Francesca: Are you kidding?
Mack: Nope. Just don’t let the old man see. He might get excited and give himself a real heart attack.
Francesca: You’re crazy.
Mack: Goodnight, Frankie Jane.
Francesca: Goodnight, Mack.
It wasn’t a typical Saturday at all. I’d woken up determined to get Jonah out of the house and away from his electronic devices.
We drove into the city and got breakfast in the North End. The plan was that later we would go to the Museum of Science. At least there, if he didn’t feel like talking to me, there would be plenty for us to focus our attention on.
Deciding to kill some time after breakfast, we hit the farmer’s market. I’d promised Mrs. Migillicutty I’d bring her back some corn. Handing Jonah a bag, I told him to pick out any amount of fruit he wanted.
Almost immediately after that, I noticed a familiar, dainty hand squeezing an avocado. Another hand—not so familiar—was squeezing Frankie’s ass. I swallowed, taking in the sight of her and her boyfriend standing right in front of me. A cocktail of jealousy and adrenaline coursed through me.
Say something.
She hadn’t noticed me yet when I leaned in and said the first thing I could think of. “How the heck do you even know if they’re ripe anyway?”
She jumped at the sound of my voice.
“Mack. What are you doing here?”
“Same thing as you. Squeezing things?”
Frankie’s cheeks turned red.
Her man faced me then turned to her. “This is Mack?”
She simply nodded.
Wow. She’d told him about me.
I wasn’t sure whether that gave me satisfaction or disturbed me.
He held out his hand. “Victor Owens.”
I took it. “Mack Morrison.” It was a bizarre feeling to only now be coming face to face with someone who’d been my number one adversary for a long time.
He’d kept a firm grip around her waist with his other hand. Much to my dismay, Frankie’s boyfriend was actually a decently good-looking, older man. Despite the salt and pepper hair, he was in good shape and what most women of any age would probably deem attractive.
Jonah appeared by my side with a plastic bag full of apples and pomegranates.
Frankie forced a smile. “Hey, Jonah.”
He looked uncomfortable to have run into his teacher. “Hi.”
“We’re heading to the Science Museum in a little bit,” I said.
“Oh, he’ll love that.” She smiled.
Victor turned to my son. “I used to love going there when I was a kid, although it’s way better now. Make sure you visit the Colossal Fossil.”
“What’s that?” Jonah asked.
“It’s a sixty-five million-year-old dinosaur skeleton, discovered in the Dakota Badlands about a decade ago. Really neat if you’re into dinosaurs.”
While my jealous and immature ego wished it could make a joke about Frankie being into dinosaurs, it was hard to take my inner thoughts seriously right now. In reality, this guy came across as younger than I’d imagined him. For the first time, I realized I had some serious competition if I ever dreamt of stealing Frankie away from him. A sinking feeling developed in the pit of my stomach as I looked back over at his hand that was planted just above her ass.
“Well, have a nice time,” she said.
Fumbling my words, I said, “Yeah. You too. I mean…a nice weekend.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Frankie’s eyes locked with mine in a silent acknowledgement of how awkward this encounter was.
Victor briefly patted my son on the shoulder. “Nice meeting you, Jonah.”
My chest felt tight as we walked away.
That afternoon, while Jonah and I gazed up at the stars atop the ceiling of the museum’s planetarium, my mind was elsewhere. I couldn’t get the encounter out of my head. More than ever, it felt like I was running out of time.
Sunday night, I pulled up to Torrie’s with Jonah. I was feeling particularly emotional between the run-in with Frankie the day before and having tried my ass off to bond with my son all weekend.
I looked behind me at Jonah who was hugging his backpack. “I hope you had a good time this weekend. I know I had fun spending it with you.”
Instead of answering me, he floored me with a question. “Are you sad?”
My heart felt like it stopped beating for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“You smile to my face, but sometimes, you seem sad when you don’t think I’m looking.”
My boy was apparently more perceptive than I’d given him credit for. I stopped to think about how I could explain it to him.
“We all have our moments. There are some things in life I wish I could change. And those things make me sad sometimes. But you’re not one of them. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. If you ever think I don’t look happy, it has nothing to do with you. You’re the one thing that brings me the most happiness. You’re my home, Jonah. We’re a team. I go where you go. Even if I’m not under the same roof at night, I’m still with you…just a phone call or a quick drive away. Whenever you need me, I’m there. Got it?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” I turned to reach into the backseat. “Now, give your old man a hug.”
After we embraced, I was just about to exit the car when he said, “Miss O’Hara doesn’t have a dad.”
“She told you that?”
“Yeah. I feel bad for her.”
I simply nodded, making a note to ask her what prompted her to admit that to him.
With Jonah back at his mother’s for the night, the urgent need to see Frankie that had followed me around that entire weekend was at full force.
I picked up my phone and called her from the road.
She knew it was me when she answered, “Mack…”
“Frankie…”
“What’s up?”
I got right to the point. “Can you meet me somewhere? I’d come pick you up at home, but I’m not sure if he’d appreciate that.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine, but I really need to see you. I’m in my car. Just tell me where to go. As long as it’s not to hell.”
After some hesitation, she agreed to meet me. Frankie had me pick her up outside of the Massachusetts statehouse, which wasn’t too far from where she lived.
Waiting on the steps, she was dressed in a fitted, beige blazer and jeans. A bright-colored scarf was wrapped around her neck. Looking sexy as hell, she was also wearing tall, black, leather boots. Her style had definitely evolved for the better over the years.
She opened the door and got in.
I turned to her. “Where did you tell him you were going?”
“I told him I was meeting you. I don’t want to lie to him.”
“He’s okay with that? Is he nuts?”
“He appreciates my honesty.”
“I was surprised he knew who I was at the farmer’s market. What exactly does he know?”
“Everything. I told him the whole story last week.”
“Well, it takes a pretty confident guy to let his woman go out with another man.”
“You said you wanted to talk. It’s not a date. He knows that.”
Her words were a harsh reality check. As much as I’d wanted it to be, it wasn’t a date.
“Of course.”
As I was approaching the onramp to I-93, she asked, “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No. I just wanted to steal you away. I don’t know where the fuck I’m going, Frankie. Don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, either. I just needed to see you.”
She leaned her head back against the seat, turning to me but stayed silent.
“Have you eaten?” I asked.
She smiled. “I could eat.”
I smiled back at her. She knew that whenever I used to ask her that questi
on, she would always respond with, “I could eat.” Eating together had always been one of our favorite pastimes.
An idea popped into my head. “You think Sullivan’s is open this time of year?”
“I know they’re open,” she said.
“Have you been back there?”
“I’ve gone a few times.”
“With him or alone?”
“Alone.”
That was our place.
Twenty minutes later, we pulled into a parking spot at our old stomping grounds. Sullivan’s was a small, takeout joint by the water on Castle Island in South Boston. It wasn’t a great beach for swimming, but we used to like to sit overlooking water, watching the planes flying low as they landed into nearby Logan Airport.
The mid-November ocean was choppy, and it was freezing near the water, but I barely noticed those things.
Looking up at a 747 coming in, I spoke louder over the engine noise. “This feels so good, being here with you, watching the planes land. I’ve fantasized a lot about coming back to this place with you.”
Frankie quietly ate her grilled hot dog as she gazed out toward the water, the wind blowing her hair around erratically.
“Will you tell me how you met him?”
She wiped her mouth before clearing her throat. “I was taking a graduate class at B.U. He’s a professor there.”
“He was your teacher?”
“No. But we met there. I didn’t know he was a professor, at first.”
“How long after I left Boston did you start dating him?”
“A while after. We’ve been together two years now.”
“Were you with anyone before him?”
“I dated here and there, but Vic was the first serious relationship. I had a hard time connecting with anyone for a long time after you left.”
That was hard to hear. But it didn’t surprise me. I knew she cared deeply about me, and to this day, our chemistry was like nothing I had ever experienced. While it satisfied me somewhat to know she’d felt that way, it also hurt to hear that it took her a while to move on after my leaving. I never expected otherwise, though.
“What was different about him?”
“Everything. He respects me, appreciates all of my quirks—kind of like you did. And he takes care of me, makes me feel safe. I’ve never had anyone take care of me before. I’d always had to take care of myself. It was a nice change.”
“I promise I won’t joke about the daddy complex.”
“Look, you’re not totally wrong there. He’s been able to fill a void for sure. But I don’t like to think of it that way.”
I really didn’t want to envision him filling any of her voids.
“Does he want to marry you? I mean, he’s getting up there.”
“He says he wants spend the rest of his life with me, but he doesn’t place a lot of value in the institution of marriage. He says he’d do it if I wanted it. Same with kids. But he doesn’t need them to be happy, either. I know he enjoys his freedom.”
“Was he ever married before?”
“No.”
“Do you want to get married?”
“Right now? No.”
“Are you still sexually attracted to him?”
“My God, Mack, this is like the third degree. Why do you want to know that?”
I was done beating around the bush.
“I need to know where any points of weakness are.”
“Because you plan to try to steal me from him?”
“If you’re meant to be with him, I won’t be able to do that no matter how hard I try.”
“But you do plan to try.”
I plan to try like fucking hell.
“I know I might be too late. I’m not stupid. But I would never forgive myself if I didn’t at least try.”
“What exactly do you plan to try?”
“I won’t be in Boston forever. I don’t suspect that Torrie’s job here will last. It’s just a contract position. And I have to go wherever Jonah is. So, this is a window of opportunity that I can’t waste. You asked what I plan to try? Everything. Every goddamn thing, Frankie—until you tell me to stop. Until you look me in the eyes and tell me there’s no point in continuing.”
“You have to go where your son is. I get that. Your hands are tied. I can imagine that the past several years have not been easy for you.”
“They haven’t. But my biggest regret is hurting you. I don’t regret my son. I may not know what I’m doing all of the time, but that boy means the world to me.”
“I know he does.”
“I used to think staying with his mother was the best thing I could do for him. I was wrong. Having two parents who are constantly fighting was never gonna make his life better. I’ve finally realized that if I’m not happy, I can’t truly be the kind of father my son deserves. He can see right through me.”
“He keeps to himself, but he’s very aware.”
“You talked to him about your father.”
“He told you that?”
“Yeah.”
“I did. We had a lesson about diverse families. He’d drawn a picture of you, Torrie, and him with thick lines separating each of you.”
Wow. That broke my heart.
“No shit, huh?”
“Yes. I wanted him to know that many people have different family structures and that it’s okay. That was why I shared that piece of info with him.”
“Thank you for doing that. I know it’s not easy for you to talk about it.”
“He asked me if I forgave my dad...for abandoning me.”
“Really?”
“I thought that was a good question and answered him honestly. I told him I wasn’t sure, but that I would get back to him on it. He seemed to accept that.” She gazed out toward the water then back at me. “Are things better with him at home?”
“I think we’re slowly getting to a better place. This was a good weekend.”
“I’m glad to hear that. What about your father? How’s your relationship with him now?”
“Same as it always was. He’s not happy with me—from my career choice to my refusal to marry Torrie. But his opinion doesn’t matter to me at this stage in my life. He can’t change my decisions. And more than that, I don’t allow him power over my thoughts anymore. That’s been the biggest change. But Dad’s been good to Jonah. I have to give him that. Otherwise, he’s the same miserable prick he’s always been, concerned more with his public reputation than anything else.”
Our conversation was interrupted when Frankie’s phone chimed. She looked down at it.
“Is that Victor?”
“Yeah. He just wants to make sure I’m okay.”
“Does he think I’m gonna hurt you or something?”
That wouldn’t have been off base, considering I’d definitely already hurt her enough for one lifetime.
“No. He’s just doing what any boyfriend would do in this scenario.”
“I know. I don’t blame him one bit.”
She began to shiver, and I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her. As much as I wanted to do that, it wasn’t my place.
Her eyes glowed in the moonlight. “It is getting late. I should get back.”
“Let’s get you home, then.”
The ride back to her neighborhood went by way too quickly. My time with her was always limited; I hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface of everything I needed to say.
When we pulled up around the corner from her house, I asked, “When can I see you again?”
“Victor is going to England in a couple of weeks to consult on a new anthropology program at Oxford.”
“For how long?”
“For a week.”
One week.
Despite all of the evil planning in my brain, I attempted to sound casual. “Dinner, then?”
“We’ll talk,” she said in a non-committal way.
My heart beat faster. I knew this was my one chance to really spend time with her, to h
ave my Frankie back—even if just for a week.
Victor zipped his suitcase. He was being unusually quiet this morning as he prepared to leave for his trip. Seemingly lost in thought, at one point he paused then placed his hand on my forearm, pulling me into him.
Hugging me tightly, he whispered in my ear, “I wish you were coming with me.”
I breathed in the scent of his signature Givenchy cologne and said, “Me too, but you didn’t ask me. I didn’t know that was even an option.”
“I think we need this week apart. You need to figure some things out. I’m giving you the space to do that for a week. I won’t question anything that happens while I’m gone. I don’t want to know.” He pulled back to look at me. “But, Francesca, I can’t live like this forever. At some point, I’m going to need to know your heart is mine. I may come across as a very strong person, but lately, I’m realizing more and more that I may not be as strong as I thought I was. I love you so much. But I can’t bear to be with you if your heart isn’t in this with me.”
His words were sobering. I stayed silent as he continued.
“These two years with you have been the best of my life. I never doubted that we would be together forever—until recently. And when I found out the reason why you’ve been acting strange, it was proof that my worries were warranted.”
“I’m so sorry to have put this kind of stress on us.”
“Don’t be sorry. You were honest with me. I appreciate that more than you know. But I’m not going to lie. After seeing that the guy you’re hung up on looked like a Calvin Klein model on top of everything, well, that didn’t help.”
I laughed slightly only because I didn’t know how else to react or what to even say. Mack did look like a freaking model, but that had nothing to do with why we were in this predicament. “I’m not a superficial person. You know that. My connection with him was more than skin deep, just as my connection to you is.”
“I know you think with your heart and mind. So, if at any point you decide that your heart isn’t in this, I would prefer that you rip the Band-Aid off. That’s all I ask. I don’t want to be strung along.”
“I promise never to do that to you, Vic. And I promise to work this out so that we can move on with our lives.”
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