Linford’s following proved Cristelle’s thought, “He’s the greatest writer alive, and his calligraphy is of the top tier in this country. Do you want to be like him when you grow up?”
Candace shook her head. She wanted to be like Cindy.
She didn’t want to be like the old man when she grew up, being bold and not smiling.
Listening to Linford’s low voice, Cristelle was about to drift into a sound sleep. However, her phone suddenly started to buzz. It was FaceTime from Cody. Cristelle turned on the light and held up the phone.
She accepted the call, and Cody’s face showed up, “Mommy! I missed you so much!”
Linford suddenly leaned in and smiled at Cody on the screen.
The boy went furious in a second. His voice raised instantly, “Mom! Why are you sleeping with him? What have you guys done when I’m away?”
Cristelle was utterly speechless.
“Cody, what are you talking about? We’re in Pop’s house right now. Candace came here for her dance class.”
Candace sat up and blew a kiss at the camera.
Cody pouted, “Don’t get lost as well, Candace. Or I’ll be so disappointed.”
What the heck was this?
Linford took the phone, so the three of them all showed up on the screen, “Have you made it to the location, son? What are you and your uncle doing right now?”
Cody huffed, “I want to talk to Mom. Fine… We’re roasting fish right now. Look!”
Cody turned the camera, and Linford saw two fishes were sizzling on sticks.
“Where’s your uncle?” Cristelle asked.
Cody held the phone with both of his hands, “Uncle said it’s time for our family meeting. He wouldn’t get in the frame.”
“I see,” Cristelle frowned.
Maybe Enzo just didn’t want to show up on camera. She didn’t mind as long as Cody was safe.
“Uncle and I came to a small island tonight. We just made a tent, and we caught some fish in the sea. Check out the tuna I got, Mom,” Cody leveled the camera toward a small bucket. A tuna was jumping, slapping its tail inside the bucket.
“Wow… That’s…”
“That’s small.”
Before Cristelle could say anything nice, Linford suddenly cut in.
Cody pouted, “I’m not showing it to you. I’m showing it to my Mom.”
Linford huffed, “If you didn’t turn the camera, I wouldn’t need to see it.”
“Cody, it’s time,” Before Cody could talk back, Enzo’s voice suddenly sounded.
Cody sighed, “Mom, it’s time to turn off the phone. You take care of yourself and stay away from that man. Or I’ll be worried.”
“Cody,” Enzo urged him.
The boy stuck his tongue out and ended the call.
Cristelle was a bit worried after placing her phone on the nightstand again. Linford seemed like he was at ease, “I think he will be fine. He seemed… full of energy. I’m sure he has adapted to the environment.”
Cristelle didn’t even want to talk to him, lying down.
****
When Linford opened his eyes in the small hours, Candace, who used to recline against his chest, was gone. She probably went to the toilet. Right now, Cristelle was resting her head against his chest. He could sniff her shampoo this close.
She was probably too close because he got hard almost instantly when he felt the softness of her butt against his thighs.
Linford took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Cristelle was obvious. It took her about 30 minutes to finally open her eyes, she felt Linford’s erection behind her back and yelped, almost rolling off the bed if Candace was not sleeping on the edge of the king-size.
Candace opened her eyes as she felt her Mom’s arms around her. Cristelle was pulling her in, trembling like a leaf in the wind, “Candace! Why are you sleeping here?” Cristelle was a bit pissed off.
Candace blinked innocently. She had gone to the toilet earlier. When she got back, Mom and Dad were sleeping next to each other. She had wanted to get between them, but she couldn’t. So she had settled on the edge of the bed.
Linford also got up groggily, “What’s wrong?”
Cristelle went mildly pissed off as she pulled the blanket up, covering her face, “Nothing.”
Linford pulled Candace in and left a kiss on her forehead, “Good job.”
Candace smiled sweetly at him and buried her little head in his chest.
****
After having breakfast with Franco, Linford and Cristelle went to their company. Franco prepared a bucket of fresh strawberries picked from his garden for Cristelle, saying she could have them during lunch. Cristelle could only accept them.
They met Mr. Weston on their way out. He was holding a suitcase. He stopped when he saw Candace.
“Good morning, Mr. Weston,” Linford smiled, introducing Cristelle, “This is my wife.”
Mr. Weston was Franco’s best friend. He seldom visited here because he spent all day every day writing his new novel. Linford had begged him to come out and teach Candace calligraphy. It had taken Linford so long to finally persuade the old man.
Mr. Weston opened his suitcase and revealed a whole set of pens, “Check this out, little one.”
There was a smaller pen tucked among all the large ones. It was made especially for Candace.
Mr. Weston had it made yesterday after the class.
“Do you like it, girl?” Mr. Weston asked.
Candace was thrilled as she saw the pen made for her, nodding and smiling at the old man. She loved it!
“Guess we can practice 30 more minutes today,” Mr. Weston also smiled. He held Candace’s little hand and left.
Candace waved at Linford and Cristelle before walking away with Mr. Weston. Cristelle felt so relieved when she saw that. She was glad Candace grew to like calligraphy.
“It’s time to go,” Linford said gently.
Cristelle walked out, not sparing a look at Linford. She was still mad at him about what had happened a couple of days ago.
****
Meanwhile, in Darwin’s house, Gary finally got the land he wanted. Mary went to thank Tanya personally, “If you didn’t persuade your husband, we wouldn’t have got the land. He mentioned Linford so many times. Or they wouldn’t have given the land to us so easily. Here… I brought you a diamond bracelet. Try it on! ”
Mary put that diamond bracelet on Tanya’s wrist.