Gregory's Game Read Online Free PDF

on,’ Patrick said. ‘And there’s a pot of tea already made, should still be drinkable.’ He gave his dad a quick hug as he passed him, then grabbed the oven gloves and opened the door. ‘Sausage, mash, peas and I even did onion gravy.’
    â€˜Sounds good to me,’ Harry said, dropping his briefcase behind the door and flopping down into a chair. ‘Boy, what a day.’
    Gregory poured him a cup of tea and placed it on the table. ‘I hope it’s all right,’ he said. ‘Me stopping for supper?’
    Harry waved a dismissive hand. ‘Of course it is. You’ll just have to give me a minute or two to resume normal operations, as it were.’
    â€˜You spent the afternoon with Atkins,’ Patrick remembered.
    â€˜I did indeed.’ He gulped at his tea and then seemed to find the energy to shrug off his coat.’
    â€˜Shall I stick that in the hall?’ Gregory asked, aware that he was now blocking the door.
    â€˜Thank you,’ Harry said. ‘Stick my bag out there too, would you. Lord knows I’ve seen enough of it for one day.’
    â€˜This Atkins fellow. He’s trouble, is he?’
    â€˜A man with too much money and too little perspective when it comes to his actual importance to the world.’
    Gregory laughed. ‘And you’re what, his accountant?’
    â€˜Yes, he’s a client. Fortunately he has a business manager that I usually deal with, but two or three times a year, Mr Atkins has to come and do what he calls a proper audit. Anyway, let’s leave the job in the hall. It’s Friday evening and I don’t have to think about it for a day or two.’
    Gregory watched as father and son exchanged a smile. Their closeness had been obvious from the first time Gregory had encountered them and he wondered about it. What was it like, being that close to someone? He’d never been close to his father and never been particularly interested in his mother though he recognized she had done her best with her rather diffident and uncommunicative son.
    â€˜Ready to eat?’ Patrick asked and gestured to Gregory to take a seat. Gregory sat, suddenly a little uneasy. As he’d told Patrick earlier, he wasn’t good at making conversation – though he found Patrick surprisingly easy to talk to.
    Patrick served up the food.
    â€˜Dig in,’ Harry said. ‘No need to stand on ceremony. Thank you, Patrick, much appreciated.’
    For several minutes they ate in near silence, all giving attention to the food. Gregory realized that he was hungry and, from the way Patrick seemed to be wolfing his meal, that he was too.
    â€˜So,’ Harry said eventually. ‘What brings you to Pinsent? You’ve come to see how Alec and Naomi are getting along, I expect.’
    â€˜Something like that,’ Gregory agreed. ‘As I told Patrick, it was a bit of an impulse. I suddenly find myself with time on my hands and I’m not too sure what to do with it, I suppose.’
    Harry nodded. ‘It’s not easy to stop being a busy person,’ he agreed, then got up. ‘More tea for everyone? Good. Well, as Patrick has probably told you, I think Alec is still in shock perhaps. I think it might have been easier if he’d had a job to go back to. He’s always been a busy person too and it’s bad for that kind of personality to come to a full stop.’
    Harry set the mugs on the table and sat down again. ‘I think going back to work would have been the best thing for him. Routine and other people’s expectations can be remarkably … soothing is the wrong word; comforting, I suppose, in an odd way.’
    â€˜It struck me, when I saw them both, that he was enjoying the break in routine,’ Gregory said. ‘But I figured he’d soon get bored. I think they both would. It’s not good for people used to having roots to suddenly be adrift.’
    â€˜Do you have