How about drinks at the pub
tonight?”

Crap on a stick.  “Tonight?  Sorry,
I have something on.”

“What do you have on?” Mrs Preston
asked.  “And what time?”

Startled, Tam gaped at her.

Grinning, Scott watched them all.

Mrs Preston switched her attention
to Grant.  “What time are you picking her up?”

Good grief.  “Mrs Preston, really-” Tam began.

“How about six thirty?” Grant’s
eyes silently dared her to refuse.

Wait.  He didn’t like her, so why
was he pushing this?  “Like I said, I have something on.”

“It’s a quiet town,” Mrs Preston pointed
out shamelessly.  “Apart from shaving your legs, what could you possibly be
doing this evening that’s more important than accepting an invitation from a
handsome young man?”

Tam glanced at Scott, but there
was no help forthcoming from the big firie.  He just stood there, grinning like
an imbecile, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Grant’s grey eyes watched her
unfalteringly.  Man didn’t look so studious now, nope, he looked more like a
predator eyeing prey.

“Who said it was my
legs
I
was shaving?”  That should shock them all into a little silence and dignity.

So wrong.

Unexpectedly, amusement curved
Grant’s firm lips.  Scott’s grin widened.

Mrs Preston shrugged.  “
That
you can do anytime.”

Tam stared incredulously at her. 
Who was this woman, and what had she done with sweet, proper, prim Mrs Preston?

“Time is passing, dear,” Mrs
Preston informed her.

Scott opened his mouth.

Finally, he was taking pity on her
and coming to the rescue.

His eyes twinkled.  “It’s Friday,
so it’ll be busy at the pub tonight, but that’s a good thing, Tam, you’ll get
to meet most of the townsfolk.  Good to do in your job.  I’ll be there with my
wife, Ash, and you’ll meet our other friends.”

So no help there, then.

Watching them watching her, Tam
sighed. To keep refusing was churlish.  It was really no big deal, right?  A
drink or two, plenty of people around, Grant could get his apology or whatever
he wanted to say off his chest, and she could leave early.  Besides, she wanted
to meet the people, she’d be working with some of them for awhile, and everyone
in Gully’s Fall knew everyone else.  She certainly wasn’t going to start off
here by getting a reputation as a stand-offish prig.

“Okay.”  She nodded at Grant. 
“I’ll meet you there.”

“That wouldn’t be polite of me,” he
replied easily.  “I invited you, I’ll pick you up and bring you home.”

“Such a gentleman.” Reaching up, Mrs
Preston patted his shoulder fondly.  “All right, dear, she’ll see you later. 
Come along, Tam, we’ve shopping to do.”

Tam could swear she felt Grant’s
gaze on her right up until the bank door shut behind her.  Probably watching
her big bum disappear and wondering what the hell he’d just done.

She sure as hell was wondering
what she’d just agreed to.  Cutting her eyes to Mrs Preston, she saw the
satisfied smile on the woman’s face.  Oh wait, now she remembered.  She’d been
railroaded into it by this sweet old lady.

It was always the sweet ones you
had to watch.

“You two will make great looking
babies,” Mrs Preston said airily.

Tam tripped over her own feet and
nearly went arse over tit.

Chapter 2

“So, you and the new girl, huh?” 
Scott watched him.

Grant slanted him a look.  “We
knew each other in school.”

“Seems like she doesn’t have the
fondest memories of you.”

“Misunderstanding.”

“What’d you do?  Pull her
pigtails?”

“I mean a recent
misunderstanding.”

“You’ve fallen out with her
already?  Man, she’s only been here a week.”

“No, I mean there was - never
mind.”

“You can tell me.”

“Like hell.”

“Maybe you need man cave time.”

“Are you shitting me?  I’d need my
head read to put myself at the mercy of you mob.”

“We could hold your hand, give you
cups of tea, and wipe your tears away.”

“No, you’d laugh at me, goad me,
and give bad advice.”

“I’m hurt.”  Scott’s grin was all
teeth.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure Ash will
kiss all your hurts better.”

“Our door is always open.”

“I’m keeping that man cave door
securely shut, thanks all the same.”

Scott laughed.  “See you
tonight.”   Still chortling, he walked over to the counter, pulling his wallet
from his pocket.

Waiting his turn, Grant’s mind
turned to Tam.  Man, she’d looked like a stunned ‘roo when Mrs Preston had
backed her into a corner.  Wide eyes, practically searching for a place to
run.  If she’d been a cartoon character she’d have bolted right through the
wall and kept on running.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a
stretch.  She’d definitely looked hunted, though.  Stunned, for sure.  Those
big eyes had been wide.  Apparently she’d thought Shelley Preston was a sweet,
somewhat straight-laced old lady.  Surprise.  Mrs Preston loved matchmaking, thought
every person could only be really happy if they found their soul-mate.  Her
marriage right up until the day her Billy had died ten years ago had been one
of love, laughter, along with the ups and downs that came with being a couple,
but the marriage had been strong.

Remembering Tam’s expression when
she’d looked at him, Grant knew she hadn’t forgotten his slight of her in the
consult room and had had no intention of ever meeting with him.  Obviously she
was not going to forgive him in a hurry.  Too bad, he’d made up his mind to
apologise properly and mend some fences, and Mrs Preston with her romantic
ideas had given him Tam on a plate.

Why was it so important to mend
fences?  He didn’t really know, couldn’t put his finger on why he had this urge
to see her again, to witness the wariness and coolness in her gaze be replaced
with the happy, warm friendliness with which she’d first looked at him.

A customer left the counter and he
moved forward, tending to the banking business before returning to the clinic
to finish the last of the afternoon consults.

Once the clinic was closed and the
few animals settled for the night, he locked the back door behind him, crossed the
small expanse of grass, went through the little side gate, up onto the veranda
and into his own house.

When he’d bought the practice and
house accompanying it from the previous vet and his wife, he knew he’d gotten a
bargain for his money.  The old house was small but neat, a little three by one
that suited him just fine.  The veranda that ran around all four sides cast
shade in hot weather.  The backyard needed a lot of love but he lacked the time
to do anything with it.  Mostly lawn and that not too great, bougainvillea
growing wild along the back fence providing him with privacy. Luckily the
backyard was big enough for Fergus, the little, scruffy, mixed-breed mutt he’d
rescued several years ago.  Fergus popped his head up from the old armchair
he’d been snoozing in, his eyes peeping out from the scruffy fringe that hung
down his face.

“Hey.”  Grant held the door open
for Fergus.  “I better trim that fringe of yours before you start walking into
the furniture.”

Fergus looked up, the gleam of his
eyes just visible between the hair.

“Okay, maybe I better do it now.” 
Grant scooped the little dog up and carted him into the kitchen, perching him
on a chair.  “Stay.”

Fergus heaved a sigh and sat down.

Gretel, the sleek ginger cat,
lifted her head lazily from where she was curled up on one of the old dining
room chairs.  She looked from Fergus to Grant rooting around in the drawer for
a pair of scissors and yawned.

“My apologies for disturbing you,”
Grant told her.  “Your hairy brother needs a haircut.”

Ears pricking upright, Gretel got
up onto the table to get a better look while Grant proceeded to chop at
Fergus’s fringe.  By the time he’d finished, Gretel was half hanging off the table,
her paw waving dangerously close to Fergus’s nose.  Fergus kept looking
sideways at the paw.

Grant gave her ears a fond
ruffle.  “You know that freaks him a little. Stop it.”

Rolling onto her side, Gretel
batted her eyes at Grant.

With a small laugh, he placed the
dog onto the floor.  “Let’s get you all fed, I have a date tonight.”  That made
him pause and blink. 
Wait?  A date?
  “Well, no, not a date.  More like
mending broken fences.”   Crossing to the ‘fridge, he took a big bowl of ‘roo
meat and put it on the kitchen counter with three bowls.  “I kind of was a bit
of a prick,” he informed Slinky, as the white kitten belted into the room at
the sound of the ‘fridge door.

Immediately Slinky started winding
around Grant’s legs, meowing.

“I get the feeling you don’t
care.”

Slinky meowed louder.  Gretel got
a pained expression on her face, her nose wrinkling and eyes narrowing as she
peered over at Slinky.

“I know,” Grant assured her. 
“He’s loud and a bit of a lout.  He’ll grow out of it.”  Maybe.

Leaving the animals eating in the
kitchen, he fed the two big goldfish in the fish tank in the lounge, and checked
the mice had plenty of food in their containers in their cage out the back
before taking the cage down from the hook in the roof of the veranda and
shifting them into the safety of the laundry for the night.  Fur and fins all
taken care of, he went for a shower and change of clothes.

Rooting around in the sock drawer,
he could swear he had a spare pair of black socks, but after another fruitless
search of the drawer and the room, he scratched his head.  Definitely no black
socks.  Maybe he’d been mistaken and they were in the laundry - or maybe the
Stealth Thief had struck.  But really, in his own house?  Maybe he’d had the
socks on the line and they’d been taken off from there.  Shit, yeah.  How
bloody annoying.  When he found out who the Stealth Thief was…

Brown socks it was, then.

As he checked his reflection in
the mirror, he had to admit that he was kind of looking forward to having some
down time with his friends.  Okay, he was also looking forward to seeing Tam
again, his curiosity about her well and truly spiked now that he’d made up his
mind to see her.

After all, time had passed, people
changed.  It was going to be a pleasant evening, he was sure.

The phone rang and he groaned
inwardly.  Damn, his part-time vet was out of town for the long weekend which
meant Grant had to do the callouts. 
Please don’t be a callout.  Please
don’t be a callout. 
“Hello, Gully’s Fall Vet.”

“Grant?”

It took him several seconds to
recognise the voice.  “Tam?”

“I’m already at the pub.  I’ll see
you here.”

His mouth fell open.  “You’re
already there?”

“Thought I’d save you the trip.”

“I was going to pick you up.”  He
frowned.

“I didn’t need to go home, so I’m
waiting for you here.” There was a distinct pause.  “That’s not a problem, is
it?”

Well…no.  Not really.  It wasn’t
like it was a date, right?  Tipping back his head, Grant closed his eyes. 
“No.  No problem.”

“Great.  See you here soon.”

The phone went dead.

Unbelievable.  Shaking his head,
Grant hung the phone up.  Now why did he feel like she had gotten one over on
him again?  Geez, it was just a drink, nothing to get his feathers ruffled
about.  He really had to shake this mood he was in.

Only he wasn’t in a mood.  He was
just…annoyed.

Pocketing his wallet, he strode from
the house, locking the door behind him.  Within minutes he was pulling the four
wheel drive into the angled car parking in front of the pub.  In a bay to the
side stood four big black and chrome motorbikes, beside them a green Commodore,
which meant that his friends had arrived in style and were already inside.

Walking into the pub, his ears
were accosted immediately with laughter, conversation, the smell of assorted
drinks though mostly beer, and the scent of food from the dining room off to the
side.  Farmhands, townsfolk, and a sprinkling of tourists filled the tables and
bar.  Ahhh, Friday night, a long weekend ahead, time to unwind.

A quick glance around and he
spotted a familiar golden-haired man with his arm slung around a curly haired
woman’s shoulders.  So Kirk was off work tonight, maybe the local cop had
managed to get the long weekend off to spend with his family.  Sitting at the
big table along the window beside Kirk and Molly sat Ryder and Dee, Ash and
Scott, Simon and Elissa, and Del and Moz.

Normally he’d have wandered over
to join them, but he looked past them to take in the room once more, searching
for Tam.  His gaze slid past the couple at the bar, stopped and swivelled
back.  There she was…and so was Farris, the young farmhand close beside her
stool, leaning against the bar laughing, his good-looking young face wreathed
in smiles.  He said something and Tam laughed.  Her head tipped back showing
the smooth expanse of her throat, long, silky hair spilling down her back.

Grant’s lips tightened.  Oh yeah,
she’d come here rather than have him pick her up and now here she was, enjoying
herself while he - what?  While he what? 
Damn it, it’s not a date!
  He
didn’t know her that well, was supposed to just have a drink, a chat, try to
make her feel a little better.  Though she sure as hell didn’t look like she
was upset about anything, not with Farris leaning forward, his grin so wide the
bastard was almost biting off his own ears.

Shaking off his unreasonable
annoyance, he walked through the crowd.

Tam looked over her shoulder just
as he drew up behind them.  Her eyes sparkled with the same merriment he’d
first seen that morning, but there was no denying the slight wariness that
dimmed them just a little.

Seeking to push that wariness
aside, he smiled affably at her.  “Am I late?”

“Not at all.”  Returning the smile,
she picked up her glass to take a small sip.

“G’day, Grant.”  Farris grinned
easily.

“Farris. How’re things on the
farm?”

“Doing okay.  You?”

“Not bad at all.”  He nodded at
Tam.  “Met an old friend this morning, which was a pleasant surprise.”

One of Tam’s eyebrows arched up
sardonically but she didn’t respond.

“Small world.”  Picking up his
glass, Farris pushed away from the bar.  “Really nice meeting you, Tam.  See
you around.”

“No worries.”

Grant stood aside to let the young
farmhand walk past him before moving up to perch on the bar stool beside her.  He
observed that her glass was still almost full of some kind of fizzy drink.  “I
see you started without me.”

“I was waiting for you to arrive.”

“I did tell you I’d pick you up.”

“And I rang you to tell you that I
was already here.  It’s no big deal, right?”  Her expressionless gaze was
steady.

There was no doubt that she was
ready for whatever he threw at her.

He had no intention of throwing
anything at her.  “Nope.  Not at all.”  He held his finger up to the barmaid. 
“Coke, thanks.”

“On call?” Sally asked.

“Yep.”

“All weekend?”

“Yep.”

“Poor sod.”

In silence he watched her drop ice
cubes in a glass, fill it with Coke and place it on the bar in front of him. 
He gave her the money, pocketing the change before turning to Tam. 

One elbow on the bar, she was
regarding him with polite interest while running her fingertips up and down the
glass, making wet tracks in the condensation.  “Busy day?”

“Pretty much.  It’s always busy.”

“I’d imagine being the only
fulltime vet in town would keep you running.”

“I have a part-time vet as well. 
We’re in talks for him to work fulltime soon.”

“Good to know.”  She took another
sip of drink.  “Lived here long?”

Okay, she had chosen the polite
route. That was one way, see if he could break the ice and then go for the
apology, but going by the coolness of her eyes, politeness wasn’t going to get
him anywhere fast.  Time for the direct route.

He took a mouthful of the icy
drink before placing it back on the bar.  “Tam, I apologise for my cool
response back at the clinic.”

“No need,” she replied mildly.

“We got off on the wrong foot.” 
At her bland expression, he amended, “I got off on the wrong foot.”

“My turning up at your clinic was
no pleasant surprise.”

“It was a surprise.”

“Not a pleasant one.”  When he
opened his mouth to deny it, she held up one hand.  “You’re the one who pushed
for this meeting, Grant, so don’t bullshit me.”

Cripes, talk about direct.  From
memory, Tam the Terror had always been blunt.  At least, that he could
remember.  Looked like she hadn’t changed in that regard.

“I know I’m sometimes too frank to
be comfortable with.” She correctly interpreted his expression.  “But just tell
me and then we can go our separate ways.”

Faced with her obvious reluctance
to be with him, Grant cocked his head to one side as he studied her.  He didn’t
consider himself a prize catch, but since arriving in Gully’s Fall he’d become
used to being the one chased.  Having a woman not particularly wanting to be
with him was quite…refreshing.  Intriguing.  Then again, she’d just come from
somewhere else where she could have her pick of men, whereas Gully’s Fall was a
little short in the eligible bachelor department.  And then again, just to
stretch it a bit more, he hadn’t exactly greeted her happy recognition with
enthusiasm.  It was no wonder she didn’t regard him favourably.  It had nothing
to do with him being a man and everything to do with him being a jerk.  Plus he
was the one who had pushed for this meeting.