by Heather Long
“You know what, you’re a bitch.” Bubba’s voice cut into our conversation. “And I say that without any due respect. You can’t even be bothered to care why a hospital called you here. Not to mention, you never bothered to call anyone back about why she ended up in a hospital to begin with. Frankie’s right. Leave her alone. You don’t deserve her.”
Edward jerked around at the rising accusation in Bubba’s voice. I braced to move. I’d never seen him actually start a fight, but he wasn’t going to get the chance to blindside Bubba either.
“How dare you,” Ms. Curtis said, her voice a little warbly. It bugged me that she looked like Frankie. Different eyes. Older, sure. As much as I hated to admit it, she was a good-looking woman. Frankie took after her in a lot of ways.
That made it worse, in my opinion, because the surface similarities was where it ended.
If Frankie possessed a selfish bone in her body, I’d yet to encounter it. In fact, I wish she had more.
“I dare because, unlike you, I care about her.” Bubba’s uncompromising tone had my eyebrows rising.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Right, and I’ve only known her for close to seven years. How would I know that you abandon her regularly, you can’t be bothered to show up, or that you have left her to fend for herself so often, she doesn’t even see it as unusual? I have real parents. I know what a parent is supposed to be like.”
Damn, Bubba. My admiration climbed a notch. From the corner of my eye, I caught Jake’s SUV leaving the high school lot again. Not a minute later, Coop exited driving the Lexus.
Instead of responding, Ms. Curtis stared at Bubba, her mouth agape and her face flushed red. She looked almost ill.
“Yeah, I didn’t really think you’d have anything to say. Bullies usually don’t. Frankie was right. You don’t get to just decide you want to be a parent because you’re in a mood.”
“Bubba.” Edward said his name almost distastefully. “This is really none of your business, and you should have more care in your tone for how you address my fiancée.”
I couldn’t help it, I snorted. “You’re still married, Edward. Makes it hard to have respect for what is potentially leading to an illegal relationship.”
Instead of glaring at me or even responding, Edward simply said, “Maddy, come. You tried.”
For a moment, just a split second, Ms. Curtis hesitated. If I hadn’t been watching her, I doubt I would have seen it. But her expression, far from hostile, turned worried. “I still don’t know what happened. The hospital wouldn’t release her information to me.”
Good.
Technically, the woman was still her mother. But there were laws, and the advocate had stressed that she was there for Frankie and no one else. Maybe they’d blocked it somehow? Course, I wasn’t sure how the cops hadn’t reached out to them, but then again, Frankie wasn’t the perpetrator.
“Not our problem,” I said before Bubba could respond. “C’mon, Bubba. We have things to do.”
The wavering look on Ms. Curtis’ face erased as her lips compressed. The look she sent me could have boiled oil. Not that I gave a damn about her opinion. In fact, I welcomed her ire. Bring it on. I wasn’t afraid of her. I’d rather she pointed it all at me, anyway.
“Archie,” Edward stated in a cool tone. “You’re going to regret this.”
“I’ve been regretting you my whole life.” I told him with a crisp nod. “This…” I motioned between him and Frankie’s mom, “hasn’t really been a factor, other than to prove once again what a selfish narcissistic ass you are.” I paused, more for dramatic effect than anything else, then smirked. Bubba had crossed the lot and stood a foot away from me. “Then again, maybe that’s why you two deserve each other.”
I let that grenade drop and walked away, and I didn’t glance back even once as I slid into the car. The passenger door opened, and Bubba gave it a beat before he slid into the seat. He hadn’t even gotten his seatbelt on before I pulled out and turned onto the street.
“Holy shit, Arch.”
I shrugged. Didn’t occur to me until right then that Bubba hadn’t really seen me and Edward go at it. They weren’t really that exposed to my parents, and I preferred it that way. Jeremy was a successful surrogate and far more desirable an authority figure.
“Text them and see if they need anything before we head that way.” I didn’t mean to snap it out like an order, but the fact Edward showed up with Frankie’s mom to pick up Frankie when he’d not once shown up at a single one of my schools irked me.
I got it, I preferred Frankie to me, too. But what the fuck was he up to? And why were they so intent on getting her to their new place?
The rain suddenly began sheeting down. I kicked on the windshield wipers and the headlights. At least it waited until we were out of it.
“Jake says she’s half-asleep in Coop’s lap. Maybe coffee. Otherwise, just come in quiet.”
I nodded and took the next turn. Coffee sounded like a good idea. One drawback to staying at Frankie’s was the lack of alcohol. Her mother didn’t even keep wine there, and I debated asking Jeremy to stock it, but I figured he bent the rules enough for me at home.
When I pulled into the drive-thru line, I glanced over at Bubba, who stared at his phone like it held the secrets of the universe.
“Problem?”
“Just worried about her.”
I nodded. “She’ll be fine.” Not that I wasn’t worried, but Frankie had been surviving her mom for years without us being aware of how bad it could be. Now she had us in her corner. We would make damn sure she was fine.
“You say it like it’s easy.”
I shrugged. “I say it like we don’t really have a choice. There are worst things in life than crappy parents who do a crappy job of being parents.”
Like assholes who drug my girlfriend.
The silence next to me was heavy.
“Just spit it out, Bubba. You’re not going to offend me.”
“Your dad’s a real dick.”
“Yep,” I agreed. “He really is. Edward’s not a father though. He’s a sperm donor.”
“Do you think he’ll actually cut you off?”
“Not the first time he’s threatened it. Won’t be the last. Doesn’t matter anyway.” It was our turn, and I cracked the window to give the order. I knew everyone’s drinks now. It was damp outside, and she was hurting, so I got her a hot one with the peppermint and extra whip cream. Rain spattered inside, but I ignored it. The temperature outside seemed to be rapidly descending, too.
He waited until after I’d paid for the drinks and we were pulling back out into the suddenly heavy traffic that marked the end of the school day before he said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Sure, there were a lot of things he could be sorry about, and I wasn’t in the mood to guess.
“’Cause your dad is an ass. Your mom…well, I don’t really know your mom.”
“Don’t overthink it. I don’t really know Muriel, either. It’s not a big deal.”
“That’s not the way parents are supposed to be.”
I chuckled. “Bubba, did it ever occur to you that you got lucky? Jake and Coop’s parents are divorced. Jake barely mentions his dad without latent hostility boiling over. Coop avoids his like the plague. They’re both good with their moms, but their dads? Not so much. Frankie doesn’t even know her dad’s name much less who he was, and her mother has had one foot out the door for years. My parents? Pfft. Before we moved here, I hadn’t lived with them in years. I saw them at holidays, and I lived primarily at boarding school.”
It was just how it was.
“You got lucky. Your parents are together and apparently like each other and you.” I shook my head. “It’s almost cute.” I might have resented it a little in the beginning, but I actually liked his parents, too. They meant well. Even his dad.
Wasn’t that the damnedest thing? His dad’s interference created a fuck up of epic prop
ortions, but the man meant well.
“Thanks,” he said, making a face. “I never thought of myself as naïve before.”
“You’re not naïve,” I corrected. “You’re optimistic. In a different way from Coop. I see all the bad shit that could happen. I have to. Helps me anticipate how to fix it if it goes wrong. You see all the positives.”
“Then why was I the one obsessed with whether this could possibly work if she had to choose eventually?”
“I said you were optimistic, not smart.”
There was a beat of silence, but he chuckled. “Ass.”
“Yep.” I sighed. “Look, Bubba, seriously man, don’t overthink it. Some people just shouldn’t be parents. I look at Edward, and I wonder what the fuck happened to him. My grandparents were awesome. Nana, Grandpa—they were the best. But the distance between Edward and Grandpa? It’s epic. Kind of like the distance between me and Edward. So, who knows? I don’t worry about it. I can’t fix the relationship, and I don’t want to. You feel bad because you think I’m missing out…”
I pulled into the apartments and headed down the hill to park. I’d always thought of this place as being a little on the lower end side. It was definitely shabby, but the upkeep was neat and the neighbors fairly reputable and kind.
It was also home to two of my favorite people.
The rain was a steady downpour. After I parked, I glanced over at him. “Don’t feel bad. You can’t miss what you never had.”
“Tell that to Frankie,” he countered.
“Frankie misses what she thought she had. What she convinced herself she had.” I’d seen that today. “She’s hurting for a lot more than the crap her mother is pulling. But we’re not letting her go through it alone.”
“No,” he said slowly. “We’re not.”
“The roses were a nice touch. You got something for her today?” I had another set of charms, but I’d put them away. Her bracelet was still in fucking evidence, and while I’d been half-tempted to just order her another one, I’d wait. I’d already asked Wittaker to try and get it back.
“Don’t laugh?” Bubba asked, and I nodded once.
I could do that. “Hit me.”
He tapped his pocket. “I recorded a song for her last night after I went home.”
“Nice man,” I patted his shoulder. “Really nice. You got those?” I reached behind us to snag my backpack. His must have ended up in Jake’s SUV.
“Yep.” Before I could open the door, he said, “Arch?”
I waited.
“If they push back? On Frankie’s emancipation? And if your dad cuts you off? What then?” He winced. “You’re paying for stuff, but if he takes it away…”
Not an unfair question. Really. Except… “I’m not worried about it.” One, I’d made sure to cover all of Wittaker’s retainer. While he was also one of Edward’s attorneys, he had committed to the case. The fee wouldn’t be the issue. Second, Frankie’s rent was also covered. “Even if he cuts me off, which he won’t. But if he did, Muriel would open the floodgates just to get even with him. But let’s say she didn’t notice, entirely possible. I turn eighteen in nine days.”
Bubba frowned. “Your trust?”
I nodded. “I don’t get the bulk of it until I’m twenty-five, but trust me, what I get at eighteen and twenty-one? We’ll be fine.”
Nana had seen to that and so had Grandpa.
“Edward’s going to do what he does. So is Muriel. I know the potential fallout. I can handle it.” Plan for the worst. A motto to live by. “Now, let’s get inside and see our girl.”
I snagged her pain meds out of the cup holder before we got out of the car. We were both wet when we reached the back door. Jake had to have been watching for us, or maybe Bubba texted him when I wasn’t looking. He opened the door when we got there.
I actually shuddered before we got inside though, because the rain had definitely turned cold. The interior of the kitchen was warm though.
“She’s asleep,” Jake said in a low voice.
“I’m not,” Frankie countered from the living room. A yawn followed her words, and I toed off my wet shoes before setting my backpack down and stripping out of the damp shirt and socks before following Jake and a similarly stripped Bubba into the living room.
Jeremy had dropped off more clothes for me, so I had stuff to change into. As Jake had said earlier, Frankie was curled up against Coop, but they were both sitting, even if it looked like they’d been lying down.
The traces of tear tracks on her face renewed my earlier aggravation. The first thing her idiot mother should have done was ask her how she was and maybe spent more than thirty seconds on what happened rather than immediately escalate into demands.
“Got you coffee,” I told her, and she gave me a wan smile.
“’Cause you’re the best.”
“I am the best,” I agreed, and the corner of her mouth tipped up. “Have your coffee. I’m gonna change, and then we can figure out what’s next, yeah?”
“I’d like that,” she said, and Bubba carried her coffee over to her and handed out the others.
“I’ll be back.”
In her bedroom, I glanced around and shook my head. Jeremy really couldn’t help himself. It had all been straightened, the bed stripped and remade with fresh sheets and a brand new comforter. Frankie was gonna be irked.
But I got it, Jeremy cared.
My bag sat at the foot of the bed, new clothes laid out at the top, all the laundry from the basket in the corner was gone, and there were other stacks for Jake, Coop, and Bubba.
“Yeah,” Jake said as he slid into the room. “I noticed this when we got home and I came in here to get her a blanket. Jeremy?”
“Yeah,” I said, pulling on a clean t-shirt. “I’m guessing the kitchen is spotless and the fridge is fully stocked?”
“So is the pantry, there’s also a baked ham in the oven and hot veggies in trays on the stove along with some stuffing.”
I’d smelled that when we came in, but I’d been more interested in Frankie than the food.
“I’ll thank him.” I should have known he’d go overboard with the offer.
“Dude, there’s chocolate pudding in the fridge.”
I stripped out of the damp jeans and pulled on sweatpants. “Of course there is.” Frankie loved chocolate pudding.
Honestly, she loved food. It was one of the great things about her.
“How are you doing?”
Okay, I’d already gotten it from Bubba, so I met Jake’s concerned gaze. “I’m fine. More concerned we might have to deal with her mother again this week. She’s not giving up, but how she’s going about this doesn’t make sense to me.”
It made even less sense when I considered Edward’s choices.
Folding his arms, Jake said, “Maybe she feels guilty about abandoning her.”
I met his gaze and raised my brows. “Did you see real guilt on her face?” I had, there at the very end, a brief flicker of it along with indecision. But Jake and Frankie had been long gone by then.
“No,” Jake said with an aggrieved rake of his hand through his hair. “I didn’t. Frankie was pretty sure they wouldn’t follow. Said it would mean her mother cared if she did, and she highly doubted that was the case.” Anger rolled off him waves, like heat shimmering off of pavement. “Why the fuck did they just show up today? It’s been a week.”
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “But we dealt with it, and she’s safe and sound here, so I say we don’t worry about them and we focus on her. Did you notice anyone giving her shit today?”
“Outside of the crap with Cheryl? No,” Jake said with a short shake of his head. “They’re keeping their distance. But they’re talking.”
“Yeah, we can’t stop that. But we stick close. The hardest periods are third and sixth.” It hadn’t escaped my notice that her mother showed up during the one class we weren’t with her.
Then again, that might have just been dumb luck on the
ir part.
“You two having a party in here without me?” Frankie asked from the doorway, and I pivoted to face her.
“Babe, it’s never a real party until you get here.”
She snorted and flicked her fingers at me. Some of the shadows shifted out of her eyes as she smiled. When she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me, I held her tight. I would never not want these hugs. “Thank you for having my back,” she whispered.
“Always,” I promised. “We always have your back. And your front. Your sides are pretty sweet, too.”
It was Jake who snorted, then smirked as Frankie laughed. “Too late, Jake already complimented my ass and breasts.”
“Well, then we’re just making it official that we agree,” I said, pulling back enough to press a kiss to her forehead. “You good?”
“I am now,” she said, meeting my gaze and not shying away from it. “I just wish I understood what she wants.”
“I don’t care what she wants. The only people whose wants I care about are in this apartment.”
“And Jeremy,” she added on with a glance toward her bed, and I grinned.
“Well, Jere’s pretty good about taking care of himself.”
“And us.”
“I told you, we want to spoil you. Now, let’s go drink your coffee and do our homework breakdown. I’m sure you’re due at least one academic meltdown.”
At Frankie’s groan, even Jake grinned. Because that was our girl. Our overachiever would not care for being even an ounce behind.
“We got this,” I reminded her, and then Jake caught her hand and between us, we got her back out to the living room, to the coffee, and then the food.
We got around to homework eventually, but Frankie was asleep before eight, because she lost the battle to exhaustion. Even after Jake and Bubba headed home because they had practice early, Coop and I were both awake and neither of us seemed to want to rest.
Something was going on. I just didn’t know what.
That part bugged me.
When Coop finally said he was going to try and sleep, I stayed in the living room arguing with myself. There was one person I could ask about all of this.