(eng) Nathan Lowell - A Shaman's Tale 01 by South Coast

Author:South Coast [Coast, South]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Aram’s Inlet

March 15, 2305

He stepped off the flitter and back into Jimmy’s life after being only a distant shadow for all that time. Twenty stanyers had changed the Ole Man. To begin with, he looked a lot better. The shabby work pants, shirt, and jacket that he’d left in had been replaced by a tasteful business suit, topped with a trench coat knotted at the waist. The rubber boots were now polished leather. His hair, well, that was fake. It was a good fake, but it was fake. Jimmy wondered where that had come from as he ran a hand across his own sparsely populated scalp. Mostly, he was pale.

The picture that Jimmy had carried in his mind all these stanyers was of a deeply tanned older man, weather beaten and serious. The man who stepped from the flitter in his carefully polished boots and elegantly coiffed hair was not. The face seemed unchanged, except he looked like he hadn’t been in the sun a day since he left St. Cloud. For all Jimmy knew, he hadn’t. The smile on his face when he saw his son waiting was genuine, as were the outstretched arms ready to wrap him. In an instant, Jimmy was a kid again. Papa was here. Everything was going to be okay.

She stepped off the flitter behind him. Tall, slender, stacked, starched, and perfect. The nose didn’t quite twitch at the smell of fish, fuel, and water that washed the tarmac on the cold wind, but Jimmy caught the flinch. He heard Tony cough once in surprise.

Jimmy stepped into his father’s bear hug and gave him the traditional kiss on both cheeks. “Welcome back to St. Cloud, Papa. I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your touch.”

Angelino Pirano, chairman of the board of Pirano Fisheries, grinned at his boy and patted him familiarly on the cheek with one manicured hand. “The Ole Man cleans up good, you mean,” he said in his familiar graveled voice. “You’re looking good, Jimmy. I’m proud. Spinelli? Tony Spinelli?” he asked, looking over Jimmy’s shoulder.

“Hey, hey, Angelo, you old bastard! How you doin’?” Tony said, and hugged the elder Pirano.

“You’re lookin’ pretty tan for a bean counter, Tony! You been vacationing? My boy not workin’ ya hard enough?”

Tony chuckled. “He’s had me out fishin’! Me! A fisherman! Can you believe it?”

“You got him out on the boats? How’d you do that? I tried for stanyers to get this highland bastard to go out and find out what he was counting.”

“Well, I needed a crew and he was the only one in the office that day,” Jimmy said.

Angelo laughed. “Yes, we need to talk about that, but first I’d like you to meet Stephanie Daniels.” He held out his hand to indicate Ms. Iceberg of 2305. “She’s my executive assistant and keeps all my appointments straight. I manage the business and she manages me, eh, Steph?”

She smiled a well-practiced self-deprecating smile, and held out her slender and carefully manicured hand to Jimmy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.