"So you know about me and Maddie." I pause. "I don't even know why I'm surprised. You always found a way to know more than people let on."
She gives a short, quiet sound that is not quite a scoff. "I've known Maddie was your mate since you were both in high school. The rest of it was a matter of time."
"Then you understand why I'm finding her a nursing job in LA. I'm not going to repeat the same mistake I made the first time."
"Boy, you better come to your senses and quick. You're making a huge mistake."
I sit forward, bracing my forearms on my knees. The chair protests.
"Meridian Pacific is the most prestigious hospital in Los Angeles. Best ICU in the state, nationally ranked. I called in a favor with the chief of medical staff to put Maddie's name in front of the right people." I frown at Agatha, but she doesn't change her expression. "She loves her work. She's had to stop because of her mother's illness, but that's over now. Maddie can go back to her career. She can have the position she deserves. She can come with me to Long Beach."
I am proud of this. I want her to understand that. This is not the impulsive certainty of an eighteen-year-old who thoughtmoney was the solution to every equation. I thought it through. I found the variable and I solved for it.
Agatha is quiet for a long moment.
In the row across from us, an elderly naga couple is sharing something from a paper bag, passing it back and forth without looking at each other.
"Demetrius." Agatha's voice is low and she speaks slowly. "You have everything. More than most people will see in a lifetime. The money, the company, the power." She glances toward the phone in my pocket. "Don't you have enough already?"
"There's no such thing as enough when your name is on the company."
"That's Cornelius talking."
It lands harder than I expected.
She doesn't let up.
"What you can never have too much of is love," she says. "That's the one thing you don't get back when it's gone. You know that better than most. I am asking you honestly: have you asked her? Have you sat down with that girl and talked to her and told her what's coming and asked her what she wants?"
A lump settles in my throat and I swallow, hard.
"She's going to have a position any nurse in the country would compete for."
"That's not what I asked."
Again, Agatha's shrewd gaze rips right through me and for a moment, I get the distinct feeling that she could be right about this. Then I remember that I have no choice, not if I want this deal.
"I'm taking care of her. Maddie will have everything she can wish for."
"Does she know?" Agatha's eyes do not leave me. "That you are leaving at all?"
I don't answer. Agatha reads the answer to my question off my face as easily as from an open book.
"I see," she says, and the two words are more cutting than any knife.
"Demetrius." There is no edge in her voice. That is somehow worse. "Your grandfather took care of me too. He made every decision he thought was right for both of us and he made them with his whole heart and there was never a cruel intention in any of it." She pauses. "But he never once asked me what I wanted. Not really." Her hand rests on her knee, very still. "The decision was always already made."
The overhead lights hum. Somewhere near the front desk, a child cries briefly and then goes quiet.
"Maddie is a heart person," she says. "She has always been. You will not sway her with prestige or money, I promise you that. Her heart isn't for sale, and you're a fool if you think the right job description will cover for not asking her the question you should be asking."
Neither of us says anything for a long moment.
I know exactly what question she means. I have known since the moment the words left her mouth. It's the question I knew I should be asking, but to be honest, it's also the question I don't want to ask her. Because I may not be afraid of much, but I'm afraid of the answer to that question.
A door opens at the far end of the corridor and a pixie nurse appears, young and efficient, with wings a bright lime green that flutter at her back as she scans her clipboard.
"Mrs. Thornwood?" She steps into the waiting room. "We're ready for your X-rays."
