The midday heat was sweltering.
In the large courtyard, aside from the occasional playful shouts of children, only the cicadas in the trees were screeching themselves hoarse. Sydney Sawyer felt a little anxious as she greeted Jane Spencer.
Ronald Sharp was nervous too. He rubbed his hands together. "You must be tired after such a long drive."
"I'm okay."
"You look a little pale. It must have been rough, getting up so early for the trip."
Ryder Sharp took the luggage from the trunk, feeling a little speechless.
'I'm the one who drove, yet you don't seem concerned about your own son at all.'
"Let's go inside first."
Just as Ronald Sharp gestured for her to enter the house, an old man walked out from next door.
"Ronald, has the young lady from your family arrived?"
The man looked to be around seventy. He wore a loose white shirt and black trousers, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose with a thin metal chain draped around his neck.
