The House on the Cliff by Jade Astor

Author:Jade Astor
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-04-07T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

NOAH TROTTED down the stairs, physically frustrated but more emotionally buoyant than he’d been in weeks. His mood deflated when he saw Morry open the front door to admit Adrian.

“Mr. Tristan is in his room, doctor,” she informed him as Noah paused on the bottom step. “You can go right up.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Morris,” Adrian said with what struck Noah as exaggerated politeness. He smiled when he noticed Noah watching the exchange. “It appears as though you’ve just come from there. Everything in order?”

“Tristan’s fine,” Noah mumbled. “I was delivering a message.”

He doubted Adrian believed him. But what did he care? Adrian was Tristan’s shrink, not his. He preferred not to be around when Adrian got wind of the excursion Sophia had planned, however.

“Not bad news, I hope?”

“I suppose that depends on one’s perspective.”

“It usually does.” Adrian’s smile widened. “You and I should talk again sometime, Noah… privately. I greatly enjoyed our dinner the other night.”

“Nice of you to say so. I had a good time too.” Was Adrian suggesting they go on a date? Was he simply being friendly? Or was his purpose to squeeze Noah for private information about the family?

“We’ll have to do it again sometime.” Adrian moved past Noah and jogged up the stairs, the soles of his shiny wingtip shoes whispering against the soft carpet.

Mrs. Morris waited until he disappeared down the hall. “I hope he knows what he’s doing,” she grumbled. “Mr. Tristan has been through enough.”

“I’m sure he’s competent,” Noah said. “He holds a very responsible position at Sea View, from what I hear.”

“It just seems that a doctor should be more nurturing. He strikes me as being mostly in it for the money and prestige.”

Noah had entertained the same suspicion. But he didn’t want to be unfair to Adrian. “He may be different when he’s with his patients.”

Morry sighed. “We ought to have a little faith, I suppose. I know Mr. Lloyd wouldn’t keep him on if he didn’t trust his methods. He wants only what’s best for his son and always has. No one can fault him where Mr. Tristan is concerned.”

“Good to know.”

As he headed back to the garage, Noah’s chest tightened with disappointment. With Adrian hovering over him, Tristan would be trapped for hours… assuming Adrian let him leave the house at all.

Noah decided to busy himself by cleaning the Bentley again, inside and out, in preparation for the journey. With any luck, Tristan would extricate himself from his therapy as quickly as possible and rush back to pick up where they left off. But then, Noah wasn’t feeling especially lucky these days. He only hoped he wasn’t in for another disappointment.

Maybe they both were.

He’d been hard at work for an hour or so when someone strolled up the path toward him. Hearing footsteps on gravel, he put down his polishing cloth and turned with an excited smile tugging at his lips. It faded quickly when he recognized his visitor as Ryder.

“I see you’re taking this day-trip idea seriously,” he said with approval, sliding his hands into the pockets of his eggshell khakis.

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