Chapter 47: Things Left Unsaid

Alexander knew something was different about the ancestral home before he’d even stepped out of the car.

It took him a moment to figure out what.

Then he looked up.

The roof.

The old roofing, which had spent the better part of several years developing increasingly creative ways to leak whenever it rained, was gone.

In its place was a newly installed dark forest green roof, complete with proper ventilation and downspouts that most definitely hadn’t existed the last time Alexander visited.

He stood beside the car for several seconds.

"What the hell?"

The front door opened before he could investigate further.

Three Shih Tzus came charging out as though Alexander had returned from war rather than the city.

"All right. All right."

He crouched just in time to catch two against his legs while the third immediately began circling him.

Apparently, news of his arrival traveled almost as quickly.

"Sir Alex!"

One of the longtime housekeepers appeared behind the dogs, followed by another member of the household staff.

Their enthusiasm would’ve been flattering if Alexander didn’t know at least half of it had very little to do with him.

His visits made his father happy.

That alone was enough to make the entire household welcome Alexander as though he’d personally brought rain after a drought.

"Where’s Dad?"

"At the back, sir. He’ll be very happy you’re here."

Alexander looked up again.

"What happened to the roof?"

The housekeeper brightened.

"Oh! Sir Giovanni had it repaired."

Alexander slowly turned back to her.

"Giovanni?"

"Yes, sir."

Of course.

Apparently, Giovanni had somehow visited his father, discovered a leaking roof, and decided the logical response was to replace the entire thing.

Alexander entered the house and immediately noticed another difference.

It was cooler.

Not dramatically so, but enough that the usual trapped heat upstairs was noticeably absent.

Apparently, the repairs hadn’t stopped at replacing the roof. They’d added insulation above the ceiling, replaced several worn ceiling panels, and improved the ventilation.

Alexander looked around.

"How long were the workers here?"

"Several days, sir. They finished yesterday."

"Mercer workers?"

"I don’t know, sir. But Sir Giovanni came with them."

That stopped him.

"He came here?"

"Several times."

Well.

That answered one question.

Giovanni hadn’t heard about the leaking roof through some elaborate network of old neighbors.

He’d seen it himself.

Alexander found his father on the rear veranda, a chessboard sitting uselessly on the table.

Alejandro looked up.

For a moment, his entire face changed.

"Alex."

"Hi, Dad."

"You’re early."

"You say that every time."

"Because you usually tell me you’re coming."

Alexander bent down to embrace him.

It had only been about a month since his last visit, yet something about Alejandro seemed quieter than before.

His gaze drifted toward the empty chair across from him.

Then he remembered.

Their nearest neighbor, who’d been coming over to play chess with Alejandro for years, had passed away the previous month.

Apparently, the chessboard hadn’t moved.

Alexander took the empty seat.

"I saw the roof."

Alejandro smiled.

"Much better, isn’t it?"

"That’s not what I asked."

"I don’t remember you asking anything."

"Dad."

His father looked entirely too innocent.

"When was Giovanni here?"

"A week after you visited, I think."

"And?"

"And we talked."

"About the roof?"

"The entire roof?"

Alexander gave him a look.

Alejandro chuckled.

"He noticed the stain on the ceiling. I told him it leaked whenever the rain was particularly bad."

"And he decided to replace the entire thing?"

"Apparently."

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"The timing was not right."

That wasn’t remotely the point.

Alexander pulled out his phone.

"Don’t interrogate the man."

"I’m not interrogating him."

"You have the face."

Alexander paused.

"What face?"

"The one you used to make when you were fifteen, and somebody touched your things."

Alexander ignored him and called Giovanni.

Across the city, a Mercer Group executive was halfway through presenting quarterly logistics figures when Giovanni’s phone rang.

Everyone stopped.

Not because phones never rang during meetings.

Because Giovanni Mercer looked at his.

Ordinarily, the device remained face down and ignored until the meeting ended.

This time, he picked it up.

"Excuse me."

Several executives exchanged glances.

Then Giovanni answered.

"Alex."

The presenter forgot what number he’d been discussing.

"Are you busy?" Alexander asked. "Am I interrupting?"

Giovanni glanced at the presentation still glowing across the screen.

"No. Go on."

Three people looked at him.

Technically, yes.

Very much so.

Nobody was foolish enough to mention it.

"I owe you for repairing the ancestral home."

"You don’t."

"How much?"

"If you’re determined to pay me, take me riding the next time I’m there."

A pause.

"Horseback riding?"

"It’s been years."

"That’s your invoice? How many sessions would it take to pay for an entire roof?"

"Include breakfast."

One of the executives looked down very quickly.

Alexander was silent for a moment.

"You’re serious?"

"About breakfast?"

"About all of it."

Giovanni leaned back.

"I had surplus materials from repairs on one of my properties. Your father’s roof needed replacing, so I had the rest sourced and the work finished."

"What about the labor?"

"I paid for it."

"Giovanni."

"Personally," he clarified. "No Mercer Group labor. No corporate materials. No company expense."

That apparently mattered to Alexander.

It mattered to Giovanni too.

After everything that had happened with Dominic and Sebastian Group, the last thing he wanted was a personal gesture toward Alexander’s family to show up in a corporate ledger.

"I would’ve paid for it," Alexander said.

"I know."

"Then why didn’t you tell me?"

"Because then we would’ve spent three days discussing a roof that would’ve continued leaking while you argued with me."

Someone at the conference table coughed.

Alexander went silent.

Then Giovanni heard it.

A laugh.

Quiet and brief, but unmistakable.

Half the table stared at their CEO.

Giovanni ignored them.

"Fine," Alexander said. "One horseback ride."

"One?"

"Don’t negotiate before you’ve received the first payment."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

"And breakfast."

"I thought that was already included."

"You’re pushing it."

"When are you free?"

Giovanni glanced at his calendar.

"This Saturday."

"I’ll be here."

"Then so will I."

The call ended.

For several seconds, nobody in the conference room spoke.

Giovanni placed his phone face down again.

"Continue."

The presenter pressed the laser pointer.

"Sir?"

"The report."

"Right. Yes, sir."

The figures reappeared.

Giovanni listened as though nothing unusual had happened.

Around the table, several executives suddenly found themselves deeply fascinated by logistics projections.

None of them mentioned that their famously taciturn CEO had just interrupted a meeting for a personal call, negotiated payment in horseback rides and breakfast, and apparently made weekend plans.

They were professionals.

They also intended to discuss it the moment they were safely out of the building.

Back at the ancestral home, Alexander slipped his phone into his pocket.

Alejandro was watching him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then stop looking at me like that."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You didn’t have to."

Alejandro reached for a chess piece and idly turned it between his fingers.

Alexander glanced at the empty chair across from him.

"Did Giovanni stay long?"

His father’s hand paused.

"The first time?"

Alexander looked at him.

"There was more than one?"

"He came back while they were working."

"To supervise?"

"Sometimes."

Alejandro moved a pawn forward despite having no opponent.

"Sometimes he just sat here."

Something in Alexander’s expression changed.

"What did you two talk about?"

"Nothing important."

That answer sounded suspiciously familiar.

Alexander leaned back.

"Such as?"

"Your mother. His parents. The neighborhood."

Alejandro looked toward the fields.

"Your brother."

Alexander said nothing.

"He remembered Ben."

Of course he did.

Giovanni had been there.

Before the accident, before their family had become a collection of people quietly avoiding everything they didn’t know how to say to one another.

Alejandro set the chess piece down.

"He asked whether I still rode. I told him my knees don’t appreciate horses as much as they used to."

"That’s because you refuse to admit you’re getting old."

"I’m not old."

"Of course not."

"I’m retired."

"Completely different."

"Exactly."

Alexander laughed under his breath.

"Did he talk about our engagement?"

"No, he didn’t. I’m beginning to think you’re drunk when you told me you were."

"Hmp, you don’t believe me."

His gaze returned to the chessboard.

"Did you play?"

Alejandro glanced at the empty chair.

"Once."

That surprised him.

"Who won?"

"Me."

"Really?"

His father looked offended.

"Why do you sound surprised?"

"Giovanni was always good at chess."

"So am I."

Alexander raised both hands in surrender.

Alejandro began gathering the pieces left scattered across the board.

"He said he’d give me a rematch."

"When?"

"He didn’t say."

Alexander looked toward the house.

At the new roof overhead.

At the ceiling that no longer carried an old brown water stain.

Then back at the chessboard.

He’d called Giovanni intending to ask why he’d taken it upon himself to repair something Alexander could’ve easily paid to repair.

Instead, he’d learned that Giovanni had come back more than once.

Sometimes for the roof.

Sometimes for the workers.

And apparently, sometimes for no reason more complicated than sitting across from an older man who no longer had anyone to play chess with.

Alexander’s eyes returned to the empty chair.

He’d noticed it the moment he arrived. And somehow, Giovanni had noticed it too.

Alejandro reached for the box and began putting the pieces away.

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

Alexander reached across the table and took the box from his hands.

Then he picked up the black king and returned it to the board.

"Set them back up."

Alejandro looked at him. Alexander pulled the empty chair closer.

"Play with me, Dad."