Page 49 of A Kiss for Carter (The Laws of Love 3)

Which was probably why he didn’t realise that he’d walked not towards his townhouse in the city, but towards his parents’ rambling art deco home.

He almost laughed as he found himself on their street.

Judith’s house was in the neighbouring suburb; he guessed it was an easy enough error to make.

He sneaked round the back to where the spare key was always kept under a flower pot and groped around until he felt the cold metal of the key that opened the french doors to the music room.

Once inside, he tiptoed through the dimly lit room, making out the familiar shapes of the piano, of Avery’s flute stand in a corner, the scents of the house more intense in the darkness.They’d eaten Mum’s bolognese earlier; he could detect the smell of the herbs and spices she used.

He made his way up the stairs, carefully stepping over the one that creaked.His room, he knew, would be the same as when he’d left four years ago: the bed made up, a few knick knacks on the shelf, along with a photo of his university graduation; him a skinny beanpole with Mum and Dad smiling proudly at his side and Avery missing her two front teeth.It was as if Mum hoped he’d come back home one day.Never quite accepting he was an adult.Was that Mum’s problem now with Avery?Not wanting her baby to grow up and go out into the world?

As he made his way along the landing he paused outside Avery’s room.The door was partially open, so he slipped inside.

He could hear the steady low rasp of her breath, see the hump of her silhouette in the bed, and, caught in a beam of light from the street lamp outside, her hair splayed out on the pillow like a dark river.

He tiptoed closer, holding his breath.

Her thumb hovered around her mouth, the tip at her lips and he knew that even now, it would slide into her mouth at times.

Just like when she was a baby.

And then he saw Mutsy’s ear sticking up from under the covers.

She was cuddling dear old Mutsy.

That gesture struck him as so achingly beautiful, so utterly vulnerable.And suddenly the thought of her prancing off in that silver scrap of material tomorrow night froze him to the spot; he totally got why Mum was paranoid about it.

Avery was so innocent.

So oblivious to the mess of navigating this shit-show called growing up.

For Christ’s sake, he was thirty and he still couldn’t fathom the whole love thing out.Avery still had the war zone to work through, all the hurts and rejections to overcome.

A visceral pain constricted his chest.He hoped to God she’d work it out before she got to his age.

Gently, he reached out and curled the cover around battered old Mutsy.Two button eyes stared back, round and bemused, as if poor old Mutsy was constantly puzzled by the vagaries of life.

He patted Mutsy’s ear.

“Wouldn’t be young again for quids, eh Mutsy?”he whispered.

It seemed to Carts like those button eyes spelled their agreement.

Bending down, he dropped a kiss on Avery’s apple-scented hair before tiptoeing out of the room.

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