Bonus Kisses - Freya Barker Page 0,38
surprised she’s aware one of the ongoing disagreements Nicky and I had was around pets. I wanted a dog for the kids, she didn’t. I’ll admit, for me it was more about fulfilling a childhood dream of my own, while Nicky pointed out that with the clinic next door, the kids would have enough exposure to animals without needing to bring them into the home. It had been a standoff to which there had never been a solution.
“Whose farm?” Ed asks, following slower behind.
“Ken Friar, up on Tom Akers Road.”
“Maisy’s pups?”
“Actually, Maisy’s grandpups. Maisy’s been gone a few years. They’re her daughter’s.”
He harrumphs something about time flying and, like the rest of the family, heads into the kitchen.
“I need a stiff one,” he announces, to which Sarah’s head swings around.
“You know what the doctor said. No more than one with that new medication.”
Ed waves his hand dismissively and beelines it for the backyard, where the kids are playing. I step out behind him and help him down into a chair.
“It’s a good thing,” he says when I fold his walker and set it out of the way.
“What is?”
“That.” He points a shaking finger at the kids rolling in the grass with the dogs. “I always wanted to get our Natasha a puppy. Veronica had no interest but Taz, she was the one who would tag along with me on calls every chance she got. Crazy about animals, she was. I always thought she’d be the one to work with me in the clinic.”
“I sometimes wondered about that,” I confess, taking the seat beside him. “How did Nicky end up working there?”
“Convenience, I reckon. She never was one to venture far from the safety of home if she could help it. Taz, on the other hand, now she was a hard one to hold back. Always seemed to be looking for opportunities to explore. Heck, even as a child she had dreams of seeing the world.”
“Guess she got her dream,” I observe.
“Hmmm. So did Nicky. All she wanted was a husband, kids, and a home to look after.”
I’d known that. Or at least I could probably sense it, which is why I figured the older sister would be perfect for me. She seemed to want the same things out of life I thought I did.
“She had those.”
The older man nods. “Still, I can’t help wonder if either of them were really happy.”
I don’t have the heart to agree with him. “Ready for that drink?” I ask instead.
“Any of that Glenfiddich left?”
I grin at the same question he asks every time. “You bet.” I head into the kitchen where my mother-in-law is hovering over Taz, who bulges her eyes at me. “Drinks, ladies?”
“Not for me,” Sarah answers with a wave of her hand.
“Taz, you?”
“Yes, please.” She darts me a quick smile before turning back to the pot she’s stirring.
I grab a wineglass from the cupboard and dig her bottle of pinot grigio from the fridge. As I fill the glass, I notice Sarah watching me, her lips pressed together tightly.
Unsure what that is about, I slip Taz’s glass on the counter beside her, get Ed his Glenfiddich, and myself a bottle of beer from the fridge, before heading back outside.
“Dinner in fifteen,” Taz calls after me, and I raise my hand holding my beer in acknowledgement.
“This is yummy,” Spencer says twenty minutes later, his mouth full of chicken.
“It is, Son, but no talking with your mouth full, please.”
“Very tasty,” Ed agrees, eating Taz’s dish with relish.
Even Sofie seems to be enjoying the food, although she’s shoved the few beans Taz served her to the side of her plate.
“It’s good,” my mother-in-law finally admits. “Never quite tasted anything like it, but it’s good.”
Taz smiles at me across the table, and for a moment the world settles on its axis. Then Ed shakes things up when he turns to his wife.
“Who’d have thought Taz would inherit your knack for cooking?”
The clatter of Sarah’s fork on her plate is loud.
Chapter Fourteen
Taz
“Do they make you wear that?”
Spencer eyes the navy handkerchief I tied around my head to keep my hair out of the way.
Aside from occasionally pulling my dreads in a loose twist on top of my head, I don’t fuss with them much. After my first day on Monday, however, when three of the four patients we visited almost blanched at the sight of me, I figured maybe I’d cover them up.
I try not to be offended, after all, this is Eminence. Besides, most of