You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 502

“Grandma, Mr. Parsons is here.”

Sunlight poured into the Martin family’s living room, where Grandma stood at the window, watching the flowers and shrubs swaying in the yard. In one corner, the gardener was busy turning over the earth for a new vegetable patch.

The housekeeper’s words caught her off guard. “Mr. Parsons?” Grandma echoed, a little confused.

“He said he’s your eldest daughter-in-law’s brother.”

Over the years, the Martins had gone through their share of housekeepers—no one wanted the help getting too close to family secrets. Emerson and Tina had clawed their way up using methods best left unspoken, and they’d been careful to cover their tracks. Anyone who knew too much—like Grandma’s old confidante—had been quietly shipped off to Blue Ridge Retirement Home long ago. As for the staff, the less they knew, the better.

“Let him in,” Grandma said.

Atticus walked in, the housekeeper trailing behind him with a gift box.

Grandma put on her best smile. “You didn’t have to bring anything, really. It’s enough that you came.”

Atticus grinned as he settled into a chair. “It’s been a while since I visited. I couldn’t show up empty-handed.”

“The northwest is tough country,” Grandma said softly. “You’ve stayed out there for years. It can’t have been easy.”

Atticus just laughed. “I’m doing my bit for the people.”

They chatted for a while, swapping harmless stories—old memories, funny anecdotes from the days when Tina and Emerson were still around. Neither of them mentioned Patricia, not even once.

Grandma wouldn’t dare. Atticus, for his part, had been told not to bring her up.

So they circled around the subject, both of them careful, both pretending not to notice the things left unsaid. The conversation flowed for nearly two hours, as if they were just two old friends catching up.

When lunchtime rolled around, Grandma offered to have him stay for a meal.

Atticus shook his head. “I should get going.”

Grandma sighed, a little sadness in her voice. “You live so far away, and I’m not getting any younger. Who knows when we’ll meet again?”

Atticus smiled. “Soon, I hope. My assignment out west is almost over. Once I’m back, I’ll send the driver to pick you up anytime you want to visit.”

And now Atticus was returning.

Emerson’s fingers tightened around his phone until his knuckles turned pale.

“I’m coming home now,” he said.

He hung up, and he and Tina headed for the car.

In the passenger seat, Tina scrolled through her phone. Emerson glanced over, trying to sneak a look, but all he saw was the black glare of a privacy screen.

“I thought you said those privacy screens were bad for your eyes?” he asked.

Tina looked at her phone and gave a little laugh.

She’d never bothered with a privacy screen before. She’d only started using one in the last few days.