Page 68 of Interning For A Billionaire

We sat down in the living room, in a comfortable silence.

Then I asked my father, “How come there is no food in the house?”

“I guess I haven’t been much for shopping.”

“But doesn’t Aunt Kate do the shopping?”

“She’s kind of moved in with Jean up at the farm? She’s been taking care of her.”

“Why has she moved in?”

“Jean fell down, broke her hip a while back. When she came out of hospital, there was no-one to look after her, especially in the beginning. Kate offered to help and she’s kind of stayed on.”

“So, you’ve been all alone here?”

“Yup.”

He must have seen the look of pity on my face and laughed.

“Oh, child, let me tell you, I love the silence. No one to talk all the time, nagging me about my shoes and my papers.”

“What about Darcy?”

He looked away embarrassed. “Ah, well, yes. There’s Darcy.”

“Are you still together?”

“We visit,” he said awkwardly. “But… I’m not ready to marry again. I don’t think I ever will be. I am grateful to Kate for helping us after your mother… But it’s nice being here by myself.”

I didn’t know if I should believe him.

“I even got a dog!”

This was the first I’d heard of it.

“Where is he?”

“I left him next door with Paul when I heard Kate was in the hospital. Didn’t know when I’d be back.”

“Let’s go get him!” I said and I was touched to see how happy my father seemed at the prospect of going to fetch his dog.

“I called him Ari, after Aristoteles,” he said. “He’s very intelligent, you’ll see.”

Paul and Amy Bloom had lived next door to us for as long as I could remember. Both of them had gotten bigger but they were as friendly as ever and both insisted on hugging me as soon as they saw me.

“Oh, look at you! The big city girl!”

I saw a flash of black and white as the dog hurled itself at my father, jumping up against him, barking excitedly.

“Down, Ari, down,” my father said sternly. The border collie immediately obeyed him, panting excitedly. Once the dog was calm, my father patted his head and spoke softly to him.

“Was he a good boy?” he asked Paul.

“Oh, the best,” Amy said. “I gave him some of my meatloaf for dinner and he wanted more!”

They wanted to know how my aunt was doing and my father gave them a quick update. Amy made us promise to stop by before driving out to the hospital tomorrow. She wanted to send along cookies and pie to take to my aunt.

As we walked back to our house, my father said, “I didn’t have the heart to tell her about what the doctor said about eating cookies.”

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