Second Chance

Second Chance

By

Angela Verdenius

(Gully’s Fall series bk 6)

BBW
Romance

Copyright
2015 Angela Verdenius

All
Rights Reserved

Cover
images courtesy of ©
Cookelma
|
Dreamstime.com

Cover
by Angela Verdenius

ISBN: NGLVRD0000040

ebook Edition
License Notes

No
part of this book may be reproduced, resold, copied or given away in any form
without prior consent of the author & publisher.

All
characters and towns are figments of the author’s imagination and bear no
resemblance to any person living or deceased.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Glossary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

After Word

Bio

Other Books by this Author

Foreword

There are so many wonderful
services out there focussed on helping the elderly, the incapacitated, and
those recuperating from sickness and surgery, to remain at home. 

For the purposes of this story, I
have created a private service.  Most of the services provided, however, are based
on those services that are available in real life. 

For those people who work so hard
behind the scenes to help people stay at home when otherwise it would mean a
nursing home or other facility, or an extended stay in hospital, for those who
cook, clean, do meal prep, medication prompts, wellness checks, transport
clients to appointments, banks, shopping etc - you are so very special.

Glossary

I
found that some overseas readers were having difficulty with the Australian
slang, so I thought a list of the slang I’ve used will help while reading the
following story. If I’ve forgotten any, I do apologise! Also, you’ll find some
of our Aussie words have different spelling to the US. Interestingly enough, as
I’ve grown (gracefully) older, I find a lot of our slang is bypassing the
younger generation, so if a young Aussie says they have never heard a certain
word, don’t be surprised! But trust me, I’ve used these words all my life growing
up, and so have a lot of my family and friends. Does that make me an older
Aussie? Heck yes! LOL

Cheers,

Angela

Australian
Names/Terms/Slang

Ambos -
ambulance officers

Arvo
- afternoon

Barbie
- BBQ

Beaut
- beautiful, awesome,
great, wonderful

Berko
- berserk

Bewdy
- as in ‘awesome,
great’

Biccies
- biscuits. The
same as cookies

Bikie
- biker, person who
rides motorbikes.

Bloke/s
- man/men

Bloody
- a swear word ‘no
bloody good’, in place of ‘no damned good’

Boofhead
- idiot,
simpleton, etc. It’s an insult, though sometimes we use it as a term of
affection. It depends on how it is said and meant.

Boot (of a car)
- trunk

Brown nose
- currying
favour, sucking up. Has a cruder description, but let’s not go into that here.
Means the same thing!

Budgie smugglers
- men’s
bathers, small, brief and tight-fitting

Buggered
- many Aussie use
it as a slang word for ‘broken’ (it’s buggered), ‘tired (I’m buggered), and ‘no
way’ (I’m buggered if I’m going to do that). Just some examples

Bung/Bunging
- as in ‘bunging
onto something’, putting on something (bung veggies on a plate, putting veggies
on a plate), usually in a careless or ‘easy’ manner.

Cark/carked
- die, died.

Chips
- in Australia we have cold crunchy chips form a packet, or hot chips known in some countries as
French Fries

Crash cart
-
resuscitation trolley in a hospital or medical setting - used for life
threatening situations such as cardiac arrest

Daks
- pants

Dander
– temper

Dill
- silly, idiot

Dogs
- (as in attached to a
truck) - trailers, enclosed or not, that carry goods or are empty.

Doona
- like a padded quilt
that fits inside a cover and lies on the bed. Can have the warmth of two, three
or four blankets, etc.

Donger
- penis. Also
another meaning is a place people sometimes sleep in, such as ‘dongers’ on mine
sites.

Dunny
- toilet. When used
in the term ‘built like a brick dunny’, it refers to something built solid,
unmoveable.

Firies
- fire fighters

Garbo/s
- the person/s who
drive and/or load garbage onto the garbage truck.

Gee-gees
- horses

Giggle-box
- TV, television

Gob
- mouth

Got his/her/their goat
–
annoyed him/her/them

Hoon/s
- person/people who
indulge in antisocial behaviour. Great explanation in Wikipedia

Iced coffee/chocolate
- a
milk drink flavoured with chocolate or coffee

Jumper
- sweater

Local rag
- local newspaper

Lolly
- sweetie, candy

Loo
- toilet

Lug
- face

Milo
- chocolate malt
drink. Can have it hot or cold. Yummy!

Moosh
- slang for
face/mouth

Mobile phone
- cell phone

Mozzie
- mosquito

NAD
- No Abnormalities
Detected

Nong
- idiot

Nooky
- sex

Paddy wagon
- four wheel
drive police vehicle carries four police in the double cab and has a filled-in
imprisonment section in the back to place prisoners.

Panadol
- paracetamol,
similar to Tylenol in the US

Pav/s
- Pavlova/Pavlovas -
best dessert ever!

PCYC
- Police and Citizens
Youth Club

Pedal Pushers
- three
quarter pants/knickerbockers

Porking
- having sex

Primapore
- sticky patch
with a pad in it, a medical dressing

Pub
– hotel

Quack
– derogatory term for
a doctor

RAC
- Royal Automobile Club
of Western Australia. Covers insurance, holidays, loans, etc

Red backs -
poisonous
spider, black in colour with a red stripe on its back.

Rooting
- sex

Rotty
– Rottweiler breed of
dog.

Rubbers
– condoms

Sack
- bed - as ‘in the
sack’ meaning ‘in bed’

Servo
- service station

Shag
- sex

Sheila
– female

Slab
– carton of beer.

Snaggers
- sausages

Smoko
- morning tea and
afternoon tea break

Soft drink
- soda, fizzy
drink

Stiffy
- erection, boner

Tea
- some people call the
evening meal dinner. In my family, we’ve always called it tea, as in breaky,
dinner and tea, or breaky, lunch and tea.

Thongs
- worn on the feet,
same as ‘flip flops’

Tickled pink
- delighted

Tim Tams
- a brand of
Arnott’s Biscuits. Yummy!

TLC
- Tender Loving Care

Togs
- bathers, swim suit

Torch
- flashlight

Toot
- toilet

Tucker
– food

Twistie
– a brand of
cheese-flavoured snack food. Yummy!

Up the duff
- pregnant

Ute -
small truck

Vegemite
- most Aussies
find this spread yummy, many non-Aussies find it too salty. Here’s the hint -
if you ever have Vegemite, use it spread thinly, never thickly!

Vollie
- volunteers

Wacky baccy
-
marijuana

Wanger
- penis

Waterworks
- crying

Whopper
- a lie

Yamaha & Suzuki
-
‘brands’ of motorbikes.

You wally
- silly

Chapter 1

The loud crash came from the reception
area.

Holding the sheet of paper that
Elissa had just given to him, Grant looked towards the door of the consult
room.  “What the-”

Another crash, a scream, shouting,
and a whole lot of barking.

“Stop it!  Back! 
Heel!
”
came a frantic shout.

Was there a fight in his consult
room?  An accident?  What the hell…?

Grant bolted for the door, Elissa on
his heels.  Yanking it open, he stepped out into the reception area to find a
scene he’d rather not see in his reception.

Yvonne was frantically trying to
shield her dog with her body.  Her prize Golden Retriever bitch was quivering
with excitement and whimpering, her gaze on the dog straining to get at her.

Grant’s eyes shot to the other
dog.  Wonderful.  Mr Haddell’s Great Dane was yanking on his leash, eager eyes
fastened on the Golden Retriever, his tongue lolling out as he lunged.  Grant
would bet his bottom dollar that the bitch was on heat and the dog was intent
on having himself some afternoon delight.

“Tiny!  Stop!”  The woman holding
the Great Dane’s leash was straining to keep a good grip, hauling back as hard
as she could.  “Damn it, you over-sexed mongrel!  Heel!”

Tiny reared up, paws raking the
air before shooting forward, dragging the woman along.

The Golden Retriever, who went by
the name of Morganna, stood up, her tail wagging.

“No!  No no no!”  Yvonne held out
a hand to Tiny as if she could really stop him by that action alone.  “No!” 
Then she screamed,
“Help!”

“Good grief.” Elissa started
forward.

“Whoa.”  Grant hauled her back. 
“Leave this to me.”  Striding forward, he bellowed, “Quiet!”

Everyone froze, even Tiny.  Every head
swung towards him, relief on both Yvonne’s and the strange woman’s faces, sweet
obedience on Morganna’s, and befuddlement on Tiny’s.  Morganna wagged her tail
and Tiny’s attention snapped back to her.

“Not happening.”  Grant grabbed
the leash from the woman’s hands.  “Follow me.”  He strode into the consult
room dragging a reluctant Tiny behind him.  Turning to speak, he found nothing
but an empty doorway.  He looked down at the dog, Tiny looked back up at him.  “Stay,”
Grant ordered him sternly.

Obediently, Tiny sat, though his
gaze kept sliding longingly to the open door.

Stepping around him, Grant stuck
his head out the doorway to find the woman attempting to explain to an irate Yvonne,
while Elissa tried to smooth ruffled feathers.  Namely Yvonne’s ruffled
feathers.

Loudly, he cleared his throat. 
“Miss?”

All three women looked at him. 
Make that four, because Morganna gave him a sweet peek as well, which would
normally have melted his heart.  But he had to sort this fiasco out, so he ignored
Morganna and gestured to the woman.  “You, too.”

“Me too, what?” she queried.

“Follow me.”

“Oh, I thought you were talking to
Tiny.”  Smiling widely, she strode in his direction.

That smile caught his attention. 
There was something so beguiling about it, so familiar.  As he stepped back to
allow her to pass him, she looked up at him, that smile widening, bright jade
green eyes sparkling with humour.

Damn, so very familiar
. 
Had he met her before? No, he was sure he’d remember…

“You idiot, Tiny.”  The woman
stroked the Great Dane’s head.  “That female is out of your league.”

Grant closed the door.

“And so is her dog.”

He almost choked.  Had she really
just…?

Straightening, the woman flashed
him another big smile.  “So, hi.”

“Hi.”  Gathering his wits, which
normally didn’t desert him, Grant looked down at Tiny.  “What are you doing
with him?”

“Trying to stop him shagging that
cute bitch out there.”

Now he did choke.  Coughing, he
stepped back.

“I tell you, when he spotted those
big brown eyes he went gonzo.  Never seen a dog do that before.  A man, yes,
but a dog?  No.”

Recovering his breath, Grant moved
behind the consult table.  “The dog, Miss…?”

“Tam,” she replied.  “Just call me
Tam.”

“Tam.”  Huh, that sounded
familiar, too.

“And you obviously already know
Tiny.”  She looked down at the dog.

He took the opportunity to study
her.  A wealth of thick brown/gold hair was piled up on her head in some kind of
loose, messy bun, several gold strands of hair curling down to brush apple
cheeks.  Jade green eyes that sparkled with humour, soft pink lips that smiled
so readily, a determined little chin.  She was no slim little nymph, not with
all those generous curves.  Her blouse strained across a pair of rounded
breasts that were way more than a handful, a wide belt encircled a surprisingly
smaller waist, and the flowered skirt skimmed down over lush hips.

Tam patted the dog’s head fondly,
giving Grant a glimpse of pale pink nail polish, several rings, and a neat
little gold-banded wrist-watch.  When she bent forwards, he got a good eyeful
down the front of her blouse, which was unbuttoned just the right amount to
allow a peek at the beginnings of the generous globes.  That was also nice. 
Very nice.

Not professional to look.  But
nice.

“Up here.”

Startled, Grant’s gaze shot
upwards.  Seeing the amusement in those bright eyes, a blush rose in his
cheeks.  Shit, he’d been caught staring.  No, admiring.  Just admiring that
lush figure.  Okay, those big breasts.  “Sorry, my thoughts were elsewhere.” 
Admit
nothing.  Cripes, what is wrong with me?

“You haven’t changed,” she said.

“What?”  Confused, he frowned. 
“Have we met?”

For several long seconds she studied
him before flashing a small smile.  “I’m here about Tiny.”

“Tiny?”

“The dog.”

Giving himself a mental head slap
- the woman must think he was a right drongo - Grant folded his arms while transferring
his attention to Tiny, who was looking happily up at Tam.  “What are you doing
with Mr Haddell’s dog?”

“He’s due his vaccination.” 
Fishing in the small bag that was slung over her shoulder, Tam brought forth a
card and placed it on the table.  “Your reminder.  Remember?”  Her eyes danced
with merriment.

“Cute.”  That merriment was so
infectious he couldn’t help but return the smile.  If he could just figure out
why she was so familiar, not to forget that she’d said something about he
hadn’t changed.  “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Crikey Moses, you really don’t
remember me, Grant, do you?”

He studied her face. 
So damned
familiar.  But
… “I have to admit, I don’t.”

Bracing both hands on the consult
table, she leaned forward a little, looking up at him with that seemingly
constant smile hovering around her lips.  “Give it a few seconds, it’ll come to
you.”  When he just continued to study her in bewilderment, she added, “Or a
couple of minutes.”

How humiliating.

“Maybe an hour or two.”

Trying to think of a way to let
her down gently - poor thing must have confused him with someone else - Grant
managed lamely, “Look, I’m sorry, but I really don’t remember you.”

“Always had your head stuck in a
book, the world going right by your nose without you having a clue.”

“I met you at uni?”  Surely he’d
remember that.

“Try again.”

“High school?”

“Bit further back.”

“Kindergarten?”  Cripes, she
remembered him from
kindergarten
?

“Forward a bit.”

This was getting ridiculous. 
“Look, Miss-”

“Tam.”  That happy gaze twinkled. 
“Tamara Banner.”

Tamara Banner.  Yeah, that was
ringing a bell in the distant past.  Rubbing his jaw, Grant tilted his head as
he studied her anew.

“Would it help if I reminded you
that you wore blue undies with a soccer ball print all over them?” she
suggested.

Blue undies?  Soccer balls?  The
ringing bell was getting louder.

Tam laughed a sudden, soft,
throaty laugh that skittered warmly up his spine, spiking his interest, making
his gaze drop to those lush lips.  “Come on, Grant.  How could you forget the
girl who yanked your pants down?”

That warm skitter was dashed by a
cold swamp.

Shit a brick!
 
Tamara
Banner.  Tam
.  The terror of his year four class at school.  It flashed
through his mind like it was just yesterday.

There he’d been, minding his own
business as usual, head in a book, when along came someone behind him, little
fingers had hooked into his shorts waistband and next thing he knew his pants
were around his ankles and his blue undies covered in orange soccer balls was
glaringly evident for all the school kids to laugh and point at.  One of the
most humiliating times of his young life.

Also the reason he was nicknamed
‘Little Balls’ by the older kids, the nickname that had haunted him through
that whole year until his parents had shifted to another town, thereby ending
that bloody nickname.

Tamara Banner, terror of the year
four class.

Looking at those sparkling eyes,
that golden/brown hair, those apple cheeks, complete recognition came flooding
back.  Okay, that wealth of hair had been confined in a long plait, but now he
could see the little terror in this pretty, grown-up face.

“Tam.”  He had the sudden insane
desire to grab hold of the waistband of his pants before commonsense prevailed. 
Instead, he smiled coolly.  “Well, small world.”

“Isn’t it?”  She beamed at him.

Maybe too small
.  “Visiting?”

“At the moment.  I might make it
permanent.”

“Really?”  He wasn’t sure what to
think about that.  How much had she changed?  If at all?

“Yep.”

“Huh.”

“We should catch-up with each
other.”

Definitely not sure how he felt
about that.  “Mmmm.”  Seeking to divert the topic, he transferred his gaze to
the dog.  “So how did you end up with Tiny?”  When she didn’t answer, he
glanced up.

Her gaze intensified, locking onto
his as though searching his very soul.  A full five seconds passed before she
eased back from leaning on the consult table, the warmth in her eyes and the
happy smile dimming.

Now he felt like a heel, guilt
snaking through him, but before he could attempt to make amends Tam spoke
briskly.  “I brought him in today because Mr Haddell is still recovering from
twisting his ankle.  He said you’d know what Tiny needed.”

“Tam, I-”

“You do know, right?”

“Well, of course-”

“Lovely.  I know we’ve taken up
enough of your time already.”

Now he felt lower than a heel. 
“No, really, it’s no-”

“Oh, here’s your nurse.”  Tam
smiled at Tish as she entered.  “You both know Tiny so much more than I do, how
about I just go wait in reception and you can bring him out to me when you’re
done?  Lovely.  Thanks so much.”

Grant could only watch
open-mouthed as Tam turned and left the consult room.  He half expected the
door to slam behind her, instead it shut quietly.

He’d have preferred it if she’d
slammed it, then he would have been able to get his annoyance back up.  Surely
he wasn’t feeling annoyed about what had happened years ago, even if it had
made his year four at school a misery?  It sure beat the guilt he was feeling. 
Man, he felt like shit.  Seeing those sparkling eyes dim, the happiness fade
from her smile…
ah crap
.

“Who’s that?”  Tish stroked Tiny’s
head.

“Tam.”  Picking up the
stethoscope, Grant knelt down beside Tiny, dodging the long, wet, pink tongue
that immediately slobbered out aiming for his cheek.

“Oh yeah, I heard that Maree’s
niece was staying with her.”  Tish gently but firmly cupped Tiny’s jaw,
preventing him from giving Grant a sloppy tongue bath.

“Really?”  Placing the ends in his
ears, Grant placed the stethoscope against Tiny’s chest, listening to the
steady heartbeat.

No sooner had he removed the stethoscope
than Tish continued.  “Yep.  Not sure for how long, but she’s got work here
already.”

She had work here?  That sounded
kind of permanent.  He checked the dog’s teeth, assessed the gums.

“Probably why she has Tiny,” Tish
continued.

Straightening, Grant raised one
eyebrow in silent question.

“Tam’s working for her Aunt.”

“I don’t get it.”  Grant felt
along Tiny’s abdomen, searching for any suspicious lumps or bumps.

Tiny responded by wagging his
tail.

“You know, doing home cleaning for
the elderly and incapacitated, shopping, walking dogs, pretty much anything.”

Tam terrorising the elderly and
sick.  No sooner had the thought flashed through his mind than he frowned.  She
was an adult, well past that kind of thing.  He hoped. Besides, he knew Maree
Banner, no way would she allow anything like that to happen to her clients.

Which brought him back to Tam.

No, it brought him back to
Tiny
. 
Grant forced his attention on the dog, but he couldn’t help but be aware that
Tam was sitting in his waiting room.

Hurt.  Because he’d hurt her. 
Because of some stupid childhood memory that had suddenly reared its head when
faced with her.  Apparently that memory still rankled.  Who’d have thought it?

Damn, he really needed to
apologise.

Automatically he went through the
dog’s well-being check, his professional side noting everything while part of
his brain puzzled over the unexpected events.

It wasn’t as though they’d ever
been close, it wasn’t like he should kiss her cute apple cheek and embrace her,
declaring himself happy to see her.  She was from his past, his childhood, nothing
more.  But the happiness that had sparkled in her eyes, that beaming smile, it
had all vanished in the face of his coolness.  Damn, he wasn’t a vindictive
man, wasn’t one to hold grudges.