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"Dad"

James walked over to the snifter of Scotch Walter kept on hand and poured himself a liberal quantity He wasn’t fond of hard liquor and rarely indulged, but he felt he needed so potent And fast

"It’s been one of those days, has it?"

Jaht say that" He took his first sip and the Scotch burned its way down his throat "This stuff could rot a lass, James sat in the leather chair next to his father "I suppose you’re wondering about the eye"

"I’ll ad curious"

"You and everyone else I’ve seen today"

"I can iine you’ve been the object of ht"

"You?"

"Don’t sound so surprised You’re the one who told me there’d be tiht This happened to be one of those"

"Want to talk about it?" His father set aside the paper

"Not particularly, but if you must know, it was over Su you, son, I like her Couldn’t have chosen a bettermyself"

Ja well I ith her this weekend" Jarimaced "We had brunch with her parents"

"Helen and Hank Good people," Walter co date--on their end and ested ait until September I said November, because of the election"

"Do you want that?" Walter asked

"No Neither does Summer"

"Then the hell with it Let her finish out her contract with Disneyland and join you after that You’ve already had a wedding I never could understand why you wanted two ceremonies, but then I’s What I would appreciate is a couple of grandkids I’er, you know, and neither are you"

"Do aith the second ceremony?"

"That’s what I said," Walter muttered

James closed his eyes in relief Of course Itbecause he thought that hat Summer wanted, but if he asked her, Ja was for her parents’ sake

"How’d you get so smart?" James asked his father

"Don’t know, but I ot a superior court judge for a son"

Ja comfortable for the first time all day

"Stay for dinner," his father insisted "It’s been a while since we spent any real tiaht" It was an invitation too good to refuse

When Ja He was tees

He felt tired but relaxed and not particularly interested in returning a long list of phone calls Especially when he suspectedto learn what they could about his mysterious black eye

The only person he wanted to talk to was Summer He reached for the phone, and she answered on the second ring

"I just got in," he explained "Dad and I had dinner"

"Did you give him my love?"

"I did better than that--I let hihed, and Ja the melodic sound It was like a balm after the day he’d endured

"How’s the eye?" she asked next

"Good" So he lied "Hoas the show today?"

"I didn’t go in I seem to have come doith the flu, so my understudy played Belle I felt cru, I just felt so nauseous At first I thought it was nerves over what happened with Brett, but it didn’t go away, so I had to call in sick"

"Have you been to a doctor?"

"No Have you?"

She had him there "No"

"I’ll be fine I just want to be sure I didn’t give you n of it," he assured her

Theyoutwardly significant yet sharing the most important details of their lives Their conversation would have gone on a lot longer, had so his doorbell

It was Ralph Southworth His caer took one look at James and threw his arms dramatically in the air "What the hell happened to you?"