Perfect Solution by Jacqueline Brandon

Author:Jacqueline Brandon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Billionaire;Holidays;Greece;International;Teacher
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2014-10-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“For Chrissake, Dad, will you get off my back?” snarled Nick.

His request was almost literal. Craig was leaning over the boy’s shoulder, watching him struggle with the intricacies of integral calculus.

Tanya stood at the patio doors. Peals of childish laughter drifted in from the pool outside. Susie and Emma were ducking each other off a lilo and Jenny was swimming sedate lengths of breaststroke. Philip had dragged his sun lounger into the shade of the vine-covered pergola and had fallen asleep with a book open upon his chest. Tanya’s eyes gazed longingly on the inviting scene, but her ears were on the conversation within.

“Don’t be so sensitive!” snapped Craig. “I’ve every right to see how you’re getting on. Someone has to keep a check on you.”

Nick scraped his chair back noisily on the ceramic tiles of the living room floor. “No they don’t. I’m not a child.”

“Yes you are. You’re seventeen years of age and that makes me legally responsible…”

“Only until my eighteenth birthday. Does that mean you’ll start treating me as an adult then?”

“I’ll start treating you as an adult when you start behaving like one. And that includes being financially self-sufficient. While I’m supporting you you’ll do as you’re told.”

Tanya cringed and bit her tongue. She must not take sides in an argument between father and son. It was not her place. But there was no doubt about it—Craig didn’t have the first idea how to communicate with teenagers.

“I see,” said Nick quietly. He took his seat once more and picked up his pen. “I’ll just have to make sure that I’m ‘financially self-sufficient’, as you put it, by next birthday.”

Craig laughed derisively. “Some chance of that!” he mocked. “Your skills and qualifications are so marketable, aren’t they? You’re so employable, don’t you think? Every personnel officer’s dream!” The sarcasm dripped from his lips.

Nick began to write. “You’ll see,” he said quietly through clenched teeth. There was a tension in his shoulders that spelt determination. “You’ll see,” he repeated.

Tanya turned from the window. “Excuse me, Craig,” she said. “Could I have a word with you? In private.”

He followed her though the patio doors. The children were splashing each other and anyone else who got in the way, Jenny was heaving herself up the steps at the side of the pool and Lydia was laying the table for lunch. It was hardly private. “Let’s go down to the beach,” he said.

Craig led her across the sun-baked surrounds of the pool to the steps that led down to the beach.

Tanya sat on a rock and kicked off her shoes. She pulled her gathered cotton skirt up over her knees and dangled her feet in the sea. The cool clear water caressed her skin like silk, and she longed to slip off her clothes and immerse herself in the crystal depths. “Please try and give Nick a break,” she said.

Craig stood a few feet off. He picked up a pebble and skimmed it over the water. “A break?” he queried. “His whole life’s been one long break.

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.