Adam's Thorn (2 page)

Focussing on the wheel, he changed
it, deliberately avoiding looking at her, trying to breath in the scent of
rubber instead of flowers.  Moving closer to the wheel, he succeeded.

Hallelujah.

Thankfully, she maintained a
chilly silence while he changed the wheel.  It wasn’t as if they had much to
say to each other anyway.

He’d almost finished tightening
the nuts on the new wheel when the sound of a vehicle pulling up had him
glancing around to see the ambulance parked beside them, the local paramedic
leaning one elbow on the doorframe as he smiled at Barbie.

“G’day,” Matt greeted.  “Flat
tyre?”

“Afraid so,” Barbie replied.

Adam turned back to the wheel.

“Good thing Adam came along,” Matt
said cheerfully.

“Apparently,” she replied, a
little less sweetly.

“Need a hand, Adam?”

“Nah, I’m done.”  Straightening, he
twirled the bar in one hand before dropping it into the black tool bag lying
beside the car.

Barbie looked at Matt.  “Thanks
for offering.”

“My pleasure. Can’t leave a lady
stuck on the side of the road.  Right, Adam?”

Adam cast him a narrow-eyed look. 
Yep, his friend had a glint of amusement in his eyes.  Bastard.  “That’s what
my mother always taught me.”

“And mother always knows best,” Matt
returned blithely.

“Hmmm.”  Adam couldn’t help but
cast Barbie a side-long glance.

Her arms were folded beneath her
breasts, making the generous mounds rise high against the low neckline of her
dress.  Jesus, any lower and he’d have to arrest her for indecent exposure.

Catching the direction of his glance,
her cheeks flushed pink as she dropped her arms.  In a purposeful movement, she
gave Adam the shoulder as she turned more towards the ambulance.  “Thanks
anyway, Matt.”

“No worries.”  Matt grinned, his
twinkling eyes switching to Adam.  “Still coming over for the footy Sunday?”

“Yeah.  See you there.”

The ambulance pulled back onto the
highway and drove off, leaving Adam alone with Barbie.  Turning around, she moved
to the car, kneeling down and reaching for the jack.

Grabbing it before she could, he
dropped it into the black tool bag, straightening with it in one hand.  “Boot?”

Without a word she opened the door
of the Laser and reached in to pull the lever, popping the hatchback open.

Adam dropped it into the back
before heaving the flat tyre in beside it, careful not to squash several boxes
that sat on one side.  He’d have liked to check the contents more but she
suddenly appeared beside him, reaching up to close the hatchback.  It was
either step back or get brained.

He stepped back.

Once the hatchback was shut, Barbie
drew a deep breath, staring at the back window for several seconds before
turning to him.  “Thanks.”

He arched one brow.  As gratitude
went, it was grudging.

“For changing the tyre,” she
continued through clenched teeth.

He gave a small nod, taking a step
away.

“Even though I never asked for
it.”

That made him pause.  He gazed
directly at her, the familiar annoyance seeping through him.  The woman was
impossible.  But he maintained his poise, his role of a law officer and decent
man.

Or tried to.  Unfortunately, she chose
that second to lift her chin, her nose going into the air as she eyed him like
some unsavoury insect that had appeared in her presence.

Before he knew it, he’d opened his
mouth and the words just fell out.  “Oh, you ask for it all right.  Keep up
this pissy attitude, Barbie, and you’ll get it.  Again.”

Her breath sucked in, those apple
cheeks blooming with colour, her eyes flashing a mixture of mortification and
fury.  “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh lady, just keep daring me.” 
Before he could say anything more incriminating, Adam swung around, strode to
the car and got in, picking up the sun glasses sitting on the dashboard and
sliding them on.  Then he just sat there, staring at her.

Good thing he had the sunglasses hiding
his expression, because he was stunned that he’d actually let her get a rise
out of him.  No way he wanted her to notice.

Obviously Barbie didn’t want to
hang around him any longer, for she stormed to the Laser, wrenched the door
open and practically flung herself inside, yanking the door shut behind her. 
The engine roared to life and he was surprised she didn’t leave a spray of gravel
in her wake as she pulled out onto the road, but the stubborn sheila obviously
had some sense of self preservation because she did a perfect manoeuvre out and
away.

Leaving Adam to drop his forehead
onto the steering wheel and close his eyes.  Christ, he’d faced riots,
psychotic drug addicts, dangerous drunks, violent men and women, been spat on,
called names, and even punched several times while dealing with out of control
parties in the city.  Never had he lost his temper, never had he allowed anyone
to break his control, not once.  His calmness and control was almost legendary
amongst his fellow cops, his friends and family admired it, his calmness was
just inbuilt, a part of him, just like his gut feelings that always steered him
correctly.  It had been in him from the day he was born, his father had always
proudly proclaimed. Calm, unflappable Adam Moor.

And then along came Barbie and
blew it all to shit in mere minutes.

Dropping his head back against the
head rest of the seat, Adam took off the sunglasses and rubbed his eyes.  He
just hoped she left town soon.  Why the hell she was still here, he didn’t
know.  Probably could ask her, but in all likelihood she’d throw a bucket of
water over him.

When he’d dared to say something
to her in the restaurant, she’d
accidentally
knocked his glass of water
into his lap while passing his table.  He’d almost lost it then, too, managing
to grab her arm and drag her out of the restaurant for a good talking to,
having enough sense not to do it in front of the fascinated townsfolk also in
the restaurant.  Of course, she’d denied it all, maintained it was an accident,
and he could do nothing more than warn her and let her go.  It wasn’t as if he
could arrest her for assaulting a police officer, he’d have been laughed out of
town.

Shoving the thought aside, Adam
huffed out an impatient breath and started the car.  He had work to do, and
none of it involved sitting and stewing over Barbie Declan.

~*~

Fingers wrapped around the
steering wheel, Barbie drew several deep, steadying breaths, trying to ignore
her trembling fingers.

God, Adam Moor could get to her
like no one else ever could, not when she was a wild teenager and not even
now.  She was calm, poised, a little volatile at times, sure, but she’d learned
to control herself, to think before speaking.  It had taken her awhile but
she’d learned, and she’d been proud of it.

Then along came Adam Moor and blew
it all to shit in mere minutes.

Easing her grip on the steering
wheel, she assured herself it was a temporary slip, she was
in control
. 
She was here to sort out her late Great Aunt Penny’s house that had been left
to her, and then she was out of this dinky town.  It was nice, from what she’d
seen of it, but she wasn’t a country girl.  Besides, she had things to do back
home in the city, a living to make.

Doing her masseuse job here paid a
little, but nowhere near enough to make a living.  Massages weren’t the ‘in
thing’ in Peeron that was for sure.  If it wasn’t for the amount of money Great
Aunt Penny had left her, she’d have to move back home now, but luckily the
house was liveable with enough money to repair it in preparation for going on
the market and selling for a good price.  Yes, at the moment it did leak a
little when it rained, and the stairs creaked something awful, and as for the
dark hallway…

Barbie shivered.  It was just a
big, old house, that was all.  She really had to stop reading horror stories in
bed.

Pulling into the tyre repair shop
which stood beside the one and only service station, Barbie went inside to make
arrangements to have her tyre repaired.

The owner was a grizzled man, thin
and scrawny with a beaming smile that showed surprisingly white teeth, who
introduced himself as ‘Gus, the owner’ before proceeding to take the tyre from
the boot and assuring her he’d have it ready the next morning for her to pick
up. 

Then he leaned against the Laser
and studied her.  “So, Penny’s great niece, huh?”

“Yep.”  She edged towards the
door.

Seemingly without noticing, Gus
slid across until he leaned against the driver’s door.  “Staying up at the old
house, huh?”

Resigned to answering his
questions, she sighed inwardly but smiled outwardly.  “Yep.”

“Doing it up, I hear.”

Peeron was a small town and she
needed customers.  It would be wise to be a little friendlier.  Relaxing a
little, she put her weight on one foot.  “It needs some work.”

Gus nodded.  “Penny was always
tight with the money, didn’t like spending anything unless it was necessary.”

That about matched what Barbie’s
parents had said.

 “Woman wouldn’t even buy a bit of
turkey or anything for Christmas dinner,” Gus continued.  “She was caught by
Adam one year eating a sandwich.”

Curiosity pricked at her.  “What
was he doing at her place?”

“The first year he came back here,
he was working the Christmas beat and decided to check in on the old folks. 
Always had a big heart, that boy.”  Gus smiled.  “She answered the door eating
a sandwich.  Didn’t take Adam but a minute to realise what was going on.  Every
Christmas since, he always stopped off at her house with a plate of Christmas
dinner and a present.”

Barbie frowned.

Gus noticed and mistook her
reaction.  “She had the money, girlie, don’t worry.  She was just too tight to
waste it on fripperies, as she called it.  But I noticed that after Christmas,
Adam always had a gift on his doorstep.”

Huh, that had to be it.  “So, he
was getting presents in exchange.”

“Yep.  Penny always made her own
jam from her strawberries, never shared it with anyone, but Adam always got
four jars after every Christmas.”

Jam.  Four jars of jam.  That
wasn’t a big or expensive gift.  Barbie sighed.

“I reckon Penny waited to see if
the boy’d turn up with her dinner.  Guarantee if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have
gotten his jam.”  Gus laughed.  “But he never stopped and neither did your
great aunt.”  He looked thoughtfully at Barbie.  “You make jam?”

“I
buy
jam.”

“Shame.”

She arched one brow.  “Do you make
jam?”

“Why would I make jam?”

“Why would I?”

Gus scratched his head.  “Fair
enough.”

Mentally rolling her eyes, Barbie
reached past him for the door handle.

Taking the hint, he stepped away form
the car.  “So, the house.”

Opening the door, she got in.

No sooner had she shut it than Gus
leaned down, his forearms resting on the windowsill.  “You going to live here?”

“No, sir, I’m not.”  Smiling, she
started the engine.  “I’m fixing up the house and selling it.”

“Really?”  He looked genuinely surprised. 
“Why?”

“Why not?”  She put the car into
gear.

“Peeron’s a nice town.  You could
do worse than settle here.”

“I have a job back home.  Family. 
Friends.”

“Huh.”  He straightened.  “You
could find a nice bloke here, get hitched, have a couple of kids.”

Geez, that was a bit forward. 
“Ah…Gus?  It is Gus, isn’t it?”

He nodded.

“I’m fixing the house up to
sell.”  Se gave him a pointed look.  “I’ll be back in the morning to pick up
the tyre.”

Driving away, she shook her head. 
Geez
.

Pulling into the supermarket car
park, she grabbed a trolley and headed inside.  So far she’d picked up a few
things, but knowing that she was going to be here for a few months longer at
least, she might as well stock up properly.

Not long after she’d had the
altercation with Adam at the restaurant, she’d had to go back to the city to
take extended leave from her job, close up her duplex, and collect more of her
belongings.

Peeron was going to be her home
for as long as it took to get the big old house fixed up and sold, then she was
returning home to open up her own business.  Her old boss didn’t know that and
caution stopped her form resigning straight away.  One never knew what the
future held.

Once she would have been reckless,
leaping before she looked, but things had happened since then.  That totally
unpleasant episode with Adam and her family, and then her mother’s illness. 
Nope, she’d learned a lot in a very short time and now she was in control of her
own destiny - in a totally civilized way.

However, to be perfectly truthful,
if she’d known that Adam lived in Peeron, was born and bred there and had
returned, she wouldn’t have gone near the town if her life had depended on it,
but by the time she’d realised it was too late.  She’d made commitments, and one
of the things she’d learned was to stand by her commitments.

Besides, she assured herself,
studying the section of the aisle containing cat food, Adam meant nothing to
her, the past was the past, and all she had to do was avoid him until it was
time to go home.  It wasn’t as though he’d seek her out, and she sure as hell
wasn’t intending to seek
him
out.

Taking a deep breath, she squared
her shoulders with renewed determination and focussed on the cat food.  Fred
and Barney had particular tastes in their food and woe betide if she didn’t
serve up what they wanted.  The two cats knew how to run a guilt trip.  More
than once they’d had her grovelling and apologising as they’d surveyed the
expensive new brand of cat food with disdainful expressions.  They knew what
they wanted, and so did she.