You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 729

Saturday night.

Oliver had a dinner meeting and wanted Patricia to come along. Right before he left, he reminded Lydia and the family to look after her.

Katie walked in just as he was heading out. “You’re not bringing her with you? Leaving Pattie here by herself? Aren’t you worried people might talk?”

Oliver shook his head. “It’s not the right place for her. A bunch of old guys chain-smoking all night. She doesn’t need to breathe that in.”

The mention of “that kind of place” made Lydia frown. She shot Oliver a look. “You’d better behave yourself.”

Katie’s shoulders shook as she tried not to laugh.

Lydia went on, a little sharper, “You finally found yourself a wife. You should treasure her. Is this dinner really that important?”

Oliver ran his hand over his brow, sighing. “It’s for work.”

He promised, “Don’t worry, I’ll be home before eleven.”

Patricia had no idea there’d been this little scene before dinner. She only noticed that everyone in the Padilla family seemed extra attentive to her that night.

After they finished eating, Katie and Selara invited her out to the garden for a walk to help digest. Around eight, the yoga instructor arrived, and the women headed to the yoga room on the first floor. Upstairs, Miles, Jaxon, and Jimmy were with the old man, playing chess and chatting. Everyone had something to do, nobody felt bored or left out.

After yoga, Patricia lay on her mat, stretching out. Selara pressed down on her leg, striking up a conversation. “Pattie, isn’t there a Qin family in Riverdale? They do business, and I think their daughter is about your age.”

Patricia tried to remember. “Do you know anything else about them?”

Her sister-in-law laughed. “I’d rather my son focus on being a decent human being. Imagine if he ended up with a child out of wedlock. Wouldn’t you be freaking out? You wouldn’t even know if the mother was just some girl from a club, if she was healthy, or if someone set it up on purpose.”

If you really looked, there were so many messy stories in their world.

The women kept chatting, conversation drifting from one topic to another, until their skin cooled and the sweat dried. Then they headed upstairs.

In her room, Patricia picked up her phone from the nightstand and noticed a notification. She opened her social app and saw Ann had liked her background photo. No messages, no reminders, just a silent nudge about the favor Ann had asked for. Adults had their own ways of playing these quiet games.

Patricia glanced at the photo, a random shot of a building she’d taken in Toronto. Nothing special about it. She let out a soft laugh, checked the time, then headed to the bathroom. By the time she finished her shower and came out, it was almost ten.

She hopped onto a video call with Atticus and the others. Grandma joined not long after, turning it into a group chat. They talked about life and what was new, chatting until it was nearly eleven. Atticus finally nudged Grandma to go get some rest.