Page 7 of Lost Little Boy
“H-H-How can I help you?” I hoped to hell I didn’t have food in my teeth.
“Are you Perry Castle?” He was wearing a navy suit that brought out the blue in his eyes. His shirt was white, and his tie was a pretty coral color with blue polka dots. He looked right off the runway like the guys in Nora’s fashion magazines.
“Yes, sir.” I was fighting the urge to puke on his shiny black shoes.
“I’m Wex… Grassley. Uh, Wexler Grassley the third. I understand I owe you my life. May… May I come in?”
I nearly swallowed my tongue, so I quickly stepped back to allow him inside. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted or how I’d be able to answer his questions. I was busy drowning in his ocean blue eyes.
Chapter Four
Wex
The young man in front of me wearing denim coveralls was stunning. His brown eyes caught me off guard, and I lost my train of thought when he stepped back to allow me to enter the small supply closet—which was exactlythat. Surely, my father could afford to give them an office.
Perry wrung his hands for a second before stepping into a mop that nearly whacked him in the head.I was able to reach out and grab it before it made contact. I was paranoid about the slightest head injury, having gone through hell for the last four weeks to recover from mine.
“I wouldn’t say I saved your life, Mr. Grassley the third. I’m just glad I heard you behind that dumpster. Are you okay, sir?”
I shoved the mop back onto the hook and took Perry’s hand to lead him to the chair. Something about him had me stymied. His cheeks were pink as he took a seat, staring at me with a deer-in-headlights expression.
“I’m fine. I had a fractured skull and a grade two concussion, which supports everything my father has always said about me having a hard head.”
Perry’s hand slid up over his mouth hiding a laugh. I was glad he got the joke. I could have sworn that his eyes sparkled in the dim light of the closet.
“I, uh, I’m glad, sir, I—”
“Call me Wex, please. I want to give you this check for all your trouble.” I reached into my jacket and pulled out an envelope containing a cashier’s check for six figures, because how the hell could I value my own life? My doctor had told me if Perry Castle hadn’t found me behind that dumpster, I could have had a seizure or a stroke and died. How could I repay him?
Perry took the envelope, lifted the flap, and glanced at the check before he handed it back. “I can’t accept that. A thank you is enough.” He looked embarrassed, which wasn’t my intention.
He held out the envelope, but I was too gobsmacked to take it. “Please, Mr. Grassley. I know I don’t have money like you, but I have my pride. I did the same thing any person with an ounce of humanity would have done. Excuse me. My lunch break is over.”
The envelope fell on the floor as he rushed out of the closet. The click of the door brought me from my shock. What kind of man turned down that much money? Like nobody I’d ever met.
For two weeks, I doggedly stalked Perry Castle throughout the building to give him that damn check. He refused it every time, such that it was almost like a joke by the third week of May.
Wednesday after my return to DC, I went to the restaurant across the street and ordered lunch for the two of us to take back to the office. The place was a Germanbrewhaus that I’d have loved to take him to, but he only took thirty minutes for lunch. I’d caught him in the closet with any number of sandwiches, so I decided to get him a Cuban and myself a burger.
Once I had the food, I went to my office down the hall from my sister. Dad was in the Hamptons with Mom for vacation, and Nance and I had elected not to go along. While he was gone, having left me in charge, I’d abdicated power to Nancy, who was shining in the role of president. I was proud of her and wished my father had been there to witness it.
After I hung my suitcoat behind the door, I went to Nancy’s doorway and stood until she got off the phone. “Love you, honey. See you tonight.”
She glanced at me and smiled. “Little brother, what can I do for you?” I stepped into her office and took a seat in one of the leather chairs across from her desk.
“I’ll ask that you refrain from quizzing me right now. I need a favor.” It was a shot in the dark. Nance wasn’t one to let me off the hook… ever.
She chuckled. “Sure. Why not? What can I do for you?”
I crossed my legs. “I need you to call Hugh Warrick and ask them to send Perry Castle up here to clean something in your office. Then I need you to get out and let me use it so I can talk to him.”
Hereyes sparkled like a great white shark. “Perry Castle. Is he the young man who found you after you were mugged?”
I nodded, bracing myself for her next series of questions.
“Why are you wanting to have lunch with him in my office?”
“Because he only gets thirty minutes, and if you call his boss and make it a work issue, he can stay longer.”
