Читать книгу A Case for Forgiveness - Carol Ross - Страница 13

CHAPTER FIVE

JONAH LOOKED AROUND Gramps’s office with the same degree of bafflement he had ever since he’d arrived. He’d spent the last few days hanging out with Gramps and trying to get a sense of his overall health. He would seem fine one minute and then the next he’d appear tired or weak. His appetite was good; they’d gone out for dinner a couple nights ago where he’d seemed as young and energetic as ever, just as he had at bingo.

Doc had been over to play cards twice and their gin rummy sessions were as heated and jovial as ever. Gramps had been working in the yard yet taking a lot of naps, and two of the days he’d slept for hours.

He’d confessed to Jonah that he didn’t feel up to spending any time in the office, so Jonah had begun sorting through the files on Gramps’s desk, which was a mess—also very unlike him. He’d always advised Jonah that the trouble it took to keep things neat now saved precious time searching for important details later. Appearances suggested to Jonah that Gramps hadn’t been following his own advice. That concerned him, too—as did one of the case files Jonah had found near the bottom of a pile.

“Gramps?” he called into the other room.

The office of Caleb Cedar, attorney at law, was located inside Gramps’s house with an outside entrance for clients. This had been an ideal set-up when Jonah was growing up because he’d been able to hang out there while Gramps was working, yet still enjoy the comforts of home.

Jonah had been nine years old when the small plane carrying his parents to Anchorage for a wedding had crashed. Jonah was supposed to have been with them, but he’d begged to be allowed to stay home with Gramps. His parents had acquiesced and then, less than three hours later, they were dead. Jonah had never recovered from the opposing emotions he’d felt as a child—felt still, even though his rational brain begged him to be rational about these feelings.