Chapter Fifteen
Jack
‘I don’t think you should be here.’ In the offices of The Diamond Touch, Jack looked across the oak desk at his father.
‘Nonsense. The fresh air and the walk did me good. The doctor says I need to incorporate physical exercise into my life more. It’s something I’ve neglected, I do believe.’
Jack returned his father’s smile. His father never walked anywhere unless it was around the golf course, to a fancy restaurant nearby to meet clients, or to a taxi at the kerb to take him to the next meeting. It was a wonder he always looked as good as he did.
‘So,’ Kent continued, ‘this morning was a start. I walked from home to here. I was going crazy, out of my mind with boredom being stuck in the house recuperating. Do you know what I did last night?’
‘What?’
‘I sat and wrote Christmas cards and discussed the food shopping with Maggie.’
Jack’s head tipped back as he laughed. ‘You must’ve been bored.’
‘Going out of my mind, most likely. The tedium of every day spent taking it easy will be what kills me, forget anything else.’
Jack checked his schedule, happy his father did in fact seem ready to get back to normality. ‘Why don’t you join us at our lunch meeting today, get right back into the swing of things.’
Kent leaned forwards, arms on the desk and alert. He’d never been a man to sit around and let things happen in front of him. ‘Who’s it with?’
Jack filled him in on the buyers they were meeting, who’d flown in from Chicago. ‘You’ll need to avoid the alcohol,’ he instructed.
Kent winced. ‘What if they offer me the finest champagne?’
‘You don’t take it!’
‘I suppose I don’t. And I’ve got to give up the cigars.’
Jack grinned. That’d be hard, especially when it came to gatherings at the house, a tradition Kent enjoyed. He buzzed reception and asked Penny to amend their booking to include one more and then shooed his father out of his office for an hour or so until it was time to go. It’d give him a chance to get through the paperwork, polish up his pitch. He’d already briefed Braydon that he’d take the lead on this one and his colleague hadn’t been too happy. Braydon hated sitting there and letting anyone else do the talking, but Jack owed it to his father to get his head back in the game.
Out on the New York streets at lunchtime, the slush collected in the gutters, blackened by the filth from traffic. Jack flagged down a cab. ‘Braydon will meet us there. He’s held up downtown. Corner of East 29th and 1st Avenue,’ he told the driver as Kent climbed in behind him.
‘Christmas shopping most likely.’ Kent laughed as the taxi set off through the city streets. ‘He’s probably picking out something expensive for Fern.’
Wow, his father had relaxed since his health scare. Before, he would’ve frowned upon time out in the day for anyone. The old saying ‘time is money’ didn’t need to be spoken by Kent, it usually oozed from his pores.
‘Hey, is Linda still around?’ Jack asked, referring to the woman his father had seen on and off for the last few months. ‘You haven’t mentioned her since she came to see you in the hospital. Don’t tell me she dumped you.’
Kent shook his head and laughed. ‘We’re just friends now. It was never going to work.’
Jack didn’t ask why, but he wondered whether his father would ever meet someone who’d be long-term, rather than a quick flutter in his life.
‘Talking of Christmas shopping,’ Kent added. ‘I ordered the gifts for Cameron and the kids online.’
‘Well done, I’m impressed.’
‘I’m getting organised in my old age.’
Last year Jack had reminded him over and over again to send the gifts. With Cameron living in Toronto, you couldn’t leave it to the last minute, but his father had and the kids had had to wait until the day after Boxing Day for their new toys. They probably hadn’t noticed with all the other presents they’d received, but Cameron had been a woman scorned. She’d been on the phone bitching about it to Jack and dropped hints this year whenever they spoke to one another. Although she’d eased off with Kent since his stint in the hospital, she’d kept going with Jack and he’d had enough. Ever since his mother died, it was as though Cameron had taken over as mother hen. He loved his sister dearly, but when she’d married a Canadian whose job as a CIO at a prestigious insurance company had meant they’d move to Toronto, Jack had thought it a bit of an unintentional blessing.
‘How are we getting on looking for new premises?’ Jack asked as they made their way to the restaurant on a garden plaza with a view of the East River.
‘Actually, I did a bit of online research while I was away from work, and I may well have found us something.’
‘Really?’
