YOU’RE THE BEST, ROSSLYN. WHY DIDN’T YOU START WORKING THERE TEN YEARS AGO?
Cause I’m not crazy.WASN’T MY TIME. GOT TO GO. I’LL CALL YOU TONIGHT.
Another ding. This time it was Charles.
HAVE A GOOD DAY.
She chuckled softly. It was so formal. He was back to being Charles, and Charlie was put away till the weekend. She was hoping to see him before that, but it had been left open last night. Probably because they were both so tired. Should she ask? No. Charles knew how to find her.
Replying she said, YOU TOO. It was simple and enough. The last thing she wanted to do was come off as some needy woman.
Actually a good morning text was more than she’d expected. She knew times had changed and people had casual sex. A one-night stand wasn’t her style, and she hoped that wasn’t what it had been. If it was, she’d accept it and move on. But I’d miss him.
It wasn’t just the sex either. He made her laugh and somehow forget her troubles. Well, not forget, maybe they just didn’t seem to weigh as much when he was around.
Screw it!Life was too damn short not to say what you want. Pulling out her phone again, she sent Charles another text.
WANT TO HAVE DINNER WITH ME THURSDAY NIGHT?
She would’ve said Friday but still hoped to return home for another visit yet a bit worried her father would believe that would become a weekly thing. It wasn’t possible, and she surely wasn’t going to ask Charles to take her each time. Although the perks definitely tempted her.
Charles replied. ONLY IF YOU HAVE DINNER WITH ME ON TUESDAY TOO.
She loved knowing he couldn’t wait that long either. Rosslyn giggled and then remembered where she was. Any sound of happiness would be a red flag that she was not concentrating on work. DEAL. GOT TO GO BEFORE I GET MY HEAD CHOPPED OFF.
She thought that would be the end of it. Instead of one last reply and a quick goodbye, he responded with PLEASE NOT THAT BEAUTIFUL HEAD OF YOURS. I’D MISS SEEING IT.
His words sent a warm feeling through her. Beautiful. Smiling, she slipped her phone inside her desk. This day just got a lot better, because she was seeing Charles again tomorrow. Bring it on, Uncle Max. Whatever you say won’t bother me today.
She cursed herself, because shortly afterward he started barking orders faster than she could jot them down. The temp never showed up and somehow she seemed to be filling Liz’s position. At this rate she actually was going to earn her paycheck. It felt good not to owe Uncle Max anything. Hopefully this was the way it would continue.
Charles tossed his phone on his desk and looked up at Gareth. “You couldn’t wait till I called you?”
Gareth shook his head. “You’re lucky I waited this long.” He took a seat across from Charles and said, “I’m not even sure I believe what I found.”
“Then maybe it’s not true.”
“It is. But it brings a hell of a lot of questions with it, and I’m not sure any of us are going to like the answers.”
“I know you like to see if I can guess what you’re talking about, but I’m not in the mood for games today.” Actually he never was, but little sleep and Gareth interrupting his texting Rosslyn wasn’t the way to start his day.
“We need to talk about our grandfather.”
“You mentioned that already. He didn’t like the Hendersons. That’s not surprising. A lot of people don’t. They can be difficult to work with.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. The woman that was looking into our grandfather seemed to be doing some digging about Dad as well.”
That was a new development. “What does Dad have to do with the Hendersons?”
“Nothing, I think. But I’m glad you’re sitting down for this. Dad had an older sister. Her name was Audrey.”
Sister?There never was any mention of that before. Actually, it was clear that their father was an only child. “Are you sure about that?”
“That woman, Gia Gravel, was the one who found the connection.”
That wasn’t an answer. Which meant Gareth wasn’t willing to stake his name on it. “Is she a private investigator or something?” Charles asked.
Gareth shook his head. “Works for the Hendersons in the office. Before that she was a compliance auditor. I really can’t tell you why she was looking into our family. My gut says it was at the request of the Hendersons.”