Picturing Perfect (Meet the McIntyres Book 2) Read online

  Arriving on the dirt road only about twenty minutes from my place, I wasn’t surprised to see the police cruiser sitting on the shoulder of the road. A cow would have done some damage to the car. As much as I was hoping it wasn’t too bad and the cow wasn’t too mangled, I couldn’t help but be more worried about the driver.

  “Morning, Derek,” I called out, climbing from my car, adjusting my sunglasses.

  Dawn was breaking and it was stunning. Usually I wasn’t one to stop and smell the roses, or in this case admire the early morning sky, but I just couldn’t help it. It was still cool and everything was coated in a thin layer of dew, and it was stunning. I couldn’t help but wonder where Carly was this morning and if she was out there somewhere trying to capture this.

  “Morning.”

  “Everyone okay?”

  “Human or bovine?”

  “Uh, both?”

  “Human yeah. Bloody idiot. When I get home I’m going to kick her ass!” Derek grunted miserably.

  “Mia?”

  Together we walked along the middle of the road…out here you were lucky to see a car every other hour, so it was eerily quiet. Approaching the silver SUV, I saw the damage. The whole front end was smashed in. It must have hit head on.

  “Shit!”

  I couldn’t believe the damage. Then there was the blood.

  I wasn’t squeamish when it came to blood. Hell, in my line of work that would be pretty pointless, but I wasn’t one of those people who stared at it with morbid fascination either. The lights were smashed, the bonnet dented, and there was black fur sticking out from under the bent number plate.

  “Nah, bloody Zoe. I didn’t even know she was coming until I got a frantic call to come out and help her.”

  “But she’s okay?”

  “A bit sore and sorry for herself. The airbag went off and knocked the wind out of her. More than likely she’ll have a headache and a black eye, but she’s fine. Mia took her home to get cleaned up.”

  “And you got left to deal with this?”

  “Yeah.”

  He didn’t look pissed at all. I guess it wasn’t in Derek’s nature. This was who he was. Right here, right now. Cleaning up other people’s mess and putting things right.

  To my right I heard an awful sound. It was a cross between a moan and a wail. Without seeing it, I knew what caused it. Sucking in a deep breath, I spotted the cow half lying on the side of the road. It wasn’t in a good way. One of its back legs was sticking out in the wrong direction, there was a decent size gash on its side, and its nose was covered in blood. There was only one way this could end.

  “I’m…ah, I think I’ll just wait back over there. I’ll make some calls and get Robbo down here to get his cow.”

  “Sounds good. Tell him he’ll need the tractor.”

  “On it.”

  Ten minutes later, Robbo bounced down through the paddock behind the wheel of his tractor. His face was contorted in this angry ‘stay-the-fuck-away-from-me face. I had no interest in getting involved. While he found his way out the gate and over to where the now dead cow lie, I dug through the backseat until I found my hand sanitiser and a clean shirt. Even though nothing had gotten on me, I still felt dirty. I always felt like crap after the death of an animal. Even one I’d had to put down.

  “So, what are your plans for tonight?”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yeah, you know. New Year’s Eve?”

  Oh shit. I knew it was New Year’s, I wasn’t living under a rock, not entirely, but as far as making plans went, I hadn’t given it a thought.

  “You’ve got nothing, have you?” Damn Derek and his ability to read people. I hadn’t even had time to think up a decent lie to throw him off track before he’d pinged me.

  “Nah. Probably just stay home, have some dinner, and go to bed early.” Even as I said it, it sounded boring. I was turning into an old man. And I was way too young to be heading that way.

  “Come to our place.”

  “What?”

  “We’re barbequing. Nothing special. A bunch of people, beers, steaks. It’s not exactly a party, just a group of friends hanging out.”

  I was shocked. I barely knew Derek. I mean, I’d met him a handful of times and he seemed like a good guy, but it wasn’t like we hung out. We’d never spent time together or done the mate thing. Yet here he was, inviting me over on New Year’s. I wanted to go. I really did. It would be great to have some friends in this town who weren’t obligated to be nice because we shared DNA. Then I remembered Holly was at home. Even though she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, and I hadn’t figure out the right way to ask, I couldn’t leave her home alone. Not on New Year’s. I wouldn’t.

  “Thanks…”

  “But?”

  “Huh?”

  “There’s a but coming. What is it?”

  Derek truly scared me. How he could read my mind, I’d never know. Maybe I needed to start wearing one of those aluminium hats on my head just to keep my thoughts safe. I’d look like a complete freak, and I’d deserve all the bullshit that’d surely come, but at least my thoughts would be safe.

  “My sister Holly. She’s staying with me. I can’t leave her on her own.”

  “No worries. Bring her with you.” The way he said it, like it was no big deal at all, almost knocked me on my ass on the gravel road.

  “You want me to bring my teenage sister to your New Year’s barbeque?” I clarified. I wasn’t sure if Derek had ever met Holly. Maybe he was thinking she was older. Or maybe even younger.

  “Sure, why not? My sister-in-law, Josie, will be there with her tornado, Matilda, so it’s fine. It’s just a casual get together.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks.”

  “No troubles.” Derek stuck out his hand and I took it. A firm handshake sealing the deal. I’d be spending New Year’s at Derek’s place. I just hoped Holly was up to it. If she wasn’t going, then neither was I. “Come over whenever. People will be arriving from five.”

  “Great. What do I bring?”

  “Other than your sister? Nothing.”

  “Sure.”

  My phone beeped and interrupted our conversation. “Look, I’ll let you get that. I’m going to check on Robbo, then get out of here. I’ve got some shit to do today, but I will see you later.”

  “Thanks.”

  Opening the door, I jumped in my truck and grabbed my phone from the console.

  “Hey Gage?” Derek called out from the middle of the road, his arm shielding his eyes blocking out the early morning sun.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for your help. Sorry for dragging you out of bed this early.”

  “All good.”

  Firing up the engine, I pumped up the air con and headed home. I wanted a shower and another coffee. At some point I’d have to head to the office and catch up on the paperwork I’d been avoiding, but that could wait ’til next year. Today I wanted to relax.

  By the time I pulled up at home, it was already stifling hot. Australia was definitely turning up the heat today. It didn’t matter though. I had a plan. I’d already called Connor and Ryan and they were on their way. It sucked that Beau wasn’t here, it’d be good to have us all together for the day, but we’d make do. Connor could captain the boat.

  “Holly, you up?” I called out as I threw open the front door and stepped inside. It smelt like heaven. I had no clue what it was, but suddenly I was starving. Not just hungry, either. Ravenous.

  “Of course.”

  She stepped into sight and I saw how beautiful she was. Little Holly had gone and grown up. And when she set down a plate piled high with pancakes on the table, I noticed she’d gone all out. There was bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, hash browns, and even sausages. Briefly I considered keeping her here permanently. I mean, who wouldn’t want to come home to a meal like this?

  “Wow!”

  “It’s nothing,” she dismissed, sliding into a chair. “I was awake and had nothing else to do. I thou
ght you’d be hungry when you got back.”

  “I’m starving, actually.” Right on cue my stomach rumbled loudly.

  “Sounds like it.” Holly giggled and it sounded real. For the first time since Mum had disrupted our Christmas lunch, I’d seen a real, genuine smile on Holly’s face. Exactly where it should be.

  Before I had a chance to say anything more, the front door was thrown open and in stomped Connor and Ryan. Both wore board shorts, t-shirts, and were ready to go. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not until I’d eaten my way through this mountain of food.

  “Connor? Ryan? What’s…what’s going on?” Holly asked nervously. Gone was the giggling happy girl—now she was worried. I caught the way her bottom lip quivered and she wrung her hands. I hated it. Before she headed back to school, I was getting to the bottom of this.

  “Holy shit, Gage! Is this what happens around here every morning?” Ryan asked as he sunk into a chair and snagged a piece of bacon. It crunched as he bit into it. Asshole. That was my crunchy bacon.

  “God, Ryan, you’re such a pig. At least get a plate!” Connor scolded, slapping him up the back of the head before grabbing plates and silverware and joining us.

  “Morning, Princess,” Connor greeted Holly gently with a kiss on the top of her head. “We’re heading out to the river today. You coming?”

  “Wh-what?”

  “The river. Skiing, swimming. I even brought the tyre tube for you.”

  “You stole Beau’s boat?”

  “I wouldn’t say ‘stole,’ would you, Ryan?”

  “Nah, Connor. We didn’t steal it. We borrowed it.”

  “And he knows, of course.” Holly knew us way too well. She was always the voice of reason and our family’s moral compass. Some days it was awesome, others…not so much.

  “He’s busy getting busy. He won’t care. It’ll be fine,” Ryan dismissed before piling his plate with eggs and mushrooms.

  “You guys will never learn.”

  “Nope.”

  “So Holly,” I turned to her, “you joining us?” I hoped she’d say yes. I didn’t want her to spend yet another day with her head in a book avoiding the real world.

  “I-I don’t know…”

  “Come on, Hol. It’s just the four of us. Eat, get changed into your swimmers, and let’s go…”

  I didn’t miss the sigh of resignation that passed her pouty lips, thankfully though, she agreed. After picking at her food, or pushing it around on her plate, Holly excused herself to get changed.

  While Connor, Ryan, and I cleaned up, I asked them if they knew what the hell was going on with her. They had no idea. Connor had noticed she wasn’t really acting like the Holly he knew, but he’d dismissed it, thinking she’d just grown up into a normal teenage girl…all moody and broody.

  Three hours later I was sore and tired. This morning I’d been feeling old, now I looked like it. I couldn’t walk properly. In my last attempt at water skiing, I’d been trying to show off by jumping over the wash. It was my own fault. I wish I could blame Connor’s driving or Ryan’s spotting. The truth was though, I was being a cocky shit and landed with a smack on my hip. No matter how soft and welcoming the water looks, it’s bullshit. If you hit it with enough force, it’s like smashing straight into concrete. It hadn’t bruised yet, but it wasn’t far away.

  “Everyone had enough?” Connor asked as we drifted.

  When we’d arrived I was shocked to see no one else out here. I thought for sure this place would have been teeming with people looking for somewhere to cool off. Having it to ourselves was perfect. Holly had still been odd. She’d sat in the back of the boat under a hat that hid most of her face. Sure, physically she was out on the water with us, mentally though, she was another world away. It took a hell of a lot of coaxing and Ryan promising not to let her get hurt before she got on the tube. Once she was in the tube she was laughing and squealing and having a great time. It just made me sad that it’d taken so much effort for her to feel this way.

  Connor dropped us back at my place and I realised how tired I was. Between the early morning call out and then a day out in the sun, I was ready for a nap…especially if I was going to attempt to stay awake long enough to ring in the new year.

  “So, what’s your plans for the night, Gage? Got a hot date lined up?”

  I snorted. Hot date, yeah right.

  “Actually, I got invited to a barbeque. Was thinking I might check it out. How ’bout you?”

  “Um…”

  Right! Now it all made sense. It was all well and good to taunt me about my dating life, or lack thereof, but when it came to theirs… well, they were off limits. “That’s what I thought. Now, if you’re done, I need a nap before we head out.”

  “We?” Holly squeaked.

  “Yeah, Holly, we. You, my favourite little sister, are my date for the evening.” I tucked her under my arm and hugged her close.

  “Ew!” She squirmed away and dashed inside, no doubt to be first in the bathroom. Little shit! I hoped she wasn’t in there too long. She was renowned for using all the hot water, and I needed it to make the aches and pains a thing of the past.

  I wasn’t lucky. Forty-five minutes. Forty-five-fucking-minutes before Holly reappeared, her hair dripping and her face scrubbed. Her eyes were red and she looked like she’d been crying. “Bathroom’s free,” she murmured without looking up as she shuffled past.

  Giving her some space sucked, but I had no idea what to say. Hopefully getting her out of the house tonight and with some people who weren’t related to her would help. If not, I had no idea what to do. Maybe I’d beg Payton for help. She was practically family. She could talk to her chick to chick. It wasn’t like I could call Mum. God knows what damage she’d do.

  After a quick, cold shower, I collapsed on my bed in nothing but my boxers. My shoulders stung. I hadn’t realised I’d burnt, but as soon as the water touched it, I was made well and truly aware of just how much sun I’d caught. No doubt I’d peel in the next couple of days, but whatever. I’d live.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to drift off. The moment I did though, my mind spun into overdrive. Every thought I’d been avoiding for the last couple of months seemed to hit me all at once. I thought about my college roommate and wondered what, or more than likely, who he was doing tonight. I worried about where Mum was and what trouble she was brewing. It’d been a couple of days since she’d shown up on my doorstep drunk, trying to apologise for ruining Christmas. She’d only managed to get a handful of words out before she started verbally bashing Payton. She was just lucky it was me standing there and not Beau. I thought about ClickChick7. I don’t know why I was wondering where she was and what her plans were. Suddenly though, the need to talk to her was too hard to resist. Not that I really tried.

  DrDolittle2.0: Why are girls so mysterious?

  She was a chick. At least I hoped she was. I’d feel like a bit of an ass if it turned out I’d been messaging a dude. Not just an ass, either. Shaking off the feeling, I decided she was a chick. A ballsy one, but definitely a chick.

  ClickChick7: Oooooh. Who’s rattled your cage?

  DrDolittle2.0: ???

  Seems Holly wasn’t the only one capable of confusing the fuck out of me. What was she on about?

  ClickChick7: Which girl got under your skin?

  DrDolittle2.0: My sister.

  ClickChick7: Oh. OK. What’s wrong?

  I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe just how much of a moron I am sometimes. I’d made it sound like I was talking about some girl to the one I’d been flirting with for weeks. I needed to figure out a way to pull my head out of my ass and apologise. And quickly.

  DrDolittle2.0: Just seems off. Won’t talk to anyone. Always has her head in a book. Seems kinda sad.

  ClickChick7: How old is she?

  DrDolittle2.0: Almost 16.

  ClickChick7: There’s your answer, Sherlock. She’s 16. She’s OK.

  DrDolittle2.0: You sure?

  DrDolittle2.0
: Should she talk to someone? Anyone?

  ClickChick7: You sound just like an overprotective big brother.

  DrDolittle2.0: I AM an overprotective big brother. ☺

  ClickChick7: Just give her space. She’ll talk when she’s ready.

  DrDolittle2.0: Fine. I’ll take your word for it.

  I didn’t know if I liked her answer, but for now it was the best I had. Maybe Holly just needed some time. God knows her life was complicated enough these days. It seemed no matter how hard we tried to protect her from the bullshit that was circling, she knew enough. More than I wanted to her to. Bloody Ryan needed to learn to keep his big mouth shut. It wouldn’t do any of us any good to tell her everything, but Ryan disagreed, so he kept her up to date.

  ClickChick7: So…any exciting New Year’s plans?

  DrDolittle2.0: Just hanging with some friends. You?

  Trying to keep everything casual was proving to get harder and harder. Maybe because I hadn’t met ClickChick7, it made it so damn easy to just open up. She wasn’t there, watching my every move. Judging me. Now though, now I wish I did know her. I wanted to know what she was doing and who she was doing it with.

  ClickChick7: Same.

  What the hell? That gave me absolutely no details. Punching the pillow under my head, I wriggled around, trying unsuccessfully to get comfortable. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep now. I had no idea why her simple answer annoyed me so much. It just did.

  Not wanting to respond and say something I’d end up regretting, I jumped up, pulled on my running gear, and stepped out of my room. “Hey Holly?”

  No answer.

  I marched through the house looking for her. When I rounded the corner and saw her asleep on the couch, her book on her chest and her reading glasses askew, my heart squeezed. This, right there, that moment, that was the Holly I knew and loved. My sweet, innocent sister. This was the image I’d always have of her. Not wanting to wake her, I scribbled a note and left it on the kitchen counter before stepping out into the hot afternoon for a jog down my track.