Ready To Burn (Due South Book 3) (20 page)

Jesus
. Growing up, he’d been in awe of Ben. His brother’s mate had no problem getting girls. During summer, Ben would go through the holiday-makers’ teenage daughters like a kid in a candy store—pretty girls loved the whole brooding, Heathcliff thing. He hadn’t been surprised over the years to hear Ben never settled down. But Ben with an eight-year-old daughter and taking on a widow and her little girl with gooey-eyed glee?

That was a kicker.

“She’s a nice lady. Congrats, again.”

West and the guys ribbed the hell out of Ben about his fiancée, but there were too many years spent away from his childhood friends for Del to do the same. The distance became acute whenever the conversation switched from easy subjects like fishing, rugby and poker, to topics like relationships. He was a brief interloper, gone a day or so after West’s wedding. Not one of their inner circle of mates.

“You ever get married?”

Del shifted on the chair. “Nope. Not many women are willing to marry a man who works crazy late hours, six, sometimes seven days a week.”

He’d come home more than once to find the woman who’d moved herself into his apartment had moved out again a few weeks later, leaving a shitty note stuck to his fridge—the only way to be sure he’d notice her absence.

“Never got close?”

Del slanted Ben a glance.

Ben raised his brows as if to say, “
What
?”

While he should’ve ignored the question, Del found himself answering. “I was engaged once.”

A silent brain-snicker—look at him, male bonding with the groomsman.

“What happened? She figure out you were too high maintenance?”

“No, Dr. Phil. More a case of cold feet.” Because he and Jessica had been toxic together—he just hadn’t seen it at first.

Ben cracked his mouth open in a huge yawn. “Means you hadn’t found your perfect match then.”

A cold slick washed down Del’s spine. What was it with the Harlands and their perfect? Something wrong with fucked-up-but-trying-to-be-a-better?

Del stood. “I’m going to check on West.”

Ben slid his phone out of his pocket and stared at the screen. “Tell him to hurry up, I’m starving.”

***

Thirty minutes later, Del found himself in an Italian bistro, surrounded by potted plants and a hideous mural of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Why couldn’t he sit next to the petite Kezia instead of being squashed between a wall and Ben? The big guy elbowed him in the ribs every time Del took a mouthful of mediocre zucchini
tagliatelle.

He checked his last text message again.

Stumbling in on Shaye had almost made him forget the other purpose of this trip. A purpose he suspected would put him on West’s shit-list for a while.

Del cleared his throat in a natural conversation lull. “Ah, West?”

West, on the opposite side of the booth, sandwiched between Shaye and Piper, looked up from his
rigatoni
.

“After lunch, I need to head out to the airport.”

West chewed slowly. “Who’ve you got arriving? Someone from Ethan’s crew scouting in advance?”

Del’s fingers clenched around his knife and fork. “No, it’s Carly. She’s flying in from LA.”

“Carly?” West said the name as if Del had announced a Vegas stripper wearing star-shaped pasties was on the flight.

“Our sister, remember?”

West straightened out of his relaxed slump. “Your sister, mate. Not mine.”

Ben stiffened next to Del. Piper gave her fiancé a withering glance and shoulder-checked him.

“She wants to meet you, West. And Piper.” Del’s gut tightened, remembering the “
Surprise! I’m in Auckland International Airport
” phone call he’d received this morning.

While he and Carly used to be tight, Lionel dying had driven a wedge between them. She wanted to cling and talk, and he needed to work—and party to forget. He’d inadvertently hurt her more by pushing her away.

But for some weird reason, she loved him and wouldn’t let him do that. Carly refused to give up their sibling bond, regularly showing up uninvited on his doorstep at 6:00 a.m. to drag him out of bed for a run, hangover or no hangover. Like hell would he turn her away now, when the catch in her voice over the phone told him she needed him.

“Aw,” said Piper. “She’s come all this way to meet the rest of her family.”

West dropped his fork. “We’re not related.”

A point West made all those years ago when they’d hung out in LA. West refused to make the forty-minute drive with Del to Long Beach to visit their mother and Lionel. And Carly—who’d pretended she didn’t give a shit, but was really crushed.

“She’s got no one else,” Del said. “With her dad gone and her grandparents dead, there’s only a few scattered elderly relatives left.”

West gave him a
how is this is my problem
look.

How long could his brother hold onto leftover bitterness?
About as long as you can, good buddy
, hissed a little voice in his ear. Tossing the thought into his fuck-it bucket, Del met West’s gaze square on.

“Don’t be a douche, darling.” Piper slid her arm around West’s waist and leaned her chin on his shoulder. “Carly had no say in what her dad and your mum did. Cut her a break.”

West sighed and pressed a kiss onto Piper’s short brown hair. “Where’s she staying then?”

“Bunking down in Claire’s room. Says she’ll help out, so Mom doesn’t get overwhelmed now Bill needs more care.”

“Nice of her,” West said stiffly.

“She’s a nice person.”

West grunted. “Piper and I have a few more wedding things to do around town before we head back to The Mollymawk. You take the car and pick her up.”

Del kept his mouth shut. Hopefully, Piper would smooth out some of West’s rougher edges before the trip to Oban. “Sure. Anyone else want to come for a ride?”

Kezia apologized and said she had school supplies to purchase, and Ben shrugged his beefy shoulders.

“I’ll come,” Shaye said. “She’s about my age, isn’t she?”

Del nodded.

“Another stray to add to your collection?” West said, stuffing a forkful of
rigatoni
in his mouth.

Shaye poked out her tongue. “Shut it, Westlake.”

Conversation resumed, the awkward drama ending…for now. Even if she was stray collecting, a ribbon of warmth coiled through Del at Shaye’s offer to accompany him to the airport. He swallowed a large gulp of water then crunched an ice cube between his teeth.

Don’t get sappy now
, the little voice in his ear warned.

Getting sappy over Shaye Harland came with a guarantee of disappointment and disaster.

***

Riding in cramped quarters with the guy who’d had a hand on your boob only hours ago was awkward, to say the least. Shaye ran through her entire repertoire of small talk during the short trip to Invercargill airport, terrified Del would raise the whole
so, you’re a D-cup gal
topic. Fortunately, fiddling with dashboard knobs and buttons at every red light and stop sign kept him busy.

They found seats across from the arrival doors in the airport and sank into them. The moment they sat, Del’s knee started bouncing.

“Aren’t you happy about Carly flying in?” Shaye folded her arms to avoid the temptation to lay a soothing hand on his restless leg.

The bouncing immediately ceased.

“I am.” He shot her a sideways glance. “I’m just hoping West won’t continue the asshole ice treatment act after Carly gets here. He’s hurt her before.”

Ah. Piper had been on the receiving end of West’s freeze-‘em-out-behavior earlier in the year. Having worked with him for so long, Shaye knew the frosty outer shell he donned on occasion was his way of protecting himself.

“West’ll come around. He’s softened up a bit with your mum, hasn’t he?”

Del blew out a breath. “I guess you’re right.”

Shaye reached over and squeezed his hand. “Get used to it, Hollywood. I’m always right.”

A glimmer of affection flickered in his gaze, and he smiled, a panty-incinerating grin that flamed through her like Tabasco sauce, pooling low in her belly, firing her up. Again.

She so didn’t need this moments before meeting Del’s sister.

Shaye pulled her hand back and turned toward the now pinned-open arrival doors. People spilled through in haphazard dribs and drabs, and she scanned the female passengers for a feminine version of Del. She caught herself with a mental chuckle—Carly Gatlin wouldn’t look anything like the Westlake brothers.

“There she is.” Del stood, raising a hand in the air. “Carly!” he yelled.

Shaye followed the direction of his gaze to a woman dressed in khaki Capri pants and a slouchy, tie-dyed tee. Carly’s face broke into a huge smile that almost touched the cascading waves of the prettiest auburn hair Shaye had ever seen.

Hoisting an enormous tote bag onto her shoulder, Carly crossed to them, her smile never shifting when she registered Del wasn’t alone. She dumped her bag and wrapped her arms around him, balancing on her toes to give him a smacking kiss on the cheek.

Del pulled a face. “Jeez, Carly, quit it.” But laughter tinged his voice, and he didn’t struggle too hard to untangle himself. “Anyone would think we haven’t seen each other in years.”

“You love it.” Carly peeled herself off Del and turned to Shaye. “My rude brother hasn’t introduced us—”

Del threw up his hands. “I haven’t had time.”

“I’m Carly.
Pleasedtomeetcha
.”

Shaye stuck out her hand. “I’m Shaye, Piper’s younger sister.”

Carly ignored her outstretched hand and enfolded Shaye in a spearmint, apple, and floral-perfume scented embrace.

“I’m a hugger, and now that my big brother West is marrying your sister, we’re practically family.”

Shaye hugged Carly in return, grinning at Del over her shoulder. “We practically are.”

Del rolled his eyes and snagged the handles of Carly’s giant bag. “If you’re going to start singing
We are Family
, you can walk to Invercargill. We should collect your suitcase.”

Carly let go of Shaye and stepped back. “Suitcase-es.” She snatched her bag from Del. “Plural.”

The three of them walked to the baggage claim. After Del pulled two big red suitcases and one smaller one off the conveyor belt, he said to Carly, “Why in God’s name do you need three suitcases? Aside from the obvious fact you’ve no concept of the term
pack light
.”

Carly turned away from him, her stunning, light brown eyes downcast. In the short time they’d been chatting while waiting for her bags, her smile had never slipped and her eyes hadn’t stopped sparkling with excitement.

Carly extended the handle on the smaller suitcase and straightened her spine. “I’m going to stay a while.”

“How long’s a while?” said Del.

“I told you this morning, I’ve come to help Mom and your dad.”

“Bill.” Del yanked up the other two suitcase’s handles. “And I still don’t get why, when you don’t even know the man.” He shot his sister another glance. “Don’t say because he’s family.”

Carly lifted a slim shoulder in reply.

“So, how long? A couple of weeks? Three?”

“Wanting to get rid of me already?” She turned her head to Shaye as they rolled the suitcases toward the exit. “My brother,
so
rude—but I guess you already know, since you’re working with him.”

Shaye made a non-committal noise.

“What about your job?” he said. “You can’t just take off.”

Carly stopped, dead center of the airport, ignoring the flow of people swirling around them. “I quit.”

Del’s eyes popped. “You fucking what?”

Now people gave their trio a wide berth. Shaye swallowed a grin. Kinda enjoyable, seeing Del thrown off balance by his little sister.

“Oh, stop with the drama queen act. It’s not all about work, work, work, Del! I can get another job.”

“You’re twenty-five, not a teenager. Flight attendant jobs don’t just drop into your lap.”

Oh, crap. What did they say about redheads? Fireworks eminent…

“So, I’ll do something else.” Instead of smacking Del upside the head with her over-sized handbag, Carly cocked her hip and didn’t even raise her voice. “I’ll get a job where I don’t get barfed on or verbally abused. A job where I don’t have to miss my friends and family because of screwy schedules. And Mom’s been in Oban for months, and now you’re there, too.” Her breathing hitched, and her eyes teared up. “I miss Dad and Mom and you so much. I’m freakin’
sick
of being alone.”

Shaye’s eyes stung in sympathy. Yeah, okay, sue her. She did have a thing for strays.

Del pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed out a sigh. “Shit, Carly.” Then he let go of the suitcases and reeled her in for a bear hug.