Caitlin ran over to the door, answering the incessant knocking as her baby cried mercilessly on her hip.
‘Yes?’ she growled, flinging the door open.
‘Somebody call for an air conditioning repairman?’ asked the silver-haired man in the cowboy hat, leaning against her doorframe with a big grin.
‘Oh, Dad,’ Caitlin sighed, a smile spilling back onto her face. ‘You didn’t have to come all this way.’
‘Nah, it’s nothing,’ her dad waved away her protest, stepping into the foyer and closing the door behind him. ‘I was in the area, and Jake said you might need a hand.’
‘In the area, were you?’ Caitlin raised an eyebrow at him, rocking the baby against her chest.
‘Well,’ he shrugged. ‘The area next to the area, I suppose. And you’re forgetting, I don’t need an excuse to see my favourite grandchild!’
He stepped forward with a huge grin, arms outstretched to receive the squirming bundle.
‘How does Samantha feel about you calling my kid your favourite,’ Caitlin laughed.
‘Oh, her children are monsters and she knows it,’ her dad frowned. ‘Your one, on the other hand…’
‘Is a monster too, don’t worry,’ Caitlin said dryly. ‘Can I get you a drink?’
‘Oh, no, I’d better get right to work,’ her dad said, reluctantly handing her daughter back to her. ‘It ain’t easy getting professional air conditioning services near Canberra, Jake tells me?’
‘It’s been a nightmare,’ Caitlin huffed, stepping towards an armchair. ‘Every time we call they’re all booked solid, and we’re starting to genuinely worry about winter. Molly’s room gets so cold with all that glass.’
‘Well,’ her dad said, stretching out his arms like a cartoon plumber about to go to work, ‘just point me in the right direction. I may not be the best at ducted heating repairs in Canberra, but I can join two ends of a pipe and that’s gotten me pretty far in life.’
‘You’re sure you don’t mind?’
‘Of course not,’ he smiled. ‘Besides, I’m not doing it for you.’
‘Oh?’ Caitlin frowned.
‘I’m doing it for my favourite grandchild,’ he chuckled.