She smiled, but it wasn’t one of her real smiles. It was her worried smile.
Finn finished his breakfast and cleaned his teeth. He double-checked that all his cricket gear was in his bag at the front door. Then he went into his mum and dad’s bedroom. It was dark but a little bit of light was coming in under the curtains, so Finn could make out his dad’s big body lying in the bed. He went round to his side to wake him up but saw that his dad’s eyes were wide open and staring.
‘Can we go to the nets now, Dad?’
His dad blinked but didn’t answer.
‘Dad?’
His dad looked at him and Finn knew he was having one of his days.
‘Not right now, mate. Maybe a little later when I’m not so tired.’
Finn placed his hand on his dad’s prickly cheek.
‘Okay, Dad. Whenever you’re ready.’
A tear ran from his dad’s eye onto Finn’s hand. He wiped it on his cricket pants.
His dad didn’t get out of bed all day.
***
‘This is it, Dee. This is the one we’ve been waiting for. The big one that’ll solve all our problems.’
Finn watched his mum and dad through a crack in the door. He was supposed to be in bed, but his dad was talking so loudly, it was impossible to get to sleep. They were sitting at the dinner table looking at a bunch of papers. Finn’s dad stood up and began to walk around the room.
‘Imagine it, baby. We could finally take that holiday we’ve been talking about. You could work less shifts. I’d be home more. We could even have a little brother or sister for Finn.’
Finn felt a sudden burst of excitement. A little brother could be really cool. Annoying, of course, when they’re little, just like Pete’s baby brother, Billy. That kid was soooo annoying. But Finn could teach him how to play cricket and then he’d never spend another day in his whites without anyone to bowl to. A little sister would be less cool, but he guessed girls could play cricket as well if they had a good coach. Which he would be.
Finn’s dad stopped walking and turned back to his mum. ‘I mean, not straight away, of course. It’s an investment, so it’ll take about eighteen months to build and sell the apartments. But when that profit comes in, we keep half, reinvest the rest. Do that over and over. We can’t lose!’
Finn’s mum was at the head of the table facing the kitchen door. She was staring at the papers and chewing her bottom lip. ‘It sounds like a terrible risk, Shane. I mean, what if something goes wrong? We’d lose it all.’
Finn’s dad rubbed his mum’s shoulders. He spoke more softly. ‘Every big investment has some risk. That’s how millionaires make their money. But we’re going in safe on this one. It’s a guaranteed return. We’ve got it in writing.’
‘Do we need a lawyer?’
‘What for? All they’ll do is eat away the profits. I’m a builder, Dee. I understand how this works.’
‘It’s not you I’m worried about.’
Finn’s dad knelt down beside his mum and placed his hand on top of hers. ‘I’d never do anything to put you or Finn at risk, you know that.’
‘I know.’
‘But I really think this is our chance and we don’t want to let it pass us by. Darryl’s a straight-up guy and I trust him. This company he’s working with is the real deal. They’ve built apartments all over the country.’
Finn’s mum tried to smile but it looked more like she was in pain. She stood up and his dad did the same. He was much taller than her and when she hugged him, Finn almost lost sight of her altogether. All he could see was his dad’s back and his mum’s arms wrapped around his waist.
‘All right. Let’s do it.’
His dad whooped and lifted his mum in the air, spinning her around in a circle. She squealed like one of the girls in Finn’s class and when his dad put her down, her face was red and her eyes were bright. She wore a pink dress that ran down to her knees. She didn’t have shoes or socks on. Her long, dark hair was in a ponytail and when she looked up at Finn’s dad, she looked pretty. Finn always thought she looked pretty.
Today, though, she looked happy as well.
Chapter Fifteen
