Apartment 713 by Kevin Sylvester

Author:Kevin Sylvester
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2022-07-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Have a seat, please,” Williams said in a stern voice, still leaning against the balcony railing.

Jake sat. He could hear the audience filing out of the hall below. “Yes, sir?” He fidgeted in his chair.

“Jake, I know that you’re concealing things from me.”

Jake felt a bead of sweat trickle down his back. “Sorry?” he squeaked.

Williams rolled his hand in the air. “I don’t mean you are stealing things—I have found you more than trustworthy on that account. I mean you have not been completely honest about who you are, where you come from.”

Jake’s heart began to pound. He immediately wanted to be almost anywhere else.

Williams began pacing back and forth. “I’ve been noticing strange things. The words you use. Some of the clothes you wear.” He stopped pacing and looked right at Jake again. “You’re not Beth’s cousin, are you?”

Jake gripped the arms of the chair tightly. He had to push out his words. “No, sir. I’m not.”

Williams rubbed at his leg, then slid a chair across from Jake and sat down. “And you’re not from around here, are you?” His voice was now softer, kinder.

Jake wasn’t sure how to answer that. “I’m originally from Maypole Woods,” he said. He gulped. Did Maypole Woods even exist yet?

Williams considered this for a second, then pushed out his lips and nodded. “Farm kid. No city smarts. Like a lost puppy. That makes some sense.”

Now Jake wasn’t sure if Williams was kidding him or believed him. “Yeah. I’ve never been in a place like this before, for sure.” He pointed to the ornate decorations and the gilded ceiling of the room and the Great Hall beyond. He marvelled again at how lifelike the figures in the vaulted ceiling appeared. “Mr. Williams, I love the Regency.”

As soon as he’d said it out loud, he knew it was true.

Williams looked over his shoulder at the hall and then turned back to Jake. “I know you do. It means a lot to me as well. But I also know you’ve been sleeping on the floor in 901.”

Jake’s eyes quickly locked back onto Williams. Oh no. Busted, he thought.

“And you’ve started a nice little collection in there. A signed baseball. Mr. Armstrong’s autograph. I make it my business to know what’s going on in our home.”

“I . . . I . . . I can explain.”

Williams held up his hand to stop Jake. “I’m not judging. And you are not necessarily in any trouble.” He took a deep breath. “People come to the Regency for many reasons. Now, the truth, please.”

Jake took a deep breath. The truth. “I wasn’t lying about my mom. She lost her job. Her partner left. It’s been hard. She is looking for work, and I’m here on my own while she does that.” It was all true, Jake thought, if slightly tweaked.

Williams nodded along. He spoke slowly. “I am not a man who kicks people in need out of their homes. And, Jake, this is your home.”

Jake stared in shock as Williams pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to him.

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