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‘Puppies!’ She sat up. ‘Oh, Daisy, you clever girl. You did it all by yourself and here I was available to help during the night.’ Jumping up, she headed for the back door. ‘I’ve got to wake Ish; he’ll be so excited.’
Ish?
But he didn’t have time to contemplate the name change. The boy ran out, his hair mussed and his smile crooked. ‘Oh,’ he squealed. ‘There’s five! Two brown and three yellow. Oh my gosh.’ He knelt at Daisy’s head and patted her along the nose. The dog lapped up the attention. ‘Can I touch one of the puppies?’
‘I don’t know, I guess, maybe try and see what Daisy does.’
Ish reached out with one finger and stroked the back of one chocolate puppy. Daisy watched undisturbed.
‘I’ll ring Zac and see if he can come and check them out, see if everything’s okay. I’ll put the kettle on too, coffee?’ She directed the coffee question at him.
‘Yes please, thanks Ava. I stopped at the hardware store on my way today and couldn’t get to the café.’
When Ava returned, she’d changed into denim shorts showing lots of leg and had pulled her hair into a neat ponytail. Her face was fresh and clear. She handed him a mug. ‘The vet will drop in this morning.’
Noah accepted the cup of deep blue with gold edge. ‘A Pharaoh, huh? Interesting.’
Ava paused, glanced down, a darkness passing across her eyes. ‘I used to have a collection of these really authentic cups made in Egypt with a special motif on each. They were lovely to drink out of. Not touristy like these….’ Her voice lowered. ‘That one is Cleopatra one of the most powerful female Pharaohs. Mine is Nefertiti, another female Pharoah. They are my favourite. I’m obsessed with …’ She glanced at her son but he was focused on the dogs. ‘…Egypt. Their relics, well anything Egyptian. I had a large collection….’ She paused and seemed to order her thoughts before appearing to recover. ‘But these aren’t bad. I particularly like this one.’ Holding up her own, she showed him the image of the Pharaoh wearing elongated head wear.
Noah couldn’t help it; he laughed. He guessed there were stranger things to collect.
‘Hey!’ Ava tried to slap his arm but he shot out of reach.
Otis bounded up onto the deck after his roo pursuits and pulled up short at the sight of the puppies. He sniffed the basket and plonked himself down at Noah’s feet, keeping guard on the newborns.
Drinking the last remnants of coffee, Noah put down his mug. ‘I’d best get on with things, even though you could easily spend hours watching those gorgeous little creatures.’
Ava agreed. ‘What are you tackling today?’
‘I’m checking the foundations. Need to inspect the stumps; I think from a cursory glance one or two might be rotted and need replacing but maybe all of them. I’ll keep you informed. Also the front and back stairs, but if I need to take them out of action, I’ll give you plenty of notice. You need a solid foundation first before working on anything else.’
The easy smile she offered him kept him pinned to the seat until she glanced away and he uncurled himself reluctantly from the chair and rose.
‘Oh, I almost forgot. I need to unlock the gate.’
‘Sorry, Noah.’ She grabbed the keys from the kitchen bench and handed them over. ‘And you mister, need to feed the horses.’ She addressed Duke.
He hadn’t taken his hands off the dogs, either reassuring Daisy with gentle strokes or cradling the puppies, still with their eyes screwed shut. ‘So many animals, Mumma, it’s like we live on a farm.’
Ava laughed. ‘Yes, a hobby farm, at least. We should think about getting some chickens, at least they lay eggs.’
The boy jumped up. ‘Yes, can we please? That would be awesome!’
Emily would love the puppies. She loved Otis. Was she missing her old pet or did she prefer her new cat? Should he offer to take one of the puppies for her, make it her very own dog? But he just as quickly squashed that idea. What good was a pet to a child that rarely lived with him? And the last thing he needed was another responsibility, particularly one that wasn’t a working dog. Otis was easy, Otis followed him onto every work site and therefore was never left alone. A lab would be a different story. Reconciling the situation, he agreed that he’d bring her over to see the puppies in the next few days when she was due to visit.
Tuning back in, Ava was talking to Duke. ‘Yes, we’ll get some chickens but only if you do your chores.’
He groaned in typical little boy fashion with a grin on his face. ‘I’m going!’
Ava rose and stretched, her tee rising up to reveal her stomach. Time concertinaed and all Noah saw was the pale, creamy skin. It was over in a flash and her arms were at her side, clothing back in place. He’d stood moments ago but found himself rooted to the spot, transfixed by her and the family scene in front of him. Noah shook his head clearing away the cobwebs quickly gathering. He stepped back and crashed into the chair. ‘Um, I’ll get to it.’
She regarded him quizzically. Yeah, he would too, because he was acting weird and he felt strangely discombobulated. ‘Otis, come,’ he said more tersely than intended.
Okay, time for her to get started too. Today she was commencing work on Ish’s room. Bunking in with her had suited perfectly when they’d landed in a strange place with only each other for company, and a rundown old house. But sleeping together could not continue. And the way to get Ish into his own room was to make it special.
So, his room was first, despite the kitchen and the bathrooms that made her grimace at the state of their disrepair. At least they were functioning and had hot running water. The reality was there was so much work to be done, starting with anything was enough.
Standing in his bare room with the veejay walls, faded cream paint and the panel above the large and solid timber door, memories rushed in. She stared at the fretwork. These weren’t new to her. Their childhood home had had patterned panels, too, but these were distinct Australiana with an emu and kangaroo holding a coat of arms on a desert floor with sprigs of brush. It could either be tacky or unique but she liked it, so went for unique.
