It was only because by staying here could he stand beside her with his head held high and not be outdone by anyone.
He did not want to be looked down upon again and hear people say things like how he did not deserve to be the Little Young Ladyâs friend.
Jasper looked blankly at William. When she heard that he wanted to be best friends with her, her dejected expression was finally replaced with a smile.
She quickly ran up to him. âThen⦠Then letâs be best friends forever. Come and see me often, and Iâll come and see you often!â
âOkay!â he replied.
âThis dollâ¦â Her eyes fell on the doll he was still holding in his right hand. She now recognized it as the doll she had given him. âThink of the doll as me, and let her sleep with you every day.â
âOkay,â he answered again.
âAlso, you have to finish the chocolates I gave you today. Theyâre very delicious!â she said. It was a pity she could not eat them with him.
âOkay.â
When he answered âokayâ for the third time, she was finally satisfied. She did not look as sad as before.
Jasper suddenly hugged William and gave him a big kiss on the check with a smack. âIâll miss you every day after I get back. You must miss me every day too! Weâre best friends forever.â
The four members of the Reed family left, but William stood still, feeling his cheek burn after being kissed.
He⦠would miss her every day. He would miss her very much!
âAlright, come on. Letâs get inside. Itâs so late now. You should have gone to bed long ago,â said Chelsea as she held her grandsonâs hand.
William looked down at the doll in his hand. Then, he said solemnly to Chelsea, âGrandma, donât throw away my doll again. I donât want anyone to touch it.â
It was as if the doll was a treasure of great importance to him, so no one could touch it.
Jason and Grace lectured the little ones after taking them back to the hotel.
After all, the two children had caused such a ruckus. Jason would have gone to the head of Deer Cityâs police department if Philip Barlow had called a little later.
âWhy did you run out to find William? You couldâve just told us you wanted to see William!â said Grace.
if âWe were afraid that William wouldnât want to see us. In that case, we wouldnât be able to see him, but weâd get to see him if we sneaked into the Barlow familyâs house,â Jasper said persuasively.
Grace rubbed her temples. She had no idea how to refute her daughterâs nonsense for a moment.
âAnyway, you canât do that anymore. Youâre still young. What if you had run into bad peopleâ¦â Grace began lecturing the children about what might have happened to them.