He might owe Sam Oka, though he’d never met the man, but he definitely owed John. “I’ll ask her. I can’t guarantee anything.”
John squeezed his eyes shut. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. She’s got a mind of her own.”
John’s smile was fond. “Didn’t she always?”
“She did.” He’d always adored that about her. “I’ll get back to you soon.”
“Don’t waste too much time. I’m not getting any younger.”
“Yes, sir.”
A feminine voice came from behind him. “Nicholas?”
He turned to find his sister walking across the back porch. She looked polished and put together in her sensible pumps and black pants suit. Her white shirt had a frill at the collar. Stiff, formal, elegant. Just like her. “Eve. What are you doing here?”
“Grandpa wanted me to look through some of Grandma’s letters.”
“Need to get the right ones for our memoir.” John’s smile held a hit of reminiscing. “She would have killed me for rifling through her stuff, but she’d be okay with Eve doing it.”
Nicholas shared a look with Eve. That sounded suspiciously like a task that could have been done at any time, anywhere, not necessarily on a workday, at John’s house.
Combined with John’s recent trend of not coming into the office, this was worrisome. Nicholas made a mental note to talk to his grandfather’s housekeeper. If John was sad or lonely, he neededto know. He and Eve could step up their visits, or perhaps they could look into some activities for the man. “Sounds like a good time.”
“You can come over on the weekend and go through the albums, Nicholas,” John said eagerly.
Hmm. “I’d like that. But for now, I should get going.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Eve murmured.
He bent down to hug his grandfather, and the older man patted him on the back. Nicholas hid his worry at how weak the hug felt. “We’ll talk soon, Grandpa.”
His grandfather gave him a conspiratorial look. “Yes, soon.”
He walked across the wide expanse of lawn with his sister. She didn’t speak until they turned the corner. “That sounded important.”
“Everything everyone needs from me is important.”
“Must be nice,” she said. “Everything I do is paperwork and party planning.”
He cast her a sideways look, catching the tinge of discontent in her tone. “Are you unhappy at the foundation?”
“Does it matter? One of us has to carry on Mom’s work while the other carries on Dad and Grandpa’s. How lucky that it could be split along gender lines.”
He’d never seen her smile so sour. “If you don’t like your work, we can find something else for you at the company. I thought you wanted to work at the foundation.”
Her smile turned fixed, and she shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
He had to worry about it. He had to worry about all of them. He’d assumed Eve was more than content carrying on their mother’s legacy.
Despite everything that came with it, he’d never considered doing anything other than what he was doing. He wanted Eve to have that same sense of security.
His car came into view, parked in the circular driveway. Eve rested her fingertips on his sleeve. “Nicholas... I wanted to apologize.”
He shot her a quick glance. “Apologize for what?”
“For my ridiculous behavior last week. I’m sorry I worried you and you rushed over like that. I’m ashamed you saw me that way.”
