Then, she walked away. And I watched her until she slid into the corner booth. When I turned to Mama Lil and Dom, they were both staring at me with knowing glances. “What?”
“Mmmhmm.” Mama Lil folded her arms across her chest. “You like her.”
“You might be on to something, Mama Lil.” Dom sprinkled salt and pepper over his omelet. “I think I just met the reason your ass didn’t get on that plane.”
“Shut the hell up,” I grumbled, cutting into my pancakes. “I just met her.”
“Whatever you say, CooCoo.” Mama Lil waved her hand at him. “I have to get out of here, boys. Come back and see me before you leave.” She headed over to the corner booth where Angel was seated with her family.
“Say what you will,” Dom said as he chewed a big piece of his omelet, “but if you’re still here next week I’ll know what’s up.”
“Don’t play me, man. I told you… Granddad asked me to restore the house.”
Dom paused, fork in midair. “Ms. Fox’s house?”
“Yes.”
“That’s… weird.”
“I thought the same thing. But that’s not the point. If I’m supposed to restore the Fox house, Angel is the person I need to work with to get that done. That’s all.”
Even as I said that, I knew it wasn’t entirely true. Because Angel Crawford was definitely someone I wanted to get to know.
* * *
“What’s up, man?”I switched my phone from one ear to the next, pulled out my keycard, and opened the door to my room.
“Working.” Preston shouted to someone that he was walking away for a minute. Seconds later, he said, “Shit, I should’ve stayed my ass in the office. Working outside in this windchill is a bitch.”
Preston Hayes was my best friend and business partner. He’d left his corporate job as an architect to jump in with me on my mission to become a game changer in the construction business. We’d developed and built several prominent buildings in the Detroit area. Currently, we’d invested a lot of capital to build and rehab homes for low-income residents. Giving back to the Black community was more important to me than being a corporate suit. Not that Prescott Holdings didn’t help the community. It was actually quite the opposite. The company had spent millions in its philanthropic endeavors through the years. Granddad had insisted on doing whatever they could to ease the struggle of Rosewood Heights residents and beyond. He felt it was his responsibility to help others rise above the circumstances that were always at play for Black people in America. That was one of the most important lessons he’d taught me.
“How’s everything going at the site?” I asked.
“Everything is fine. Why are you still in Rosewood Heights?”
I’d asked myself that same damn question at least a hundred times since I’d arrived two weeks ago. I kicked off my boots and scanned the room. While the suite was comfortable, it wasn’t home. Although I’d done it on more than one occasion, my ass was old and cranky, and I hated living out of a suitcase. I needed a kitchen, a firm bed, and space to do shit other than sit on stiff furniture and watch T.V.
“I have some things to take care of here,” I explained.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah.” I picked up the remote and turned on the television. After I scrolled through a few channels I turned it off. “I’ll be back soon.”Or not. I still couldn’t understand why I didn’t just hire the contractors for the home restoration and get the hell out town. “I need a favor, though.”
“What’s up?”
“I have a project that needs to get done as soon as possible.” I shared the details about my grandfather’s request. “Unfortunately, the woman who owned the house died shortly after Granddad, but her great-niece is in charge of her estate.”
“Ah, okay. Is she interested in keeping the house? Or selling?”
“We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I plan to meet with her today.”
“Alright. Send me the schematics when you can. I’ll get started right away.”
I thought about the timeline for completion. The house had good bones. I’d peeped a few structural details while I was there, and I’d done some research on the property. “I’ll send you pictures, measurements, and the county records I pulled.”
“Any thoughts on budget?” Preston asked.
“Not right now. But I’m not going to shortchange this. I want everything to be top quality, including the contractors. I’ve reached out to several local people already. I also have a plug on a landscaping company that my family has used for years. But I’m not opposed to flying some of our guys down to get the job done.”
