Call On Me (4 page)

Picking up the
book lying on the bedside table, Ali settled down to read. It was
well past midnight when she finally put the book down and turned
off the bedside lamp. Tomorrow was another day, and even if she
didn’t have a hero to look forward to she did have a ghost hunt to
intrigue her. An evening spent with Ghost never failed to bring her
spirits up. She truly didn’t know what she’d do without her old
friend, die of boredom, probably.

She was awoken
just after dawn by the feel of Minx jumping down off the bed.
Coming up onto one elbow, she pushed her hair back off her face and
peered blearily at the clock. Six thirty in the morning, which
meant that Lori was home. Rolling over in the bed, she watched the
doorway. Sure enough, her sister passed the doorway with Minx in
her arms. Glancing in, she saw that Ali was awake and stopped.

“Hey,” Ali
said.

“Hey.” Lori
walked into the bedroom. “How was your date last night?”

“Let’s not go
there.”

“Ah.”

“Okay, let’s.”
Ali sat up in the bed. “Here’s the rundown. Jerk, left on roadside,
jerk, saved by Ghost, cup of tea, home. And Brian’s a jerk. Did I
mention that?”

Lori’s eyes
widened. “That’s dangerous.”

“Oh, I don’t
know. Tommy makes a safe cup of tea.”

“I mean Brian
leaving you on the side of the road alone.”

“Actually…” Ali
cleared her throat. “I got out myself.”

“Ali!”

Ali scowled.
“Hey, I wasn’t going to stay in the same car as him, especially
after he wanted me to show him my chubby thighs.”

“He said
that?”

“I was his
first ‘chubby bubby’ to screw, apparently.”

Lori pulled a
sympathetic face.

“So I left
him.” Folding her arms, Ali nodded decisively. “No second
chances.”

“I’m
sorry.”

“Ah well.” Ali
shrugged. “Better to find out what a jerk he is now rather than
later.”

“Still, he
seemed so nice.”

Ali shrugged
again.

“Are you all
right?”

“Fine.” Ali
smiled. “In fact, I have a date tonight.”

Surprised, Lori
raised her eyebrows.

“Ghost and I
are going ghost hunting.”

Lori smiled.
“Where to this time?”

“Screaming
Pond.”

“I’ve heard of
that.”

“You have?”

“Yes. Ghost
told me about it yesterday.”

“Really? How
come he didn’t tell me?”

“You were at
work.”

“Oh.”

Lori yawned.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. I’m going for a shower and then I’m
hitting the bed.”

“Quiet
night?”

“Same old, same
old.”

“So a certain
ambulance didn’t pull in for refuelling?”

Lori blushed.
“No.”

Ali grinned.
“What a shame.”

“Stop it.”

“Come on, he’s
cute. Even I’ve noticed that.”

“So you date
him.”

“Doesn’t do a
thing for me.”

“But Brian
did?” Lori shot back.

“I dumped his
arse.”

Shaking her
head, Lori backed through the doorway. “I am not doing this.”

“Aw, come on.
It’s so much more fun than discussing my failed romances.”

“For you it’s
fun, for me…”

“What?”

Lori
disappeared from view, her voice floating back. “I’m tired and I
don’t want to talk about it.”

Lying back
against the pillow, Ali sighed. If romance seemed far away for her,
then for Lori she wondered if it would ever happen. Maybe they’d
end up two spinster sisters still living in the same house years
from now. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, except Ali wanted a
husband, a home of her own, the fun and companionship of someone
who loved her and understood her, who could laugh with her and
share life’s ups and downs.

Going by her
dates, that wasn’t going to happen for a long time, if ever.

With another
sigh, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her head in the
pillow. That was a problem for another day.

The next time
she awoke, the sun was streaming through the bedroom window and a
glance at the clock showed it was past ten in the morning. Throwing
back the covers, she got up and staggered across the hallway to the
bathroom before returning to get dressed and go to the kitchen.

Minx appeared
briefly as Ali waited for the kettle to heat. Getting a bowl of
mince from the ‘fridge, Ali served her up a saucer full along with
a bowl of cat milk. Pouring a cup of coffee, she watched fondly as
Minx ate, following her to the back door when she’d finished.
Opening the door, she stepped onto the veranda, breathing deeply of
the smell of freshly mowed lawn. Some neighbour had been
industrious.

Minx walked
stiffly down the step onto the back lawn, stopping to sniff the air
before daintily making her way to the flowerbed.

Leaning against
the veranda post, Ali studied the backyard. The flowerbeds were due
to be weeded, the lawn needing mowing, and the tree needed
trimming. It was a testament to the fact that Ali and Lori needed
to do one of their garden attacks, get everything done at once as
they usually did. While she hated the actual gardening, Ali enjoyed
the rewards their hard toil reaped.

Lucky Ghost,
however, was able to afford a gardener. He watered his own gardens,
which wasn’t hard to do considering everything was on automatic
timers, and his gardener came in once a month to weed and clip and
do whatever was needed. Ghost just sat back and enjoyed the
yard.

Granted, he
worked hard. She’d seen his lights on all hours of the night and
knew he’d be pecking faithfully away at his computer, churning out
books to thrill and chill his growing legions of fans. When it came
to his writing, Ghost was dedicated. She guessed it took dedication
for any writer to become famous and remain that way.

She looked up
at his bedroom window. Two years ago he’d added another story to
his single story house consisting of a large bedroom with an
ensuite and a large writing room containing his computer, desk,
books and whatever else a writer required.

She found
herself wondering if Linda had seen his bedroom. Probably had, and
no doubt along with a number of women he’d dated. Ghost wasn’t
celibate, of that she knew. One night she’d heard some rather
robust, lustful sounds coming from his house. Interestingly enough,
it hadn’t come from his top bedroom but from his kitchen. It
boggled the mind just what her blonde friend had done to a woman in
his kitchen. Unlike his books, which would have had her murdered,
terrorized, or scared stiff, the reality was that he’d made his
date scream in lustful, abandoned delight.

Ali wondered
what that would feel like. Scream a man’s name in passionate
abandonment. Somehow, she doubted she’d ever know.

Minx chose that
moment to stiffly make her way back across the lawn, and placing
her cup on the floor, Ali stepped down into the yard to meet her.
Bending down, she gently picked the cat up, rubbing her nose
against the little bony head. Minx had lost some weight the last
year, though the vet had assured the sisters that Minx was healthy,
just old. She was already on medicine for her arthritis.

“Come on, old
girl,” Ali said softly. “Let’s get you inside and onto Lori’s bed.”
Turning, she went back into the house.

Minx purred as
Ali carried her through the house and into Lori’s room. Her sister
was buried under a pile of covers, only the top of her head
showing, her brown hair in a messy braid. Ali carefully placed Minx
down onto the mattress where she immediately padded up the bed to
curl up on the spare pillow. Comfortable and content, she blinked
her eyes at Ali and settled down to sleep.

Smiling, Ali
left the room, returning to the kitchen to eat a late breakfast and
contemplate her day. Studying the cupboards, she decided she needed
to do some food shopping, not to mention clothes shopping. Her wage
wasn’t that crash hot and she knew the local clothes shop,
ironically called
Petite?
by her weirdo friend, Clara, who
also owned it, was having a sale. She had a huge selection of
clothes for women of all sizes, including an awesome plus-sized
range. It said a lot for Clara that she was as thin as a
whippet.

After making a
list, Ali took the cash out of the communal jar she and Lori used
to put the food money into on their paydays. Leaving the house, she
got into her car and drove to the shops. At the local supermarket
she filled the shopping basket with everything written on the list,
off-loading it into the boot of the car before heading for
Petite?

She spotted
Clara holding a bunch of clothes and heading towards the change
rooms. “Hey.”

“Hi there,
you.” Clara didn’t stop her advancement to the change rooms.
“Looking for something in particular?”

“A couple of
tops.”

“There’s some
really nice ones towards the middle.”

Ali eyed the
middle racks dubiously. It was going to be a squash, by the look of
it. Women of all sizes were gathered around the clothes, searching
for things. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So she dived
right in. When it came to bargains, she could sniff out a lot.

Half an hour
later, she was standing at the counter holding five tops.

Clara took
them, nodding her approval. Her face, always gaunt, showed
amusement. “So, I heard Brain dumped you.”

Geez, that
rumour hadn’t taken long to get around. “Seriously? I only dated
him last night.” Ali leaned against the counter.

“Hey, small
town and all. You know what it’s like.” Clara folded a pale green
t-shirt with black lace around the neckline and slid it into a bag.
“But knowing you, I’m taking it that you dumped him?”

“Absolutely.
Dumped his arse.”

“Which is why
you ended up walking back into town.” Smiling, Clara folded a low
cut sapphire blue shirt.

“I got out of
his car. He didn’t kick me out. Let’s get that straight.” Ali
scowled. “He wanted something I wasn’t prepared to give him.”

“Your
virginity?”

“Bit late for
that.”

“I thought so.
So what else did he want?” Clara winked. “Apart from the
obvious.”

“The obvious
was exactly what he wanted. And insultingly so, too.”

“Bastard.”
Holding up a pale pink t-shirt with lacy black scrolls over it,
Clara raised her eyebrows. “Not your usual choice of colour,
Ali.”

“It’s for Lori.
You know how she is about shopping for clothes.”

“Hates it.
Don’t know why. I have some of the best clothes here for you
full-figured ladies and they’re not always expensive.”

Ali shrugged.
What Clara said was true, but it was an undeniable truth that Lori
was shy at the best of times and shopping for clothes was at the
top of her hate list. The only time she went was when Ali dragged
her along, or she got desperate because the clothes she had were
falling off her well-rounded rump in rags.

“That girl
needs to get a grip on herself.” Clara placed the last of the tops
in the bag. “She’s so pretty. Both of you are. You need to dress
like it.”

“Hey!” Ali
frowned. “I dress nicely.”

“Okay, I meant
your sister more.”

“I dress nicely
all
the time.”

“Geez, get a
grip!” Clara rang up the price. “Stop being such a sensitive ninny
and give me a hundred bucks.”

Handing over
the money, Ali said, “I think I deserve more discount for your very
callous words concerning me.”

“I deserve more
money for putting up with you.” Clara tucked the receipt into the
bag. “So how is Lori these days? Haven’t seen her for awhile.”

“She’s on the
nightshift at the servo.”

“She’s such a
lovely lady, shame no one in this shit-hole town sees that. These
men don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

“What am I,
chopped liver?”

“You go and out
and look for what you want, Ali. Lori hides.”

Almost
immediately Ali straightened, her love for her sister bringing out
her instinctive protectiveness. “Lori is shy, but she’s content
with her life.”

“What if you
find someone? She’ll be left alone.”

“Sometimes what
one person sees as a problem, another person will see as
perfect.”

Clara studied
her before nodding, her expression softening. “You’re right. I’m
sorry. It’s just Lori is so sweet.”

Ali relaxed.
“Yeah, she is. But she’s fine, don’t worry.”

“Okay.” Clara
glanced behind Ali. “Another customer coming. How about we go for a
cuppa and a bite to eat next Friday night? Been awhile since we did
that.”

“Sure thing.”
Picking up the bag, Ali nodded her thanks and left the shop.

Stowing the bag
in the back seat, she started the car and drove home. She knew what
people thought about her sister – sweet, shy Lori, bound to be a
spinster for eternity – but they didn’t know her as well as Ali
did, her sister was content with her quiet life.

There was only
one thing that rippled her sister’s calm surface, and it was one
that Ali teased her about but wasn’t sure if it was serious. Lori
could keep secrets with the best of them, but Ali never pushed her.
When Lori was ready to share, she’d share. And that might mean
never, which Ali accepted.

Packing away
the groceries, she spent the rest of the day doing household chores
before spending some time curled up on the sofa with a book. By the
time she roused herself to cook dinner, Lori was making her
bleary-eyed way towards the bathroom.

“Nice look,”
Ali commented. “Back from the dead kind of look.”

Without
answering, Lori staggered into the bathroom.

Laughing, Ali
went into the kitchen to start cooking. By the time Lori appeared
in the kitchen with Minx dogging her footsteps, her sister was
looking a lot more awake.