Sitting in the car, Summer occasionally turned to look at Leonardo.
He was behind the wheel, looking ahead at all times. As if he had grown an extra pair of eyes on the side of his head, he suddenly asked, “Why are you looking at me?”
“No-Nothing.” She looked away immediately. Leonardo was an unfathomable man, she said in her mind.
When Jarrett Sr. returned from abroad, her family would definitely ask her to go home, but not necessarily today. Even if he had guessed it, should he not call her to confirm with her? But Leonardo just came right away, as if he knew he would not be wrong. He was a man of confidence.
…
They arrived at the Mu residence in no time. When the maid at the door saw Summer, she bowed and greeted her. Summer brought Leonardo in. There was no one in the living room, only voices in the kitchen.
“You’re back, Summer!”
Karen came out from the kitchen, her eyes reduced to slits as she smiled.
“Mom,” Summer greeted her in a lukewarm tone of voice.
When Karen saw the man behind Summer, her smile evaporated. Shooting a glance at Leonardo, she pulled Summer to one side. “Summer, why did you bring him here? This is just inappropriate! You and he…” She stopped as if it was too embarrassing to say it. She then continued, “Even if you two have a good relationship, you shouldn’t have acted so brazenly! What if Leonardo finds out?”
What if he found out? No idea. He insisted on tagging along. “Let it be!” Summer could not have cared less.
Karen still thought Leonardo was “Douglas”. As Summer brought him home, she automatically assumed that there was some hanky-panky going on between them. But Karen’s attitude was perceptibly different from last time.
Back then, she would chide her when she saw them together. But now, her tone of voice had changed subtly. She was just worried that Leonardo would find out. It was an intriguing change of attitude.
Summer did not want to argue with Karen. She asked, “Where is Grandpa?” She and Leonardo were eager to meet Jarrett Sr.
“In the office upstairs. Let me show you the way.” While speaking, Karen brought them up the stairs. After just a few paces, she suddenly turned to look at “Douglas”, her expression changing. “Summer, you…”
Pretending not to know what Karen meant, Summer asked, “What?”
“Mr. Emerson, do you mind having a cup of tea in the living room? Summer is going to see her grandpa. It won’t be long,” Karen said.
“That’s okay, I can go with her,” Leonardo said, holding Summer’s hand and going up the stairs. Jarrett Sr. built the house very early on, with a vast built-up area and many rooms on the first floor.
“Where is your grandpa’s office?” Leonardo asked.
Although Jarrett Sr. had been living abroad all these years, they still kept his office as he had left it, with maids cleaning the room regularly.
“This is the one.” Summer brought him before the door. They exchanged looks, and she knocked on the door. Then an old but forceful voice answered.
“Come in.”
Summer pushed in and saw Jarrett Sr. standing in front of a bookshelf, browsing a book in his hand. Alexander Jarrett, one of the earliest persons who started a business here. He was gutsy, educated, but lacked business acumen, still keeping himself looking good although a little thin at the top. He wore a pair of reading glasses, a finely pressed shirt, and waistcoat, looking as elegant as a university professor.
Summer had almost forgotten his face. Standing before him now, the image of her grandpa hidden in the back of her mind somewhere started to come back.
She greeted, “Grandpa!”
Hearing a voice, Alexander looked up from his book. Despite being seventy-odd years old, he still had a pair of sharp eyes. At first, he looked at her, feeling a little strange. He thought for a moment, as if rummaging through his memories, and said, “Are you Mi? Summer?”
“Mi” was Summer’s nickname that Alexander gave her, based on the third note of the musical scale, with her brother and Vicky having “Do” and “Re” respectively. So the nickname sounded close to her heart.
“Yes, Grandpa, it’s me.” Summer nodded.
“You were still this tall when I left.” Alexander, putting his hand at table level. “Now you have grown up in the blink of an eye.”
He walked around the desk toward Summer as he sighed for years gone by. Just then, he only noticed the man behind Summer. His pupils contracted, expression changing.
Leonardo took a step forward, standing closer to Alexander so that Alexander could see his face more clearly. “Long time no see, Mr. Jarrett.”
Alexander appeared a little shocked, then only calmed down, but still a little unsure. “You are… Leonardo?”
“Yes, Mr. Jarrett.” He smirked, but there was no smile on his face.
The air in the room suddenly became still. This was something Summer had not expected; her grandpa and Leonardo knew each other.
Just when Alexander wanted to speak, a maid knocked on the door. “Mr. Jarrett, lunch is ready.”
“Please, join us.” Alexander gestured, glancing at Leonardo, and then walked out of the room.
Summer gave Leonardo a look. They both followed Alexander from behind. “You’ve met my grandpa before? And he knows you?”
Leonardo did not deny it. “Yeah.”
…
When they came to the dining room, the other three family members had been sitting at the table.
Seeing that Summer had brazenly brought “Douglas” home, Vicky sneered, “Summer, this is our family lunch. Why did you bring an outsider here?” Vicky used to take a liking to “Douglas”, but he had never looked at her once.
However, times had changed. She was now into Adams who, she thought, had better social standing and position than “Douglas”. Naturally, “Douglas” had fallen out of her radar.
Without needing Summer to speak, Alexander shot Vicky a warning look. As much as he loved Vicky and her brother, he had never spoiled them as Lynn did. Instead, he was rather strict with them. Vicky feared him, and she kept her low and said not a word again.