Chapter 6 - Breakfast Gone Cold
I stayed where I was by the island because Lily hadn't closed her hand. The little brass key sat right in the middle of her palm and caught the light every time her fingers trembled.
Nathan didn't reach for it. He stayed crouched down to her level, his suit jacket pulling across his shoulders. I could hear him breathing slow, like he was trying not to scare her.
"Hey, Lil," he said. His voice was quieter than I'd ever heard it. "Where'd that come from, sweetheart?"
Lily didn't answer right away. She glanced sideways at Sophie, who had her face pressed into the side of Lily's arm with the teddy bear squished between them. Then Lily looked past Nathan. She looked at me.
That look landed hard. I gave her the smallest nod I could manage. Just let her know I was there.
Vanessa moved in fast from behind the island. Her heels clicked once on the tile. She put a hand on Nathan's shoulder, like she was trying to lift him back up.
"They got into my desk drawer this morning," she said. Her tone was bright in a way that didn't fit the room. "The little brass one in the hallway. You know how they get into everything when they're overtired. They barely slept last night."
Sophie made a small sound against Lily's sleeve. Lily's fingers curled in a little around the key, but she didn't close them. She didn't let go of it.
I looked at the table behind us. The bowls we'd set out were still there. Milk starting to skin over. Toast gone soft at the edges. The kitchen smelled like warm butter and coffee, and under the island it smelled like dust and dish soap.
Overtired didn't match what I'd seen. Overtired kids fought over cereal and cried because their socks felt wrong. They didn't crawl under the dining table before seven in the morning and hold each other without making a sound. They didn't whisper about not waking someone.
Nathan must have felt some of that too, because he didn't stand up. He checked his watch, then he looked toward the front hall like he was calculating traffic. He always left at 7:40. It was already past that.
"I was supposed to be on the highway ten minutes ago," he said, more to himself than to us.
"You should go," Vanessa said. "I'll handle breakfast. Maya can —"
"I'll stay ten more minutes," Nathan said. He cut her off without looking up at her. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and settled back on his heels so he was more comfortable on the tile. "I want to sort this out before I leave."
Vanessa's hand tightened on his shoulder for a second, then let go. She walked around to the front of the island and folded her arms. I could see the muscle working in her jaw.
"There's nothing to sort out," she said. "They took a key they shouldn't have. They're tired and acting out. Right, girls?"
Lily didn't nod. She kept her eyes on her dad. Her palm was still open. The key was still there, and Nathan was still looking at it like he couldn't figure out why it bothered him so much.
I crouched down a little lower so I was closer to Lily's eye line. My knees ached from the tile.
"Do you want to put your bear up on the chair while you talk to Dad?" I asked Sophie softly.
Sophie shook her head fast and clutched the bear tighter. No. Okay. That told me enough.
Nathan glanced at me, then back at Lily. "You found this in Vanessa's drawer?" he asked.
Lily's mouth opened, then closed. She looked at me again. I didn't say anything. I didn't want to put words in her mouth with both her parents standing over her.
Vanessa answered for her. "Yes. I told them yesterday to stay out of there."
I kept my eyes on Lily's face while Vanessa talked. Lily's eyebrows pulled together. Just a flicker. It wasn't agreement. It was the look a kid gets when she hears an adult tell a story that isn't quite hers and she doesn't know if she's allowed to correct it.
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The refrigerator hummed. Somewhere outside a car went past. The key stayed where it was, small and bright and wrong for a desk drawer that held pens and takeout menus.
Nathan rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't leave.
