Richard knew that Greg was suspicious of him but didn't realize how bad it had been until Laney told him about it point blank after Lissy's birthday party. It seemed that his act earlier had paid off.
He had gone all out. Wearing casual clothes and messy hair, being as obnoxiously physically affectionate as he could, talking to Laney even when he had no idea what idiotic things were coming out of his mouth because he really had nothing to say about carnival games or rollercoasters.
He had sensed some degree of hostility from the man earlier in the day but that lessened as time went on. He had wondered if that meant his act was working.
Not all of it had been an act though. He had been genuinely concerned when Laney mentioned she didn't have anyone to care about her the way his grandfather supposedly cared about him.
She experienced a lot more love than he did. He was confused why she would say something like that.
