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And Lorenzo went still.
“What?” she asked, cracking eggs in a bowl and putting the shells aside. “You can’t possibly tell me that he knew and did nothing.”
“He said he’d figured it out,” Lorenzo said quietly, his eyes still downcast.
“Was it when the baby was born and she was the spitting image of you?”
“She is. Emily showed me a picture. She sent it to me. It’s her 3rdgrade picture, and I just...I couldn’t get past it. But now...”
“Now what?” she asked when his voice trailed off.
“What if she wants nothing to do with me?”
Katrina stopped whisking the eggs and set the bowl down. “C’mere.”
He shook his head.
“And exactly why not?” she asked, her tone teasing.
Until his eyes met hers.
“Ren, it’s okay to have all of these questions, you know. And they’re perfectly legitimate. Soon you’re going to have that physical proof in your hand that she’s yours, and what you choose to do then is entirely up to you. Do you want to see your daughter? Would you rather her grow up in the same environment that produced Emily?”
“Wasn’t she your best friend?”
“I thought so, yes.” She pulled a pan out and set it on a burner, heating it up. “But the longer she’s gone again, the more I see that I was merely someone to use. Maybe she thought that if you reached out to me, she would be there to make sure we didn’t speak. I honestly don’t know what her motives were, or are, for that matter.”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Katrina glanced over her shoulder to see him now sitting on a stool at her small kitchen island, head in his hands, elbows resting on the island. “I wish I could tell you that there’s an easy answer to all of this.”
“I’m not asking you for answers, Trina,” he said, his head still bowed. “I just needed a friend.”
Her heart constricted in her chest at his words. “You have one,” she said as she added the beaten eggs to the frying pan, its sizzling permeating the air. “One so awesome she’s making you breakfast.”
“You are, you know that?” He lifted his head, his tired eyes soft. “Awesome.”
She smiled at him just as another knock sounded at her door. “And that would be another friend.”
“Expecting someone?” he asked.
“I’m expecting that to be my brother wanting all of the details. Could you be a doll and answer the door?”
“Yeah...yeah, I can.”
Katrina continued her magic on the eggs and heard from the living room, “Cade, man, you look like shit. I don’t wanna know, I don’t want to know.”
Justin had arrived, bright eyed and cheery as he walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, you,” she said to him. “Want some eggs?”
“I’ll trade you an everything bagel for some. Oh, awesome, you made coffee. Now, seriously...” He turned to Lorenzo. “What the hell are you doing answering my sister’s door at this ungodly hour?”
“If it’s so ungodly, then why are you here with bagels?” Katrina asked.
“Because that’s what I do. And I totally lied, I do want to know how last night went. Sort of. Unless there are details that brothers should not know.”
“I just got here,” Lorenzo told him.
