‘Sure will.’
‘I want to just check him out first though, before you go running off together,’ Prita said.
‘Sure, Mum.’
Barb took the salad and gestured them inside. ‘Come out of that heat.’
She opened the door and before they’d taken a step, they were rushed by Barb’s dogs, Charlie and Farrah. ‘Hey, you two.’ She juggled holding her doctor’s bag and patting the enthusiastic dogs who quickly went from jumping all over her to butting Carter for attention. Carter giggled and hugged them both, ruffling their heads and thumping their backs in the way they liked.
‘Charlie, Farrah, out of the way. Let them in.’
The dogs slunk back a little, allowing Prita to step into the room, braced to see Flynn sitting with his son. He wasn’t there. ‘Where’s Flynn?’ she blurted before she could stop herself.
‘Someone ran into the fence around your gymkhana paddock again, so he was heading down there to look at the damage, but then Rebel got out of his paddock, so he had to go round him up and get him away from the mares that are in heat then calm him down. Then there was a last-minute ride booked after lunch, so he’s only just gone down to see the damaged fencing about an hour ago. Probably stayed to fix them up, given he’s been gone so long. He should be back soon.’
‘Hey, Carter,’ Aaron said from his place on the couch. ‘Did you bring Star Wars?’
‘Yep, it’s in my backpack in the car. I’ll get it out when we go over to Reid and Nat’s.’
‘Cool.’
Carter gestured at Aaron’s sling. ‘How’s it feeling?’
‘Pretty sore.’
‘Yeah. Pity you didn’t break it though—I could have signed your plaster.’
‘Maybe next time.’
‘Next time!’ Prita exclaimed. ‘I would hope you’ve learned to be a bit more careful.’
Barb snorted. ‘There’s not a chance in hell that’s true.’
‘Gran!’
She ruffled his hair and bussed him on the head. ‘You’re a young active boy, just like Reid. Odds are, you’re going to hurt yourself again. Although, for pity’s sake, please try and keep out of mischief for the next couple of months or you’ll be the death of your father.’
‘Dad’s tough.’
‘Not as tough as he’d like everyone to think,’ Barb said under her breath.
Prita wanted to ask her what she meant but the moment passed as Carter pulled her forward, saying, ‘Come on, Mum. Check out A.’
‘What’s the hurry?’
‘We want to play a couple of games of soccer on the PlayStation before we go down to Nat and Reid’s. Tilly doesn’t like playing it. She prefers Mario Kart.’
‘Okay, okay.’ She sat down next to Aaron on the couch as Barb shooed the dogs outside so they wouldn’t get in the way, and began her examination. She finished quickly, announcing that everything looked as good as could be expected. ‘Just keep that arm in the sling to help your shoulder heal and try not to use the arm or move around too much. No running!’ she admonished, shaking her finger at him over his groan. ‘I know it’s going to be hard for you, Mr Ants in the Pants, but if you want the shoulder to heal as quickly as possible, you need to keep it still, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘Good boy.’ She stood, leaving Carter and Aaron to play their game and went over to Barb. ‘He can keep taking some painkillers for the next week or so while the pain is bad,’ she said to Barb. ‘Just be aware they might make him feel a bit more sleepy than usual.’
‘That might be a good thing.’
Prita smiled.
‘Do you want a drink?’
‘A glass of cold water would be lovely.’
‘Sure. Let’s go into the kitchen to have a natter and leave those two to their game.’
With a backward look to make sure Carter was fine, she followed Barb into the kitchen. Two glasses of water and a cup of tea later, it was almost time to head down to Nat and Reid’s for her ‘party’ and there was still no sign of Flynn. Was he still avoiding her? She frowned. She didn’t want to chase him out of his own home. Hell, she was going to have to do something about this. It was only a kiss. They were adults. They needed to address it and then put things back the way they were. Yes. Tonight. When he finally arrived from wherever he was hiding. She would pull him aside for a few moments and just clear the air.
Barb turned from putting dishes in the dishwasher and looked at the clock on the wall. ‘I think we’re going to have to head down to Nat and Reid’s without Flynn or we’ll all be late, and we can’t have the birthday girl arriving late to her own party.’
‘It’s not a party.’
‘No, it’s not, given you wouldn’t let us throw you one. I’ve never known someone to not like a birthday as much as you, Prita.’
She shrugged. ‘My mum died in a plane crash the day before my birthday. She was flying in to meet me and Papa so we could be together for my birthday.’
‘Oh, love.’ Barb’s hand flew up to her mouth. ‘I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.’
Prita shrugged again. ‘It’s okay. I don’t talk about it.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have pushed to celebrate your birthday if I’d known.’
She screwed her mouth on the side. ‘Celebrating my birthday was important to Carter.’
‘I see.’
‘Besides, I moved here to change things for him and me, and maybe this can be one of those things. Maybe I can have a fun and happy birthday celebration. Last night was lovely.’ If you didn’t take into account cleaning up dead bird, being scared to death by a devilish cat and then staying up half the night singing to and calming your traumatised son.
‘We’ll make sure tonight is just a simple, lovely night too.’
‘Sounds good.’ She shifted in her seat then stood up, suddenly feeling the need to splash some water on her face. ‘I might go to
