Cherry blew out a breath. ‘Oh, but it’s your b—’
‘No, I insist. Don’t leave your man waiting any longer.’
‘Oh, sometimes it’s good to leave a man waiting.’ The dimples deepened as Cherry waggled her brows at Prita. ‘But if you insist.’
‘I do. Go.’
Cherry leaned in and kissed Prita, whispering something that Flynn didn’t quite catch before she turned around. ‘I’ll walk you out, Flynn.’
‘I’ll come out with you and help get him in,’ Prita said.
‘No. I can get him in myself.’ Aaron was like him—he hated people fussing over him. ‘You stay here.’
‘Grumpy,’ he heard Prita mutter as he marched back out the door, Cherry close on his heels after she’d waved Prita good night again.
‘You should be nicer to that girl,’ Cherry said as she headed to the car parked next to his.
‘I’m nice.’
‘You know it’s her birthday, don’t you?’
Damn. He’d forgotten. Nat and Barb had invited her over for a BBQ to celebrate tomorrow night, but he did know it was today. She was supposed to be having some kind of celebration with Carter tonight, but instead, she was stuck here with him. ‘Maybe I should just take Aaron down to the hospital and let her get on with her celebration.’
A snort greeted that statement. ‘As if she’d let you do that.’ Cherry peered through the window of his car. ‘Hey, Aaron. You don’t look so good.’
His pasty-faced son smiled bravely. ‘Dad thinks I’ve dislocated my shoulder.’ He indicated gingerly to the arm that was in a sling.
Cherry nodded sagely. ‘You should be more careful climbing that wall.’
‘He didn’t do it climbing the wall. He got thrown off Rebel.’
‘Dad!’
Cherry nodded sagely. ‘Ahh, yes. Well that explains it. I told you that horse would be more trouble than it was worth when you bought him. Nasty look in his eye.’
‘He hasn’t been treated well, that’s all. Some love and affection and good food will make all the difference.’
‘You saying that after he tossed your boy in the dirt?’
‘Aaron knew he wasn’t ready to be ridden yet. We have to re-train him. Whoever broke him in should be castrated.’ He shook his head. ‘Damaging and mistreating a beautiful animal like that.’ His voice was heating up. People who treated animals badly were as bad as those who hurt children—innocents who couldn’t defend themselves should be loved and cared for, taught right from wrong with a firm hand tempered by love and patience and never with the hand of cruelty and dismissal. He’d seen too much the effects of that over the years with friends he’d grown up with and now the kids that came to Nat and Reid’s camps at CoalCliff. If he could do more for them, he would.
‘Well, you’re lucky it wasn’t worse,’ Cherry said.
He was. Bloody lucky. The sight of his son lying in the dirt had panic clawing at his chest, breath caught there, heart speeding up so fast all he could hear was the roar of blood through his head. If he could, he’d wrap Aaron in cotton wool and never let him go anywhere or do anything where he might get hurt. He had rules in place to protect his adventurous son as much as possible, but he was proving to be more and more like Reid and he’d been a regular patient of Prita’s too many times over the past year or so as a result.
Every single time Flynn blamed himself, wondered if he was fit to be a father. Every single time Barb sat him down and had ‘the talk’. He knew he’d get it tonight too when they got home. He could recite it word for word: Boys will be boys and Aaron getting hurt doesn’t make you a bad parent. You know that, don’t you?
He’d nod and assure her he knew he was a good parent, but …
‘You better get this young man inside,’ Cherry said. ‘Doctor Prita will have something to help you with the pain, Aaron. You’ll be feeling better in no time.’
‘I hope so. It hurts like a b …’
‘Aaron!’ Flynn said, ignoring Cherry’s sniggers. ‘You know what we say about swearing.’
‘I know. But Reid says swearing is okay if you’re really hurt. I’m really hurt.’ He shifted and winced, his face paling even further. ‘Bloody hell.’
Cherry burst into laughter.
Flynn sighed, giving up that argument for now. ‘Come on, slide on over and I’ll help you out of the car. Do you think you can walk?’
‘I’m not a baby, Dad.’
No. He wasn’t.
Aaron shifted, winced, tears welling in his eyes.
‘You okay, A-man?’
Aaron blinked rapidly, his gaze sliding to Cherry who was still standing behind Flynn. ‘Can you ask Cherry to go, Dad?’ he whispered, voice full of tears. ‘I don’t want to cry in front of her.’
Yep. Just like his dad. ‘Okay.’ He went to ruffle Aaron’s hair but then thought better of it, given any movement was likely to hurt his boy right now. He turned, using his big body to block Aaron from Cherry’s sight. ‘Thanks, Cherry, for waiting to see if he’s okay, but I’ve got this. Besides, isn’t Frank waiting for you at the Wally Pub?’
‘Yep. Better get going. Good luck, Aaron.’ She blew him a kiss and hopped in her car and roared off out of the car park, leaving a blow of dust in her wake.
‘Okay, A-man. It’s all clear. Take your time and try to keep that shoulder as still as possible.’
‘I know, Dad.’ He gritted his teeth and gingerly moved his legs out of the cab of the ute—thankfully, he’d grown tall enough that the drop from the seat to the ground wasn’t far at all, but Flynn still put his hand out, steadying his son so the jolt to the ground would be minimal. The tear tracks running through the dust caked on his boy’s freckled cheeks stabbed at Flynn’s heart. He wanted to take
