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Before he could head back inside, Mikayla came out. “Leah’s just packing another bag.” She chucked the first bag Leah had packed the night before in the back of Callum’s truck. It was soaked through. “Power back on at Mum and Dad’s?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. I’m gonna head there now, have a cuppa with Leah.”
“Are you now?”
“I sure am.” She grinned at him impishly. He knew exactly what she was up to. She was after all the gossip she could get. “So, ah, riding to the rescue last night, were you?” She asked, resting her elbow on the side of his truck, her brown eyes sparkling. She looked for all the world like she was going to stay there all day.
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Hm, well, some shit went down here last night, obviously. Then you turn up this morning. Together. With Leah wearing your jumper,” she needled.
He shrugged. “As soon as the power went out, I knew it’d be out here, too. So I came over. Just didn’t want her sitting in the dark by herself.”
“Very noble of you.”
“Leave it alone, would you.”
“I certainly will not,” she replied, completely unrepentant. “I love it. I’ve been shipping you guys for months.”
“It’s hardly a relationship, Mik. It was just one kiss.” As soon as he said it, he knew he’d made a grave mistake. She was definitely not going to let it go now.
Mikayla’s eyes lit with glee. “No way! You KISSED her? Tell me everything!”
“No.”
“Spoil sport. You totally know I’m just gonna ask Leah.”
Callum heaved a sigh. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“You love me.”
“That’s beside the point.” Leah and Rafe came out of the house just then, saving Callum from having to continue the conversation. He took Leah’s bag and stowed it in the back seat. “All set?”
“Yep.”
Mikayla turned to Leah. “Great, let’s hit the road. We’re having a cuppa.”
“Oh, lovely.”
Callum ignored the triumphant look Mikayla shot him. As he got in the driver’s seat with Leah beside him, he knew the next few days were going to be torture for him. Leah would be right there, sleeping just feet away from him. In his old bed, no less. He gunned the engine as it occurred to him that he wasn’t sure he should be cursing or blessing his sister.
CHAPTER FIVE
With Callum and Rafe heading up to the lighthouse to check on things there after the storm, it was left to Mikayla to settle Leah in at Nora and John’s. Leah felt more than a little strange as she followed Mikayla up the stairs. She would be sleeping in Callum’s room. In his bed. And okay, of course he hadn’t slept in it himself for years, most likely. But still.
Mikayla opened the door with a flourish. “Hotel Sinclair is happy to welcome you.” She stepped aside, a huge grin on her face as Leah moved through the doorway.
“Thank you.”
Mikayla followed right behind, flopping down on the bed and gazing at the ceiling. “I was so jealous when he got this bed. Dad said it was because you couldn’t ask a boy over six feet tall to sleep in a single bed. He was sixteen and oh boy, did he rub it in.” She smiled at the memory.
Leah smiled back, looking around the room with curiosity. A computer desk lined one wall with a tall bookcase next to it. A Sydney Swans premiership flag was pinned to the wall above the queen-sized bed, which was covered in a dark blue bedspread. There was a shelf with some junior football trophies on it and some photo frames. Under that, a record player on a stand, with a large collection of vinyl records on its lower shelf. Her fingers were itching to snoop, to pull out all the records and find out exactly what had fired up Callum’s teenage love of music. She felt Mikayla’s eyes on her and turned to look at her, lying on her side on the bed, her head resting in her hand. “Tell me everything, Kaplan.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she teased. She could take a fair guess at what Mikayla had been thinking when she’d seen her wearing Callum’s sweater and no pants.
“Bullshit! Callum told me he kissed you.”
