Chapter 20
That morning Julian got to do his work in relative quiet. Mitch and Rico were at another job, and Rob was keeping Danny busy. The peace and quiet didn't last long. When his phone rang, Julian groaned as he saw that Thayer was calling him. Julian couldn't wait for Mr. Upton to return and take charge again so he wouldn't have to take all of Thayer's calls.
Once again Thayer found every excuse to mention Rob while at the same time claiming that Julian's work wasn't up to par. Julian ignored his insinuations and stuck to business, but Thayer always came back to the same subject.
"I'm not surprised your work is suffering. It's like you're on vacation with you 'personal' assistant attending to your every need." Thayer chuckled.
"The Brooks Fund is showing some renewed strength, but it's too soon to rely on it," Julian said.
"That doesn't sound like a denial. It must be nice having that muscle-head at your beck and call," Thayer said. "It's obscene what some guys will do for money."
"Yes, it is," Julian snapped, but he was thinking of Thayer and his marriage to Upton's niece. "I have to go now." As he hung up, Julian heard Thayer laugh. Of course he did. He just managed to get to Julian. With the way he talked about Rob, Julian was bound to crack. Rob was his weakness.
That's why Julian couldn't claim innocence where Rob was concerned, but hell if he was going to let someone like Thayer make him feel bad about it. Even after knowing Rob for only a short time, Julian felt closer to him than anyone he had ever known. He trusted Rob, and last night, Julian listened to him share his grief. Someone like Thayer would never understand that kind of connection.
By lunchtime, Julian was ready to escape the office. Going outside, he found Rob in the back of the house, soaking up the autumn sunshine and watching Danny and Lenny playing. It was a spot by the corner of the house that overlooked the orchard.
"Look at you taking a break without me having to drag you away from your desk," Rob praised him with a smile.
Julian admitted why. "I had to speak to Thayer. Now I think we should go out to lunch."
"Or we could take Danny and Lenny out for a picnic. It's a nice day for it," Rob said and pointed at the sun shining down on the golden colors of the countryside.
"Picnic?" Julian hadn't figured on anything like that.
"Get takeout, drive around until we find a good spot to spread out a picnic blanket and eat. You need a proper antidote to Thayer. What do you say?" Rob asked.
It was unexpected, but Julian decided to go for it. "Let's do it." He didn't want to miss this chance for them all to spend time together, and the beaming smile it put on Rob's face made it more than worth it.
"The ground is bound to be cold, so we should get extra blankets and take along some dog food for Lenny. I'll get together what we need," Rob said and he was gone inside leaving Julian to give Danny the good news.
By the time Julian and Danny were ready to go, Rob had the supplies in the car. Danny still didn't love to go on a drive, but he was excited about the picnic so that made up for it.
First, they stopped in town to get some food. In front of Peach Tree Café, they got out and saw Mr. Jasper sitting on one of the two benches by the front doors.
"It's Mr. Fisherman!" Danny called out. "Can I show him Lenny?"
"I think Mr. Jasper can already see him, but yes, you can show him Lenny," Julian told him.
Mr. Jasper was already smiling at the little dog. While Rob and Danny introduced Lenny and passed the time with Mr. Jasper, Julian went inside to order their lunch.
He was going to approach the counter, but Mrs. Del Rio waylaid him. "It's so nice to see you in here. You should stop in more. What? Those sweet boys are not coming in?" she asked seeing Rob and Danny outside though Lenny wasn't visible being down somewhere around Mr. Jasper's feet.
"Not today. We have Lenny with us and we're taking him on a picnic," Julian told her.
"You sure are good to that little doggie and to the rest of them too," she said, but she put on a sly smile as she eyed Rob in particular.
Julian made sure not to follow her gaze, but she could probably guess that he couldn't help but be attracted to someone like Rob.
"We'll get some takeout," Julian said and Mrs. Del Rio motioned for Hannah to come and take his order.
As he went out to wait for Hannah to bring out their takeout, he heard Rob asking Mr. Jasper for a recommendation. "Is there a good place for a picnic around here?"
Mr. Jasper looked at Danny and Lenny then he said, "There's a special place upriver from here. It's called the Little Waterfall. Like the name tells you, it's not very big or impressive, but it is a nice spot for a picnic."
Julian had Mr. Jasper look at a map on his phone, and he showed them where it was. The drive would be longer than Julian had planned for. As he frowned at his phone, Rob knew that he was worried about how Danny would handle the drive.
"Danny has Lenny to keep him company, and we can stop any time we need to," Rob told him, and he agreed.
