Page 43 of The Usual Family Mayhem

Much more of this and I’d forget he helped me out of a jam by backing me up. “Thank you, by the way.”

Jackson shrugged. “No problem. The idea of that guy winning an argument pissed me off.”

“I feel that way every day I step into the office.” Now what? The steady buzz of conversation around us grew louder the longer we sat there not talking. “Don’t you have to get back to work?”

“I have a few minutes. You can use that time to explain how you intend to get out of this and still keep your job.”

If I knew the answer to that I would have done it already. “Well, you’re the new business attorney...”

He smiled. “Nice try.”

“Jackson.”

His smile vanished. “Dad?”

Harlan pulled out the chair across from us. “How did your meeting go?”

Sure, sit down. We’d love to eat with you.

Harlan didn’t wait for an answer. “I assumed you’d want me to attend but then you moved the time up without letting me know. I only found out about the change when I called your office earlier.”

“I had a work conflict this afternoon. It seemed better to get the meeting done over lunch. It just ended.” Jackson fiddled with the knife at his place setting.

The flash of nerves was a surprise. Jackson tended to glide through life without showing much emotion.

Harlan’s attention shifted back and forth from the knife to Jackson’s face. Harlan looked ready to grab the utensil and throw it across the room. “Was the short length indicative of a problem?”

Really, Harlan? Who talked like that?

Jackson shook his head. “More like my lack of interest. But you know that.”

A very cryptic response. Also, a little snotty, but in this case Jackson’s sharp tone didn’t bug me. Throwing up a boundary when it came to Harlan struck me as both smart and necessary.

I should have excused myself and ran out of there. Let them have some privacy before Harlan started asking me questions. But this was my table, so no. I’d sooner give up eating chips than make Harlan happy.

He seemed hell-bent on chasing Jackson all over town. As far as tactics went this persistence thing bordered on unsettling. So was not knowing the subject matter of the conversation bouncing around me. I understood the words but not the context. Jackson’s meeting sounded important to Harlan. To Jackson? Not so much.

“We can talk about the details later.” Jackson flipped the knife end over end, letting it thunk against the table each time.

“Kasey. This is a surprise,” Harlan said in the least welcoming tone ever. “I didn’t know you planned on attending Jackson’s appointment.”

Appointment? “I didn’t.”

Harlan made an odd sound. Like he was mulling over the timeline of events. “I’m confused. I helped to arrange theget-together and, except for the unexpected scheduling issue, intended to be here for it. You just, what, happened to be in the same restaurant as Jackson?”

“Dad.”

Harlan lifted both hands in mock surrender. “No judgment. Just a question.”

Oh, there was judgment all over his question. I didn’t need Jackson’s help to reply to this one. “I love this restaurant and stop in whenever I’m home. Have you tried the homemade chips? I dream about those back in DC.”

Harlan didn’t look impressed by the food talk. “You understand how important this consultation was, right?”

Interesting how the meeting had morphed into a consultation. The new description might fit. I still didn’t know what was going on.

Jackson sighed. “It actually wasn’t.”

Harlan continued talking as if Jackson hadn’t piped up and contradicted him. “This is an excellent opportunity for Jackson.”

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