Chapter 5 - The Room Beside the Study
The next visit happened in Naomi’s office.
Lily arrived carrying Captain and wearing the serious expression of someone preparing to negotiate a treaty.
Adrian sat where she could see the door.
“I have questions,” she said.
“All right.”
“Did you know my mom?”
“No.”
“Did you know her building?”
“Yes.”
“Did you make it catch fire?”
“No.”
She studied him.
“Did you let somebody bad work for you?”
Adrian felt Naomi watching.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I trusted him, and I stopped checking things I was responsible for.”
Lily looked down at Captain.
“Because your daughter died?”
“That’s part of what happened. It doesn’t make the other part okay.”
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then she asked, “Are you still rich?”
“Yes.”
“Could you fix the stairs at Harbor House? The third one squeaks.”
Naomi almost smiled.
“We’ve submitted a maintenance request.”
“People submitted those at Mom’s building.”
The smile vanished.
Adrian leaned forward.
“You’re right.”
He didn’t offer to buy Harbor House.
He asked Naomi whom to contact about the repair, then left the decision with the people responsible.
Lily watched that, too.
Weeks passed.
The independent background review continued. Investigators found no evidence Adrian had ordered or known about the safety violations, but his business practices remained under scrutiny.
He resigned from operating roles while outside managers reviewed the companies.
He sold the security business.
He gave investigators access to records that might cost him far more than money.
None of it happened quickly.
Neither did Lily’s trust.
Sometimes she spoke through an entire visit.
Sometimes she arranged blocks in silence.
Once she asked him to leave after seven minutes.
He left without punishing her for it.
By early autumn, after additional assessments and a revised safety plan, the court approved a supervised transition toward placement.
Lily visited the house with Naomi.
Then for dinner.
Then through bedtime, returning to Harbor House afterward.
At last came the first overnight.
Housekeeper Rosa Alvarez greeted her at the door.
“I’m making spaghetti,” Rosa said. “You can help or you can tell me how I’m doing it wrong.”
Lily considered.
“Both?”
Rosa handed her a spoon.
The yellow bedroom had changed very little.
There were books now, selected with her.
A low shelf.
A laundry basket.
A card beside the bed listed three names and where to find them during the night.
Adrian’s name came first.
“Can I keep my shoes on?” Lily asked.
“Yes.”
“In bed?”
“We can put a clean blanket over the covers.”
She nodded.
At dinner, she slipped two rolls into her pockets.
Rosa saw.
Adrian saw.
Nobody demanded an explanation.
Later, he placed a small basket of sealed snacks on the dresser.
“These stay here,” he said. “We’ll replace them when they’re gone.”
“I wasn’t stealing.”
“I know.”
At two seventeen in the morning, a crash came from the kitchen.
Adrian found Lily barefoot beside a broken glass.
Water spread across the tile.
Her whole body trembled.
“I was thirsty.”
“Are you cut?”
“I can clean it.”
“First, let’s get you away from the glass.”
“I can clean it.”
Her voice sharpened with panic.
Adrian crouched outside the spill.
“Lily. You’re staying.”
She stared at him.
“You broke a glass. You’re staying.”
Her face crumpled.
He opened his arms without moving toward her.
She crossed the space herself.
For several minutes, he sat on the kitchen floor holding a child who apologized between breaths.
In the morning, she ate breakfast wearing his old sweatshirt over her pajamas.
“Do you always have waffles on Saturdays?” she asked.
“We could.”
She poured syrup into one square.
Then another.
“Next Saturday, too?”
May you like
Adrian looked at the calendar on the refrigerator.
“Yes,” he said. “Next Saturday, too.”
