Brian tucked his smile away. “Yes, sir. There’s a reason why I haven’t had a girlfriend. For example, my busy work schedule, having no time, that sort of thing…”
“Would you like a long holiday then?” Mark asked in a soft voice. “Or perhaps you’d like to bring your retirement forward, say, twenty or thirty years?”
Brian shook his head vigorously. “No no no, I’m happy to serve you. I’d happily drive you around for ten more years during my retirement years, as long as I’m capable of doing it.”
…
The West family residence.
Summer had been confined to her bed ever since Tanya’s strangulation and would suffer from bouts of fever from time to time. The doctor had concluded that it was a result of shock and that she would be fine after a good rest.
Jackson had been paying frequent visits to the West family residence because of this, mostly out of guilt and because he felt sorry for his mother. He had a slight change in his impression of Atticus after seeing how much personal care and concern he had given Summer. Although he still refused to greet him, at least he no longer showed up with a blackened face.
“Jackson, you don’t have to worry about me. Your father is taking care of me. It’s not a big deal. I’m just too old, so I’m less resilient now. By the way, you should pay more attention to the company branch in South Park. They have a solid foundation and their profits are second only to the main office. It’s in the capital too, so you have to pay special attention. I can’t handle that now, and your dad isn’t good with this sort of thing. It’s all on you now.”
The corners of Atticus’s lips twitched. “You can’t say that, Summer. Jackson and I have only met not too long ago. If there’s a bug, he would have caught it from you first. He must be troubled in some way, so he’s feeling depressed. It’s not my fault. Haven’t you been arranging something? We’ll see if it comes to fruition soon.”
“Haven’t I been worried about that?” Summer grumbled. “I deliberately put Tiffie at our subsidiary branch, then persuaded Jackson into going there too. Something’s bound to happen as long as they see each other and talk. I’m just worried that he hasn’t straightened this out yet.”
Atticus, on the other hand, was confident. “He’s a very sensible man. Don’t worry. He’ll get things straightened out if he wants to. You should take a walk downstairs. It’s bad enough that you’ve been faking it for Jackson. Little Bean’s been standing guard by your bed for an entire day.”
Summer was fine. She had deliberately built a tense atmosphere for Jackson. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken her words seriously. She spiritedly got down from bed, scooped up the dog, and headed downstairs. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a treat. You’ve suffered a lot for my sake, haven’t you? I didn’t even get to hold you. You poor thing.”
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