“You mean Aunt Jessica and Uncle Jones?”
Rosie quickly nodded.
“They went home yesterday.”
Right after that, she saw a hint of sadness on Rosie’s face.
Children enjoyed company. Besides, Rosie did not have playmates of her age. All she had were toys and cartoons.
It was true that Summer could keep her company, but in a kid’s world, there needed to be more playmates and fun.
Summer could not bear to see her sadness. “Daddy said he would come over tonight.”
“Daddy’s coming over?” Rosie looked at her with her lucid eyes, as though she understood her.
“Yeah.” Summer nodded, wiping the food stain from Rosie’s mouth. “So, finish your breakfast. You’re going to see Kate tonight.”
Rosie chortled, probably finding it fun that Summer called her dad “Kate” just like her.
She went off to play on her own after breakfast.
She could enjoy herself despite being alone. She had probably gotten used to it after all this while.
Summer spent some time with Rosie before she went into the kitchen to do the dishes.
Right then, her mobile phone rang.
Seeing the caller ID on the screen, she hesitated slightly. Alas, she answered it, “Stanley?”
“I’ve been busy lately and couldn’t find the time to call you. How are you doing?” Stanley asked with a cheerful voice.
Summer could vaguely make out the ruffling of papers on the other end. “You’re at work this early?”
“I’m single. It makes no difference to me whether I’m at home or work,” he said half-jokingly.
Summer could not help but feel a bit guilty when she heard that.
No matter what, Stanley had saved her. She felt bad about not inviting him to the housewarming dinner.
“Your female patients must be forming a beeline to see you, I guess.” Stanley was famous. Other than genuine patients, some women would make use of the appointments to approach him.
Stanley chuckled. “You know what, I’d rather wish for you to see me.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t we have lunch together today?” Summer asked.
Stanley was startled for a second. “Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll send you the location of the restaurant.”
Rosie was calling her again.
She and Stanley further exchanged a few more words before she hung up and went out to look for Rosie.
Rosie had dropped a marble in the gap between the couch cushions, and she needed Summer to help her retrieve it.
…
Summer brought Rosie out at noon, and she arrived half an hour early as a gesture of sincerity. While she waited for Stanley, she ordered some snacks for Rosie.
She was naturally close to Stanley when she lost her memory earlier. But now, she had recovered and remembered what happened three years earlier. When Stanley came out of nowhere three years ago, she did not even know who he was.
Before she could figure out who he was, bad things happened. Yet, Stanley was the person who saved her again. That made her even more curious about who Stanley was.
Summer did not have to wait very long for Stanley to arrive.
“I thought I would arrive first.”
Stanley sat down in front of her with a smile, his eyes landing on Rosie. “She’s your daughter?”
“Yeah, she’s Rosie.” Summer smiled, patting Rosie on the head. “Rosie, please greet Uncle Li.”
“Hi, Uncle Li…” Rosie mumbled as she had a mouthful of food.
“Good girl.” Stanley narrowed his eyes in a harmless smile.
Stanley’s look at that moment coincided with how he looked three years ago when Summer first met him.
His background seemed to be clean, and he had saved Summer before, but she was still cautious because he had seemingly come out of nowhere.
“What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?” Stanley said half-jokingly, “Have you thought it through and decided to give up on Leonardo to be together with me? There would be nothing better than that.”
“You fancy becoming a backup man?” Summer raised an eyebrow.
Stanley broke into a smile, not wanting to continue the subject. “How is Leonardo doing?”
“He’s all right.” At least Leonardo did not avoid talking to her anymore.
“Cool.” Stanley nodded as if he was thinking about something. “Should the need arise, you can bring him to see me. I can talk to him. Who knows, it might work?”
“Thanks in advance,” Summer said matter-of-factly.
She then passed the menu to Stanley. “Let’s order something to eat.”
Stanley took the menu and scanned it carefully.
When he looked down at the menu, he was no different from any other man.
The only special thing about him was his extremely kind appearance. Such a feeling emanated from the inside out.
He had a sense of humor, yet he was steady. He was the kind of elite male most popular among women.
He had an established career, was an elite in his field, and was financially stable.
He appeared pale in comparison to Leonardo, but how did this ordinary man save her from the small island?
Summer had spoken to Jessica before. Leonardo was injured badly at that time. When Kate arrived and brought Leonardo away, she had also pulled back the search and rescue team. Carl failed to find her when he arrived later, so when did Stanley discover her and take her away?
Summer stared at Stanley, and her mind was somewhere else.
Stanley suddenly looked up at her. “If you keep staring at me like that, I’ll surely think you’ve taken a liking to me.”
Summer snapped out of her thoughts and appeared natural. “Have you decided what to order?”
He nodded with a searching look on his face.
While they waited for the food to be served, they had a casual conversation. That was when the atmosphere suddenly shifted and became awkward.
“When was it?” Stanley suddenly asked.
He did not elaborate, but Summer knew what he meant.
“After seeing you. On the way home, I went into a mall, and someone brought explosives to blow up the mall…” She briefly described what happened the other day. “Perhaps it was because of the sound of the explosion, but I’ve remembered everything.”
People liked to talk to smart individuals sometimes because talking to smart people saved them a lot of brain cells. They did not have to say much for the other person to know what they were trying to convey.
There was only a subtle change in his expression. “Congratulations!”