The waitress returned to their table with two glasses of wine. One red, one white. She handed him the white one while she took the red.
“Thank you,” they both stated to the woman at the same time.
“Well, it must’ve been an oversight. Maybe you can call the estate attorney and—”
“Already did that.” He grunted, looking a bit perturbed. “He has no idea, and said he could’ve sworn it was listed. He knows about it, but didn’t even have a copy of it for some damn reason.” The man closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He looked emotionally worn out, mentally exhausted. “He did say, however, that according to his notes, its multiple pages and if I didn’t find it, it would cause me to not get all of the money. He also said, if I can’t find it, I still get the bulk of everything, but still. There’s some law or something or another about situations like this. Me handling the properties is a must. He wants his residence sold. The others I could sell or rent out, but he did have a lot of information for all of them, giving pros and cons for each option. He seemed to be really into these properties. It’s almost like he thought of all of these buildings as friends…”
That was an interesting concept… Could a man be in love with a building? She imagined so. Maybe that was the key? Maybe Benjamin’s love of construction, architecture, travel and real estate was the way inside his secret world that he’d kept guarded? Some say love is like a house…
“You know, Aries, your father was a bit of… I don’t know, an emotional recluse. He kept to himself. I rarely saw him with other people. It was strange, really.” She tapped her chin. “I never thought about that until just now. Still, at the same time he seemed like such a people person. He spoke with authority. You and he sound quite a bit alike, actually. I should’ve known you were his son as soon as you walked through the door of Kindred Spirits, too. You two definitely favor.”
“I’ve never heard that man’s voice. Isn’t that something?”
“Oh… yeah. I guess you haven’t.”
“His house is incredible. A damn mansion. You should see it. I couldn’t imagine livin’ in that big ol’ house practically all by myself like that. I can’t wait to get it sold and gone, I tell you that much. You’d like the library, I bet. He has a huge library – an office – nothing but books, wall to wall.”
“A library? Do you… do you mind if I take a look before you sell the place? I bet your father has some amazing books! Maybe I could buy some off you.”
The man shrugged.
“Sure… that’s fine with me. I’ve got no use for ’em. We’ll figure out a time for you to come by.” Their dinner arrived and they both seemed relieved to break free from the conversation. They enjoyed their dinner, discussing the reviews about how good the food was, and how perfectly presented, too. “Lauren…” Aries said around a mouthful of food.
“Yes?”
“I want to thank you for giving me some time tonight. That was mighty nice of you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled at him while tossing him a wink. “I wanted to help.”
“Are you doin’ this for Benjamin?”
“Doing what?”
“Having dinner with me… Is this to help him in some way? You want to try and make me think he isn’t as bad as I think he is? Clear his name?”
“You know, that never crossed my mind.” She placed her fork down and stared at it. “Okay, let me say I don’t believe so, but maybe somewhere inside of me, that’s a possibility.” She shrugged. “I have sympathy for your situation, regardless. I can’t tell you how to feel about this. I’m not in your shoes. My own father is very much alive, and though he and I don’t talk every single day, and we don’t agree about everything, I’d consider us close. He was and still is a good father, but I have too many people I love in my life who didn’t have a father, or if they did, they were not good parents. I know what that can do to someone; I’ve witnessed it… up close and personal.”
He drew quiet for a while, perhaps pondering what she said as he ate.