Page 68 of The Session

“Paramedic. Basically an EMT who knows enough to be a little more dangerous,” Mark joked.

“So what are you doing here?” Fiona asked.

“Don’t you know who his father is?” Anthony said.

“Everybody knows, but nobody will come out and say it. Still doesn’t explain what he’s doing here,” Fiona countered.

“Here with you or at Summit?” Mark asked.

“Either one.”

“I don’t think I want to keep running into war zones or getting pricked by needles, so I’m exploring other career opportunities,” he told them.

“At Summit?” Anthony asked.

“Maybe. I’m still figuring this place out.”

“We’re nice people. We’re a bit weird, but nice. I’m sure you’ve figured that out so far,” Anthony said.

“We” meant that Anthony considered himself part of Summit. And why shouldn’t he? If you asked a groundskeeper at a baseball stadium who his team was, he’d point to the name of the home team on the scoreboard.

“Why do you like working here?” Mark asked.

“They were the first ones to offer me a job after I got out of the hospital,” Anthony replied.

Mark had read about a program run by Summit to help veterans find work. It would make sense to recruit that way. Career military were often highly loyal and would fit right in to a regimented environment.

“When my oldest son was struggling in school, they provided tutors for him,” Fiona added. “He got his grades up, he got into college, and I can’t see anybody else doing that for us.”

“Is he involved with Summit now too?” Mark asked.

“Yes. Alberto’s in their youth leadership program and got to go to the island last summer.”

“Nice. That’s wonderful,” Mark replied.

“So why are you down here? Are they making you start at the bottom?” Fiona asked with a smile.

“A few days ago I was handling adult diapers and cleaning up vomit at an assisted living facility. This is not the bottom. I’d call this a major step up.”

“You’re not afraid to get your hands dirty. I can appreciate that,” Fiona said. “You’re definitely different than the other one.”

Mark caught a sharp glance from Anthony to Fiona.

“I wish I knew him. What was he like?” Mark asked.

“He was very sweet, a lot like you,” Fiona said, hesitating. “Very nice . . .” she added, cutting herself off.

“I can’t imagine what it was like to grow up in the shadow of Mr. Lightman.”

“Kevin was a good kid,” said Anthony. “Terrible tragedy, the drowning. I can’t imagine what Mr. and Mrs. Lightman are going through.”

“You know they wanted him to take over for his father,” Fiona told Mark.

Anthony shook his head. “I think that was just a rumor, and he had stepped away from everything.”

“No, I heard some people on the top floor talking about it. There were plans to make a big deal about it at their next big event,” Fiona insisted.

“Are you sure? I heard he had decided to just do his own thing.”