Anybody But Him (2 page)

‘Have you seen them yet?'

‘I saw them last night when I arrived and they seemed fine.' Nicola sighed. ‘Then today, they locked themselves out of the house.'

‘Oh, no.'

‘And Dad was lining up the whole street's wheelie bins.'

Lainey gave her a sympathetic look. ‘They always were … colourful.'

In their younger days Nicola's parents' eccentricities had been embarrassing, and it hadn't helped that they were so much older than their friends' parents since they'd waited till their forties to have children, but now …

‘I think Una's right about them deteriorating.'

‘Oh, really? I'm so sorry.' Lainey sipped her coffee, then glanced at the kitchen clock. ‘I have to collect Rosie from school soon. I can drop you home on the way if you want to wait while I take this stuff off,' she said, gesturing at her legs, ‘and put some clothes on. We'll have to catch up for longer than this one day soon, okay? It seems ages since Christmas, and emails just aren't the same.'

‘I'm counting on it. How else will I stay sane around here?'

When Lainey's car turned into East Road, Nicola spotted the Jack Russell that had caused her fall earlier. She couldn't
swear
to it being the same one, but what were the chances of two similar dogs running loose in a town the size of Redgum Valley? She twisted in her seat and saw the dog disappear through an open gate. ‘Stop the car. I want to have a word with the owner of that dog.'

‘What? Why?'

‘I'll explain later, but it's not going to be a friendly word.' She undid her seatbelt and opened the door. ‘I'll walk home from here. Thanks for the ride.'

‘Don't forget to email your CV to Corinne.'

‘I'll do it as soon as I get in.'

‘And let me know when you've had the interview.'

Nicola promised, then waved as Lainey did a three-point turn and drove off to collect her daughter. It was still incomprehensible to her that Lainey was a mother, even though she'd had twelve years to get used to the idea. They were both twenty-eight, but their lives were so different.

After she'd passed through the gate she made a point of shutting it behind her. If its owner had kept the gate closed, the dog wouldn't have been roaming around, causing havoc wherever it went, would it? Simple, really. Which meant she was probably going to find herself talking to someone who couldn't understand the fundamental relationship between cause and effect.

The front door stood open too. Honestly, did these people have no idea? Admittedly crime rates weren't what they were in the city, but still, basic security wasn't a difficult concept to grasp.

‘Hello?'

When there was no answer she called again and stepped inside. She glanced into the
rooms on either side of her– bedrooms – then walked down a central hallway. At the end, the house opened up into what had to be a recent extension. She'd had no idea from the traditional frontage that inside there would be a massive kitchen, with open-plan dining and seating areas, and in one corner, near the floor-to-ceiling windows, a large desk and computer. A man was sitting there, intent on a huge monitor. From the back, all she could see of him was his curly black hair.

‘Hello?'

Still no response, so she took a few more steps, and when she saw the white earphones, she moved to the side into his line of sight, catching his attention at last.

He took the earphones out. ‘Who are …?'

He stared at her, his eyes wide. Actually, they weren't just wide, they were a striking, intense blue and reminded her of something. Not the sea or the sky. Nothing so poetic.

A slow smile spread across his face. ‘
Nicki Doyle
?'

At the sound of his voice, recognition crawled up her spine, and not in a good way.

Him
. Bloody Blair Morrissey.

So that was what his eyes reminded her of. Her past.

He rolled his chair back from the desk and got to his feet. ‘You look a bit different, but it
is
you, isn't it?'

Pressing her lips together, she drew a long breath through her nose as she'd practised over the years. A
bit
different? She looked
nothing
like she had at high school. And he knew it. He'd taken delight in making her feel … less attractive than the other girls, less cool. Just less, damn him.

‘I had no idea this was your house,' she said, hoping that her tone conveyed
Or I wouldn't have set foot inside it.

‘Well, how could you? You live in Sydney, don't you?'

She frowned at him. ‘Who told you that?'

‘Must have picked it up somewhere around town. It wasn't a secret, was it?'

‘Of course not. I didn't think you'd manage to retain the information, that's all.'

‘Right.' He stopped in front of her, giving her an opportunity to see that he was taller than the last time she'd been this close to him. And more … muscular.

As the seconds ticked by, she realised he was waiting for her to explain her presence in his house. Fair enough, she supposed. ‘I came to complain about your dog.'

‘Dammit, what have you done?' He raised his voice and the Jack Russell appeared from nowhere, then sat at his feet looking up at his master with adoring eyes.

Obviously the dog had no idea what his master was really like.

When the dog didn't answer, Blair raised his eyes to meet hers. ‘What did he do?'

‘He could have killed me. He knocked me off my stepladder.'

One side of Blair's mouth twitched. ‘Oh, that's sad. Did you never know your real ladder?'

His mock-sympathetic tone made her do the nostril breathing thing again. It was a technique she'd learned to help her calm down. At the moment, though, it just made her feel like a bull preparing to charge. But more angry.

‘The point is, he shouldn't be running around out of control. Anything could have happened.'

He looked down at the dog again. ‘Dammit, you did a bad thing. You knocked this lady off her high hor—I mean, ladder.'

Nicola clenched her teeth while the dog's little tail polished a shiny circle on the wooden floor. He seemed to think he was being praised. Maybe he was on the same wavelength as his master.

‘I might have known I wouldn't get any sense out of you.'

‘No, sorry.' He shoved his hands in his pockets and pulled them out again, showing his empty palms. ‘All out of sense. Never did have any really.' He gave her a lop-sided smile. ‘Might have done things differently if I had.'

Not sure whether he was referring to the way he'd treated her at high school or something completely different – probably the latter – she tilted her head to one side. Annoyingly, the dog copied her.

‘Just control him, will you?'

He grimaced. ‘I don't think I can do that.'

‘Closing the gate, and maybe the front door, would be a start.'

‘But he likes to come and go.'

‘You're supposed to be the boss, not him.'

‘Are you kidding? Have you ever seen a dog carrying a bag of poo? No, it's us dumb humans who do that. Proof right there that dogs are superior, don't you think?'

She shook her head.

‘Anyway, I've tried the boss thing and failed. Nothing keeps him in. Why do you think he's called Dammit?'

‘That's his
name
?'

‘Yes, because the first week he was here I spent the whole time shouting, “
Dammit
, come back here.”'

‘Have you heard of obedience classes?'

‘Yes, and done them. We graduated top of the class. He's not daft, you know. As soon as we got home he disappeared. Once I gave up trying to make him stay home our relationship improved dramatically.'

Sounded like one of her ex-boyfriends. Huh, more than one. Nicola turned away. She was wasting her time here. There wasn't much to choose from between Blair and his dog
when it came down to it. Both were dumb brutes, but at least the dog had an excuse.

‘You're leaving already? You only just got here. Stay.'

She shot him a withering glance over her shoulder. ‘No wonder it didn't work on the dog.'

He grinned. ‘Will I see you around?'

‘I hope not.' She stalked outside, slammed the gate – at which she heard laughter from inside the house – and set off for her temporary home. Just as the long-promised rain started. Naturally. Because it wasn't enough that she had to come home to Redgum Valley,
and
come face to face with Blair Morrissey. Why not add rain into the mix?

The next day Nicola was woken by her phone. She hadn't set her alarm since she'd arrived back in Redgum Valley and her body clock seemed to have slowed down. Nine! In Sydney she'd have been at work for an hour by this time.

‘Hello.'

‘Nicola? It's Corinne Birchmoor. Lainey told you I'd be calling, I hope?'

‘Yes, yes. Hello.' She scrambled to get up. She couldn't do a job interview in bed, for cripes sake.

‘Thanks for your CV. Lainey explained that this job would only be a stop-gap for you, so I assume you're aware that in the normal run of things you'd be over-qualified for it?'

‘Yes, but that won't stop me doing it to the best of my ability.' Did that sound too smarmy?

‘I appreciate that, and in return, if you need some flexibility to allow you to care for your parents, I'm sure we can work around it.'

No need to try so hard. Corinne sounded pretty relaxed. She pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchen table. ‘That's great. They're not ill; they just do some odd things, and I can't really predict when I might need to get them out of trouble.'

‘I understand how difficult it must be for you. Do you have any questions about the
job? You could probably do it with your eyes closed – although, I'd prefer that you didn't. I'd have to field questions about that.'

Nicola laughed. An easygoing boss, especially one with a sense of humour, was just what she needed right now. ‘No, I don't think so. I can find out more about the company from Lainey.'

‘She probably knows more than anybody about what goes on. I have no idea how she knew there was a vacancy for a senior accountant before your predecessor had even left.'

Nicola decided she'd better not fill her in on the details. ‘Is there a human resources department I should contact?'

‘No, there isn't. We're not a very big company, certainly not in comparison with your previous workplace, but the advantage is that I can hire anybody I want.'

‘I see. Great.'

‘Would you be able to start next Monday? I'm in Sydney at a conference this week, but I'll be back in the office by then.'

Wow, that was easy. ‘Next Monday sounds great. Thank you.'

‘We can discuss terms then, if that suits you. I should head off, I'm running late for the morning session, but I wanted to call you first thing.'

‘Yes, of course. Thank you for calling, Ms Birchmoor.'

‘Corinne, please. I'm so glad you'll be joining us for a while. See you next week.'

Before Nicola could respond, the phone clicked off. She sat for a moment, absorbing the fact that she now had a job and it had happened without any effort on her part at all. She hadn't even had to answer any tough interview questions. She would get to keep her savings intact. Springing to her feet, she did a victory dance.

The sound of barking brought her to a standstill, head tilted, listening. It sounded like it was in Una's garden. She swivelled and went to investigate, but when she opened the back
door, she wished she hadn't. She stifled a groan. This close to Blair Morrissey was not where she wanted to be, especially as she was in her nightwear of camisole and boxer shorts and could only imagine how her hair must look.

She hid behind the door, even though it was too late and he'd already seen her. Besides, there was a glass panel in the door. ‘What are you doing here?'

He gave her a lazy smile and nodded at the box of vegetables balanced on one arm. ‘Delivering these.'

‘Why?'

‘They're for Una. We have an arrangement. Everything we grow, we split.' He looked past her into the kitchen. ‘Is she in?'

‘No, she's in Sydney.'

‘Oh?' His eyebrows rose. ‘When will she be back?'

‘In a few months.'

He gaped at her.

Good. She'd rendered him speechless for once.

‘I had no idea,' he said with a shake of his head.

‘Well, why would she tell you?'

Ignoring her question he said, ‘You're staying here till she gets back? So, what, it's like a house swap?'

‘Yes, and I'd be grateful if you'd refrain from using the back door while I'm living here.'

‘Who says
refrain
?'

‘I do, obviously.'

‘Hmm.' He glanced over his shoulder at the garden. ‘You'll be picking the vegetables, will you?'

‘I don't imagine I'll have the time for gardening.' Nor the inclination. She shrugged.

‘Look, if you don't intend to do it, let me pick them for you. You can't let them go to waste. Una's put in a lot of work to get the garden to this stage.'

She didn't want him coming around whenever he felt like it. But then she considered the garden, gazing at row after row of leafy growth, and wondered what Una would say if she let everything go to waste after her sister's hard work. Nicola sighed. She didn't have the first clue about gardening, but she couldn't bring herself to let the vegetables rot in the ground, and it wouldn't hurt to let him pick them as long as she didn't have to see him. Or his dog.

‘All right, but only if you do it while I'm at work.'

He hesitated. ‘When will that be?'

‘Business hours, Monday to Friday.'

‘I can do that,' he said slowly.

‘All right then.'

She started to shut the door, but he said, ‘Wait.'

‘What?'

‘Your vegetables.' He held the box out to her.

‘What am I supposed to do with them?'

‘Let's see … eat them?'

‘I mean, there're so many, and I'm on my own.'

‘Una doesn't have a problem using them all up.'

Frowning, she took the box from him and went to push the door with her hip. Before she made contact he whistled to the dog and as he jogged down the steps, said, ‘Dammit, you shouldn't have barked. Never seen anyone dance like that before.'

Her eyes closed. No doubt he knew that she'd heard his words. It was just like him to take any opportunity to humiliate her. Well, that did it. She
definitely
didn't want to see him
again for the duration of her stay. She shoved the door sharply and it slammed shut.