“How about if we try a cabin?”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Guess you’ll have to win the next bet.”
They both laughed.
James and I watched them for a second, before he looked down at me with a tentative smile. “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. It’s just... Well, I’ve thought much about that, uh...issue, but I can’t just—”
“No, you’re right,” I cut him off quickly, slipping my hand into his. “You don’t work there, and even if you did, your dad will return soon. It was unfair of me to ask anything more.”
As if on cue, the door pushed open, and the old man I’d seen before swept outside.
“Ferdie?” James stared at him in surprise. “I was sure you’d have gone back to—”
For some reason, the man didn’t seem at all like the controlled, dignified gentleman I met upon our departure. This time, his skin was pale, his tie was askew, and there was a manic look in his eyes as he burst out of the house and rushed down the stairs. “Master Cross,” he blurted, then instantly gentled his voice, “James...”
James stiffened instinctually; the use of his first name by one of his staff spooked him even more than the crooked tie. “What is it?” he asked softly, bracing himself with dread. “What happened?”
Ferdie’s eyes softened with unspeakable pity as he gazed down at his young charge.
With that same bracing instinct, Nick put a hand on James’s shoulder, and I gripped his side.
“It’s... Your father, Master Cross,” Ferdie replied quietly. “I’m so sorry, James. He’s... Your father has passed.”
To be continued...