Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“I assume your bedroom is upstairs?” he said to Master Jimmy.
He followed the boy upstairs to a bare room with zero personality. Sure, Mr. Tom had gotten it all wrong the first time he tried to dress up the boy’s room in Ivy House, but at least he’d tried. Through many phone calls and texted pictures, he’d managed to perfect the look, and it had been in perfect shape by the time Master Jimmy returned. This was…worse than a hotel.
“No, no.” Mr. Tom put the bags on the bed. “This won’t do. Don’t worry, I will fix this. Let me just bring in the other bags, put everything away, and then I will go shopping to make this room nicer for you to inhabit.”
“No, Mr. Tom, really…” Jimmy’s eyes were doing that thing the miss’s always did when she was overcome with emotion, appreciative of someone looking after her. It was a look Mr. Tom strived for. It was his benchmark. If he hit that look, he knew he’d achieved success.
“Don’t be ridiculous, boy!” he admonished Master Jimmy, knowing that the miss accepted his help easier if he yelled at her. Such strange creatures, these Dicks and Janes. “Find a place to hide the…” He gave a look that indicated he was referring to the cash and credit card and left the room.
The soon-to-be stepmom was quarreling with the father in the living room, easily seen from the stairwell, since it clung to the wall and descended into that space. They didn’t look up until he was halfway down the stairs, slow to register his presence.
She smiled in a disarming way. The man’s look was reproachful, full of disdain and arrogance, and with an air of dominance.
Why he’d attempt to claim dominance, Mr. Tom couldn’t say. His suit was made well, a somewhat expensive purchase, but the tailoring was off. It was as though his body had changed since it had been fashioned. The coloring, a light blue, was currently out of fashion and much too bright. He had a small pot belly, a fragile sort of frame, and narrow shoulders. He’d lose a fight with an old Jane woman over a stolen handbag.
His chin was tilted up, though, like he fancied himself some kind of king or emperor.
“Hello,” the man said, walking forward to meet Mr. Tom at the base of the stairs. He put out his hand. “You’re Jacinta’s…butler, I hear?”
Mr. Tom shook the hand, a little put off by the waxy skin. “Yes.”
The man stared at him. But while his gaze was direct and expectant, there was no power behind it—nor the kind of that required a response.
“Right,” Mr. Tom said, turning. “I have one more bag to bring in, and then I must go shopping for Master Jimmy’s room. It is devoid of décor that interests him.”
The man didn’t stop him from leaving or prevent him from taking the last bag upstairs. Upon delivering it, though, Mr. Tom could tell Master Jimmy was uncomfortable.
“Listen,” he said to the boy gently, “you currently seem to be a pawn in the schemes of…some of your parents, but you are not a child. At any time, you can stand up and be your own man. You needn’t allow yourself to be passed between your parents like luggage. Let me put you up in your own room at the hotel near the house. Naomi and Aurora are staying there, as well as a couple of the shifters and gargoyles. Or you can take your emergency money, leave whenever you wish, and do whatever you like.” He pointed a finger at the boy. “As long as you let your mom know you’re safe. We don’t want her leveling the city because of you.”
Master Jimmy smiled at that—a good sign.
“Don’t spend the holidays unhappy,” Mr. Tom finished.
Jimmy reached out to hug him, the first time he’d ever done so. “Thank you,” he said, backing away quickly. “I’ll stay for a day or so. Don’t bother outfitting the room. But can you ask Mom to either come for dinner tomorrow, or maybe the day after so I can go back with her? I mean, it’ll be fine here, but…” He shrugged. “I prefer staying with you guys. I don’t really have much in common with my dad.”
The earnestness with which the master spoke broke Mr. Tom’s heart. He didn’t want to leave the child. The woman here certainly seemed loving, but she was mostly a stranger. The man…
Well, Mr. Tom didn’t quite understand the particulars, as the miss said very little about her ex other than that he worked a lot, but the reception here was certainly stale. Austin Steele was gentler on a shifter’s first day in the pack, and that was a work affair.
The situation was altogether strange, and Mr. Tom did not like strange things.