abcnovels
Chapter 864
Chapter 864
Chapter 864
Although Claire knew that it was most probably Dad’s idea, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
Charlie quickly asked, “Dear, where are you going later?”
Claire answered, “I’m going to meet mom’s friends and also the beauty salons that they often visited for their facial and spa.”
Jacob hurried and said, “Oh, Claire, I won’t go anywhere today. I’ve invited my friend over for dinner tonight. She wants to cook for us tonight, so I need to get the ingredients ready and clean up our house.”
Claire asked skeptically, “Dad, didn’t you already have lunch with your friend just now? Why do you want to see her again tonight?”
Jacob cleared his throat and explained, “Lunch is lunch, and we ate at a restaurant. They came all the way from the States, it’s our courtesy to invite them over to our place and have a home-cooked meal together. This is a decent way to entertain your friends!”
Claire exclaimed in dismay, “Dad, even if you want to entertain your friend, can you please observe the situation first? Mom is missing, how could you still be in the mood to invite your friend to our house? Why can’t you wait for mom to come home before you organize the dinner thing? Mom is also your collegemate, wouldn’t it be better for the three of you to meet?”
‘Better my ass!’ Jacob cursed inside him, ‘It is because your mom is missing that I have the courage and the mood to invite my friend over for dinner! Otherwise, if your mom is around, the dinner will happen over my dead body!’
Of course, he couldn’t say any of this to his daughter, so he waved his hand hurriedly and said, “You don’t understand. She was in the States for over two decades, now that she’s back, I have to do my
best to make her feel welcome, and we must do it on the day they come back to have a sense of ceremony! What’s the purpose of killing the fatted calf a few days after they arrive? They will think that I’m lacking common sense in this.”
Then, he added, “Besides, she didn’t come back alone, she is with her son. Her son is about the same age as you and Charlie, he is a lawyer who runs a well-known law firm. You young people should mingle together, maybe you’ll gain great benefits in the future! It’s such a rare and precious chance! Don’t you think?”
Claire huffed in dismay, “No, I don’t think it is so rare! I don’t want to meet your friend and her son, I just want to find mom and bring her home as soon as possible.”
Jacob chided, “Why are you so immature? It’s just dinner! Do you not want to eat dinner if you can’t find your mom? I think you’re intentionally opposing me!”
“No, I’m not!” Claire yelled, frustrated, “I’m just not in the mood to meet and socialize with strangers at this moment.”
Jacob was agitated as well as he exclaimed, “She is my old friend! You can’t say such things even for my sake!”
Actually, there was something that Jacob wanted to say but didn’t dare to say it which was, ‘If your mom doesn’t come back, this friend of mine will probably become your stepmother! Her son will probably be your stepbrother! It’s good for you guys to know each other now!’
Charlie persuaded to ease the mood, “Yes, dear, Aunt Matilda is dad’s old collegemate, it is not wrong for him to want to make his friend feel welcome. As children, we must help him in any way we can, we can’t shame him, can we?”
Then, he quickly added, “How about this? Aunt Matilda will be our chef for tonight, I don’t have to make dinner anyway, so we’ll go out and look for mom, let dad manage his friend, the ingredients for dinner, and whatever he wants to do. Aunt Matilda will come later to cook, so we’ll come back for dinner directly after searching for mom. We can go out again for our search mission after dinner. Then, it won’t take up the time to look for mom, don’t you think?”
Claire also felt that she was being rather intrusive and didn’t know how to ease the mood. Thankfully for Charlie to extinguish the fire, she nodded and said, “Okay, let’s do as you say then.”
Jacob let out a sigh of relief and gave Charlie a grateful look…