“She doesn’t have to know. You can always give it to me now.”
Lake gets out of his bed and skips to the desk. I perch myself on the edge of the bed. He comes back with a bright blue envelope and hands it to me. It has my name written on it with a childish scrawl and a sticker ofSpidermanswinging in the corner. “I want to give you this,” he whispers.
I open the envelope to find a white card inside. On the front is a childish drawing of what I can best tell to be a Disneyland park skyline. Standing below are three stick figures. One woman, one man, and one child in the middle. My heart swells as I open it. “Thank you for the trip, I had a great time,” is written in pencil and almost fills the entire card. I feel tears well in my eyes until I see the name scrawled on the bottom. ‘Lake Hawthorne.’
Sinclair. Your name is Sinclair, I want to say. I hug him instead. “Thank you.”
“Oh, you’re in here.” We break our embrace when I hear Ivy’s voice. She stands at the door and strolls in when we turn to face her.
“I thought you were asleep,” she says to Lake. Lake looks guilty. I rescue him. “It’s my fault. He woke up when I got in.” I get up and lift Lake so I can put him back in his bed. As I am tucking him in, he says, “I wanted to give Uncle Damien the card. I couldn’t wait until morning.”
“Remember what I told you about…” Ivy gestures at me.
“Oh right. Sorry uncle, I mean. Dad. Thank you for the trip, unc—Dad.”
“Thanks for the card. Amazing work. I didn’t know we had Van Gogh in the house.”
“Who’s Van Goff?”
“One of the greatest artists to have ever lived. You might be better than he ever was.”
Lake chuckles in disbelief. I like that he’s smart enough to recognize fake praise when it’s given to him.
“Goodnight Lake.”
“Goodnight Uncle Damien,” he says as he lays his head on the pillow. Ivy and I both leave the room and as I close the door, I lift the card and wave it at her. “Your idea?”
She shakes her head. “His own. All I did was give Greta money for supplies. He’s very thoughtful.” “Surprising. He certainly didn’t learn that from you.” She makes her way to the guest bedroom and as I stare at her back, recalling what is written on the card.Lake Hawthorne.“Where are you going?”
“Bed?”
“We’re sleeping in the same room, remember?” I nod to the door of the master bedroom. “And besides, there’s something we need to discuss.”
Chapter 15
Ivy
I catch Nolan just as he’s about to enter the elevator. “Stop.” He turns to face me and lets the door of the elevator close behind him.“I can fix this.”
Nolan’s mouth turns up slightly. “If it weren’t for what you did, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I didn’t know it would end up like this that he would--”
“Use your shares to launch a takeover? Come on Ivy, you didn’t spend four years in business school for nothing. You’re smarter than that.”
I wasn’t thinking, that’s the problem. My only concern was Antoinette's potential closure, which made it difficult for me to think clearly. I knew he was going to make Nolan’s life a bit more difficult. I just didn’t think it would be to this extent.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” Nolan says, continuing our earlier conversation. He came here looking for Damien and found me instead. I had initially felt embarrassed to be found in the enemy’s lair by my brother, and he didn’t let me live it down. He had rubbed it in every time he spoke. Then he asked why I had sold my shares to Damien. I hid nothing from him. I explained it all. And the entire time, he said nothing. His only expression of emotion was the ticking of his jaw. And then Damien came. And Nolan unleashed that anger on Damien. Culminating in Nolan storming out.
As to Nolan’s question? My pride wouldn’t let me. If I had gone to Nolan and then everyone would have known of my failure. Father would have been proven right. That I couldn’t make it on my own. That I needed them to raise Lake. “Damien’s Lake’s father.”
“I would never have let my nephew go homeless. For fuck’s sake Ivy, I gave you the initial money you needed to open that business. I’m not dad.”
“Which is why I think you two can come to a compromise.”
Nolan raises his eyebrows. He closes the space between us and stands a foot away from me. Taller than most men, Nolan towers over me in his deep gray suit and black overcoat. He looks like the perfect image of a New York businessman. Dark and menacing, I should be intimidated by his presence, but he is my brother. It’s hard to be intimidated by someone you’ve seen as a gangly teenager in braces. “If you think Damien is not using you, you’re wrong.”
“I know the deal I signed with him.”
