"I can't believe you chose a girl."
Grace braced herself as she shut the door to Annie's bedroom. She should have known she wouldn't be able to get away with this. Even after the splendid night the three of them shared together... Perhaps he was a good actor.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Warbucks," she said after a few seconds.
In silence they began walking down the hall, Grace still preparing for the impending lecture.
When he finally spoke, she was shocked.
"You made the right decision. As always."
"I did?"
With a nod, he said, "Yes, a boy would have been nothing but trouble. The more I think back on my orphan days as an adult, the more I realize I would have been kicked out of any home that might have welcomed me. I was a holy terror."
"Oh, I doubt that," she said with a breath. "How does a holy terror, as you say, end up on top of the world?"
"By not giving a damn about my actions. That's the only way up. You have to be ruthless."
"Again, I doubt that."
"I'm living proof."
Smiling, she said, "Regardless, I wish I could have known you back then."
"As a boy?" Oliver questioned.
Grace shrugged. "Not necessarily a boy, but who you were before you became 'The Oliver Warbucks'."
As they turned down the next hall, he replied, "No different than any other hard-working man. That's why I'm fighting so damn hard to keep from closing any more factories. I can't look at the workers without seeing myself twenty years ago. I know what it's like, granted, not under the current conditions of the world. At least when I lost a job, I knew I'd find another one. The factory workers don't have that same hope."
Touching his arm, Grace said, "See? You're not a ruthless businessman."
"I beg your pardon?" He stopped.
"You genuinely care about these people. Not many businessmen of your capacity think of their thousands of employees in the personal way you do."
Brushing off the compliment, Oliver mumbled, "Yeah... well... it's good business sense."
Suppressing a chuckle, Grace followed as he started walking again. "So, tomorrow we'll go over the damage?"
"Have to. Do you think Annie will keep entertained?"
She nodded. "I had Drake set up a tennis lesson with Don Budge. I'm sure she'll sleep in, too, so that gives us the morning to work."
"Let's take her to lunch. Might be a late one but it's something."
Grace's reply was nothing but a smirk.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing," she said, walking in front of him. Seconds later, she felt his hand on her shoulder, the same as he'd done back in the carriage.
She hadn't imagined it after all.
