Page 38 of Jump Start

I rolled my eyes and hopped into Mum’s car.

“Who knows what we will come back to,” I commented as she reversed out of the driveway.

“They will be fine. I really like Thomas, darling. He seems like a sweetheart. I always thought he was being difficult with you because he liked you.” My mother, forever the optimist.

“How are you doing with all this, Mum?”

She took a moment before answering me. “I’m alright, your father is fine. He will be coming home in the next dayor so. It was just a shock when it first happened. He’s going to have to change a lot of things. Diet being the first.”

My dad wasn’t always the healthiest, having grown up in the era of bacon, red wine, and red meat, so I guess I wasn’t entirely surprised at the heart attack, but it was still terrifying.

We pulled up at the local hospital in Newcastle after a decent drive. I hadn’t been to a hospital in a while and was nervous to see my dad for the first time since his heart attack. Mum put her arm around my shoulder, and we walked in together. Bypassing the front desk, I followed her to my father’s private room.

We slowly entered the room to find a nurse assessing Dad, who had an unimpressed look on his face. It quickly turned into a genuine smile upon seeing us.

“Harper! Sweetheart,” he called out as I walked over and hugged him. I couldn’t help the sob that came out of my mouth or the tears that leaked from my eyes. “Hey, none of that, I’m fine now!”

Standing back, I sat on the chair opposite him and wiped my eyes.

“Your mother tells me you bought that race car driver with you. I suspect you don’t hate him anymore?” His question made me laugh.

“No. Quite the opposite, actually. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

Mum cleared her throat. “Your sons are taking him fishing as we speak,” she chuckled.

The nurse finished her assessment and left the room, leaving us in private.

“Don’t feel like you need to hang around all day, sweetheart. Go to the beach, enjoy time with your new boyfriend,” Mumsaid out of the blue to the room.

Dad smiled. “Agreed, Harps. I’ll be home soon and then we can catch up properly.”

Despite their insistence that I leave the hospital and enjoy time with Thomas, I stayed for a few hours before Mum and I decided to go home in the late afternoon. After saying goodbye to Dad, we made our way back to the car.

“He seems to be fine, don’t you think?” I asked Mum. She nodded, clearly exhausted with the back and forth between home and the hospital. I enjoyed driving Mum’s car. It was a little SUV, so it was higher off the ground, and it had cruise control, unlike my older Corolla.

As we pulled into the driveway, we noticed my brothers and Thomas on the balcony, sitting around the outdoor table.

“Oh boy, they’re drinking,” I said with a laugh.

We stepped out of the car and were greeted with a round of yelling and welcome home greetings.

“Mum! Harps! Come on up here. We are playing the most epic game of King’s Cup.”

I laughed and yelled up at the balcony, “None of you are eighteen anymore, you know that, right?”

I made my way upstairs to the balcony and was greeted with hugs, more yelling, and finally, a kiss from Thomas, which was met with a round of applause. Andy and Brendan were loud and drunk, but they all seemed to be getting along like a house on fire.

“Did you guys even go fishing?” I asked as I took a seat next to Thomas.

Andy pointed to the esky in the corner. “Of course we did. Thomas caught two kingfish, and we caught some bream. Fishfor dinner!” I raised my eyebrows in disbelief and went to inspect the esky.

“It’s empty?” I asked out loud, causing them all to laugh. I shook my head. Boys.

Mum appeared from the kitchen to greet us all. “I’m going to have a lie down. I’m a bit exhausted,” she announced to the table. The boys hugged her and walked her inside, leaving me and Thomas sitting at the table.

“Drink?” he nodded at the bar fridge sitting at the corner of the balcony.

“Yes, please. Make it a strong one.”

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