“Nor me. Mary, yes, but never me. The only reason I’m sure of it is because she told me how she was making Mary rest more. For her to go to certain merchants when Mom was in need of something she didn’t want others to know about. I believe it was mostly potions and such. Mom could cast too if she needed to.” Jude knew that, as well. “Well, my dear. What do you have to do today?”
“Several things, actually.” She handed him the list she’d started in the bathroom this morning. “Tracy has decided she wants to take some college classes online, so we need to get her registered for that soon.”
After telling him her list, Duncan pulled up his phone. She knew she should be more fluent with the phone and what it could do for her. Jude just didn’t care all that much to do it. Someday, she’d kept telling herself. Well, it was, in her opinion, too much to learn now. Besides, she had her own method, and it worked well for her.
Laughing at Duncan’s attempts to get her up on the latest things, she left the house and him with a short kiss. There really was a lot to be said for having a paper list. She could simply scribble it out when she was finished with it. He could only delete.
~*~
Going over the paperwork that had been on his desk since Christmas, Duncan concentrated on each word this time in order to make sense of what it was saying. There was something there, some word that was out of place that he knew was going to trick him up. After reading it several more times, he put it down when a happy distraction entered the room with him.
“Tracy. Thank goodness you’re here.” She laughed, and he smiled at her. “I have this paperwork, contract I guess you’d call it, for the new building that we’re putting in. It’s going to be for things like large gatherings, as well as plays and such for all the grades.” She sat down and took the paperwork. “I think I’m reading more into this than there is, but for some reason, it’s eluding me as to what I’m missing.”
“What do you mean?” Duncan explained it to her as best he could. “So, you think there is some sort of magic on the page that is keeping you from reading it properly?”
“I’d never thought of that. Yes, that might be it in a nutshell. It’s hiding something from me. I was wondering if you could see what I can’t.” She looked it over, then looked up at him. “You’ve found it, haven’t you?”
“Before I tell you the answer, there is something I need to tell you first. I went to speak to Mercy yesterday. I told her how I was worried that people might take advantage of me now. You know, people have to know that you and Mom have money. I asked Mercy what I could do to prevent magic from being used on me to fall in love with a dead beat jerk and things like that. Understand?” Duncan told her he could have done it for her. “Yes, but like Mom, you would have wanted to know who had done such a thing to me, and would have been ready to hunt them down. This was a preventive thing, not someone taking me to the cleaners now.”
He smiled at her, and she grinned. “I believe you know us all too well. Okay, so Mercy helped you with this magic. I’m assuming she told you to tell us about it.” Tracy told him she had been very stern about letting them know. “Good for her. And for you for making sure you knew when someone was pulling something like that on you. What does it say, honey?”
“Mostly, it’s just what you’d think in a contract, except for this little bit in the middle. Right here, it says this. ‘If the project runs too long, there will be no consequences made to the builders. And if there is any leftover material, no matter the cost, it will be given to the builders at no charge to them.’ I’m thinking if they’re doing the ordering, you’re going to be in the red for an exceedingly long time on this project.” As he took the papers back, she went on to explain something else to him. “There are a couple of other benefits to the builders there. Mostly it’s what I thought about them doing the material ordering, as well as they hire as many men as they need to finish the project. For that alone, even knowing it’s in there, I’d not hire them. I would like to work with you on more projects so that I can run them too.”
“You want to work with me?” She said for him. “No. You’re my daughter. And someday I’d like for you to take over a lot of the projects. As my oldest, it would fall to you to take them anyway.”
“I’m not your child. I mean, biologically, I’m not of your blood.” Duncan set the papers on his desk and looked at her. “I know I’m going to have to take some hits in that I’m not your daughter. I think, and I’m sure this is true that you took me under your roof because of Abe. And I’d—”
“Stop right there. Have I treated you as if
