Chapter 36：Invite a friend

My uncle tells me about them. Uncle Jonathan was my father's brother and they were close. The firm he owns was started by him and my father. That's how I came to work there. ―Can I see a picture of your parents?

He nodded and led her to the other parlor. In the large desk that was to the side of the room, he pulled out a drawer that contained a photo album. He showed her the picture of the young man and woman.

―They look young, she commented. ―My dad was twenty-one and my mother was eighteen when they married. The thought that she and Leo were already older than his parents had been when they died made her shiver.

―They look so young. You look a lot like your father, though you have a hint of your mother in you. I can see where you got your good looks. She quickly shut her mouth before she said anything else. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage him!

He smiled. ―It's nice to know you find me to your liking. She blushed. He turned back to the album and said, ―Apparently, my father was outgoing. I must get my shy nature from my mother. For some reason, he didn't strike her as someone shy. He certainly had made enough advances at her for her to assume he was outgoing.

As if he could read her mind, he explained, ―I do better with small groups, especially when I deal with just one or two people at a time. But in large groups, I tend to listen rather than talk. We have a dinner party to attend on Wednesday.

You are free to invite a friend or two to come too so you have someone to talk to. I'm afraid I'll have to spend the evening talking to some clients. She frowned. ―You didn't ask me if I wanted to go.

―I do like going to dinner parties as long as I have someone to talk to, and I do like Mr. and Mrs. Walker. I know Mrs. Walker fairly well since she owns the nursing home. I would like to go to it but I'm upset because you didn't even ask me if it was something I wanted to do.

―I'm sorry, Jessica. I will be sure to ask in the future. If it's something you don't want to go to, then we can do something else that night. ―You won't go to a dinner party if I don't want to go to it? ―No. You're my wife and I want to be with you. He looked at her.

―Should I put this back? He motioned to the album. ―Yes. Thank you for showing it to me. ―Anytime. You know you're free to anything in this house so if you want to find out about my deep, dark nature, you should do a thorough examination of all the drawers in this place.

He smiled jokingly as he said it, so she knew that there were no deep, dark skeletons in his closet. To test her theory, she went to another drawer and opened it. She shook her head. It was full of investment reports and books. Pulling open another drawer, she saw more of the same. ―Do you eat, breathe and sleep investment material? He chuckled.

―I admit that I've had a one-track mind in the past. My whole world has been tied up with my uncle's firm. You should know that after my parents died and I came to live here, my life has been pretty much the same as it is now, except I'm an adult living in my own house. I have the same friends I've had since school. Your brother is a good friend. He likes to joke around and have fun.

―He was always the center of attention no matter where we went. ―He's brought me out of my shell. I had no friends until your family moved to town.

He found me reading a book in the library during lunch and said I was crazy about reading about life when I could be living it. He talked me into getting out and participating in the school activities. We met Nathan Hunter from there and the three of us were close. He sighed.

―Nathan will be moving to Rhode Island. This town won't be the same without him. He looked at her. ―It won't be the same without your father either. I'm sorry about what happened to him. Mr. Rivers just went bankrupt too. She thought that was odd.

What were the chances that two businesses would go bankrupt in a short amount of time? She absentmindedly touched his arm. ―Is there a connection between my father's bankruptcy and his? He nodded.