I nodded at Thaddeus. “Thanks for this.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome. You’re doing me a favour as well. Another one.”
I turned to find Tap wearing an irritating smirk as his gaze bounced between the two of us. I whispered, “Shut up,” and pushed him into the hallway and toward the front door. When he opened it, I gave him another shove onto the porch, slammed the door shut, and began pulling on my work boots.
Tap chuckled. “My, my, my. You’re in a hurry.”
I ignored him until we were heading down the path, away from the cottage. “What the hell was all that about?” I finally hissed. “You could stay the night, Thaddeus,” I whined mockingly. “We can give you a lift in the morning, Thaddeus.” I climbed into my ute and waited for Tap to join me.
“I didn’t say it like that,” he protested weakly, failing to hide his amusement.
I simply stared at him. “You are in so much fucking trouble.” I threw the ute into reverse, and we shot backwards. “Fuck!” Islammed on the brake, and we both lurched forward. Lucky for Tap, he smothered the laugh I’d heard bubbling in his throat.
“You know if you have something to say, you can just say it,” he said, keeping a straight face. “I do detect a teensy-weensy bit of hostility directed my way. God knows why.”
I levelled a threatening look at my best friend, the kind that would cower a lesser man, but all he did was smile. I narrowed my gaze. “Okey-dokey. You just earned yourself a day helping the plumber relocate the Cumberland’s sewage pipe.”
Tap blanched. “No! Damn you. It’s your turn. I did it at the Bower place.”
I threw him a shit-eating grin. “Yeah, but I’m the arsehole boss, remember? Suck it up, buttercup.” I threw the ute into drive, and the back tyres skidded in the mud before they gripped and we headed out. At the end of the driveway, I swung left onto Crighton Road but almost immediately pulled over.
“Holy shit.” I stared at the old Rover buried nose-first in my compost pile. “Now, there’s a sight you don’t see every day. I’d almost forgotten about it.”
“He’s lucky he walked away injury-free,” Tap observed.
I agreed. “But he sure made a mess. That’ll take me all Sunday to clean up.”
Tap looked at me sideways. “Maybe he could stay longer?”
I rolled my eyes slowly Tap’s way. “Stop it. The poor guy has had his heart broken.”
Tap shrugged. “He might appreciate the distraction.”
“No,” I said emphatically. “I’m not interested in being anyone’s distraction.”
“You’re not interested in being anyone’s anything at all,” Tap argued. “Come on, Ry, you gotta get back on the horse someday.”
“Maybe.” I grinned over at him, waggling my eyebrows. “But it is notthisday.”
Tap snorted and began reciting Aragorn’s battle speech word for word.
I laughed at his antics and hit the gas.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THADDEUS
The second thefront door closed, I slumped on the sofa, put my head in my hands, and groaned. What the hell was I thinking?I could... stay... if you like?
Ziggy pushed his nose between my chest and my arms, and a wet tongue licked at my chin. I jerked back and eyed him in mock horror. “That’s a little forward, don’t you think? We’ve barely been introduced.”
He rested his chin on my chest and looked at me with big, dark eyes.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake.” I kissed the top of his nose and he wriggled with delight. “Come on, lazybones. Let’s get this kitchen cleaned and set a load of laundry going, and then you can be my emotional-support canine while I call my mother.”
Ziggy frowned and dropped to his belly on the wooden floor.
I smiled and ran a finger over the dog’s worried brow. “Yeah. Rethinking all your life choices now, aren’t you? Should’ve gone with them while you had the chance.”
