I felt my stomach drop.
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
Then the loan officer continued.
“Mr. Kane?”
I swallowed.
“I'm here.”
He hesitated.
“I'm sorry.”
The call ended.
I stood motionless beside the stove.
Behind me, Maya asked whether spaceships could eat pancakes.
I didn't answer.
All I could think was that I had finally met a woman I wanted to see again.
And her company had just become involved in taking away my father's garage.
Across Seattle, in a polished office overlooking the waterfront, Arthur Bell was looking at the same loan file.
He was sixty-two years old, with silver hair, expensive suits, and a gold wristwatch he had worn for nearly thirty years.
He had spent most of his career helping powerful investors acquire distressed property.
And for almost as long, he had wanted the land beneath Kane Family Auto Repair.
He studied the five-day demand.
Then smiled.
Because he knew something Marcus Kane didn't.
The garage was sitting on the final parcel required for a redevelopment project worth tens of millions of dollars.
And once the mechanic lost control of the property, there would be no reason to keep pretending the foreclosure was only about forty thousand dollars.
Arthur reached for his phone.
“Has Vanessa been informed?” he asked.
The man on the other end hesitated.
“Not yet.”
Arthur glanced toward the city.
“Good.”
He smiled.
“Let's keep it that way until the Kane file is closed.”
I spent the next ten minutes standing in my kitchen pretending nothing was wrong.
Maya continued arranging blueberries on her plate. She explained that the largest berry represented Jupiter, even though Jupiter wasn't technically part of the spaceship she had originally intended to construct.
I nodded.
Poured more pancake batter.
And tried to remember how to breathe.
“Daddy?”
I looked up.
“Yeah, peanut?”
“Did you hear me?”
I forced a smile.
“Sorry. Tell me again.”
She studied my face.
Then put down her fork.
“Are you thinking about Grandpa's garage?”
I froze.
Children notice far more than adults want them to.
I sat beside her.
“A little.”
She looked toward the window.
“Is it still having money problems?”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
Maya considered that.
Then she slid the largest blueberry toward me.
“You can have Jupiter.”
I stared at it.
“Thanks.”
She nodded seriously.
“It's the biggest one.”
I picked up the blueberry.