Change of Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

complications that would hold him up. “Yes?”
    “He brought his secretary with him,” Kathy said, breaking into a wide smile.
    Mike couldn’t see why a man and his secretary would cause such merriment, but then Kathy stepped aside and Mike saw two kids, both about twelve years old, enter the room behind her. The boy was tall, thin, with huge glasses and eyes so intense he reminded Mike of a hawk. The girl, even taller, had the easy confidence of what promised to be beauty and, unless he missed his guess, money.
    I don’t have time for this, Mike thought, and wondered who’d put these kids up to this visit. Silently, he motioned for them to take a seat.
    “You’re busy and so are we, so I’ll get right to the point,” Eli said.
    Mike had to repress a smile. The boy’s manner was surprisingly adult, and he reminded him of someone but Mike couldn’t think who.
    “I want my mother to marry your brother.”
    “Ah, I see,” Mike said, leaning back in his chair. “And which one of my brothers would that be?”
    “The oldest one, Frank.”
    Mike nearly fell out of his chair. “Frank?” he gasped. His eldest brother was a terror, as precise as a measuring device, and about as warm as Maine in February. “Frank? You want your mother to marry Frank?” He leaned forward. “Tell me, kid, you got it in for your mother or what?”
    At that Eli came out of his seat, his face red. “Mr. Taggert is a very nice man, and you can’t say anything against him or my mother!”
    The girl put her hand on Eli’s arm and he instantly sat down, but he turned his head away and wouldn’t look at Mike.
    “Perhaps I might explain,” the girl said, and she introduced herself.
    Mike was impressed with the girl as she succinctly told their story, of Eli’s offer to go to Princeton but his refusal to leave his mother alone. As she spoke, Mike kept looking at Eli, trying to piece everything together. So the kid wanted a billionaire to take care of his mother. Ambitious brat, wasn’t he?
    But Mike began to have a change of heart when Eli turned to Chelsea and said, “Don’t tell him that. He doesn’t like his brother.”
    “Tell me what?” Mike encouraged. “And I love my brother. It’s just that he’s sometimes hard to take. Are you sure you have the right Frank Taggert?”
    At that Eli removed a worn, raggedy envelope from the folder he was carrying. Mike recognized it as Frank’s private stationery, something he reserved for the family only. It was a way the family had of distinguishing private from business mail. His family frequently joked that Frank never used family stationery for anyone who did not bear the same last name as he did. There was even a rumor that on the rare times he’d sent a note to whichever date was waiting for him at the moment, he’d used business letterhead.
    Yet Frank had written this boy a letter on his private stationery.
    “May I see that?” Mike asked, extending his hand.
    Eli started to return the letter to his folder.
    “Go on,” Chelsea urged. “This is important.” Reluctantly, Eli handed the letter to Mike.
    Slowly, Mike took the single sheet of paper from the envelope and read it. It was handwritten, not typed. To Mike’s knowledge, Frank had not handwritten anything since he’d left his university.
My dear Eli,
I was so glad to receive your last letter. Your new theories on artificial intelligence sound magnificent. Yes, I’ll have someone check what’s already been done.
One of my brother’s wives had a baby, a little girl, with cheeks as red as roses. I set up a trust fund for her but told no one.
I’m glad you liked your birthday present, and I’ll wear the cuff links you sent me next time I see the president.
How are Chelsea and your mother? Let me know if your dad ever again refuses to pay child support. I know a few legal people and I also know a few thugs. Any man who isn’t grateful to have a son like you deserves to be taught a lesson.
My love and friendship