“I don’t know what the fuck I thought,” I admit. I shake my head. “Maybe it was too soon to bring her home.”
“No, not too soon. If anything, you’re five years too late. She should have been here from the start. But she’s here now. And she’s safe, brother. You need to start loosening your grip. You can’t control everything.”
“Fuck if I can’t.”
“She asked about school. She’s been having her afternoon snack with Nina, Catherine’s granddaughter. Nina’s her age and she was telling Angelique all about her kindergarten class. Has she asked you about it yet?”
I look at my brother because no, she has not.
“She asked me,” he says. “Asked when she would start school.”
I pick up my coffee mug and drink. “Why is Catherine’s granddaughter coming here in the afternoons? Is it a regular thing?”
“Really?” Zeke looks at me. “You may be the older brother, but I’ve been running things here while you’ve been gone. Catherine has her routine and if her granddaughter comes over every day after school until her mother can pick her up after work, that’s fine by me. You know Angelique will meet people. You can’t keep her locked away in a tower forever.”
“I’m not planning on forever. Just until Bishop is no longer a threat.” I drink another sip of coffee and study my brother who clearly does not agree with my plan. I set my mug down. “Bishop looked at you last night. When he made that comment about Zoë and dad.”
“Did he?” Zeke asks but I see the momentarily flicker of tension before he schools his features. “Your point?”
“Why did he look at you? Because Santiago gave you the same knowing look when he told me he had no evidence that Bishop was involved in our father’s accident.”
“I didn’t realize.”
We sit in silence for a long, long minute. “Is there anything I don’t know, brother?”
“Like what?”
I shrug a shoulder and wait.
“I have to get to the office,” he says, standing.
I remain seated, watch him. When our father was killed Zeke took over the management of the investment firm our great-grandfather founded. It’s one of the family businesses.
“Brother?” he says it like a question but it’s my invitation to leave.
I get to my feet. “I’ll see you later,” I say, taking my coffee mug and walking out into the corridor where Dex is casually waiting. “Find out for me if Carlton Bishop is having his breakfast in the usual spot, will you?”
“Sure thing.”
“And bring my car.”
He nods and when I go into the dining room to set my mug down, I find it empty. Angelique and my mother have finished breakfast and their plates are being cleared. I walk into the kitchen to find Catherine pouring pink batter into a cake form.
“Well, good morning, Jericho,” she says, stopping. She wipes her hands on her apron.
“Is that color natural?” I ask of the pink.
She smiles proudly. “Not completely. Did you get breakfast?”
“I’m not hungry. Zeke tells me your granddaughter comes by after school.”
She is taken aback. I’m not one to get involved in the personal lives of the staff. “She does. Her mother has a new job and only finishes work at five, so she spends two hours with me in the kitchen. She’s no trouble and I still do my work.”
I shake my head. “No, that’s not why I’m asking. It’s fine. She and Angelique get along?”
The older woman smiles. “They do.” Her forehead wrinkles and I get the feeling there’s more she wants to say but won’t.
“I’m glad,” I say. “It’s good for Angelique to have a friend her own age. But if they play outside, you send someone with them?”