“She’s had four years to tell him.”
“Do not use my nephew as a weapon in your vendetta against Roxanne.” Candy glared at him. She was serious. It was almost amusing.
“I have no intentions of hurting my son.” Not that Frank needed to justify his actions. He hadn’t placed Candy on his list of favorite people any more than Roxanne. He hadn’t forgotten that Candy had gone to great lengths to help Roxanne keep Frankie hidden from him. “What do you think? I’m some kind of monster or something?” he asked as if she’d actually hurt his feelings.
“Frank, he’s a wonderful child. Don’t take advantage of that, okay?”
Candy seemed to be pleading for something, but what exactly Frank couldn’t be sure. “Candy, I just want the chance to be what I am to him—his father.” He stared at her through his sunglasses.
Those few words overwhelmed Candy. She felt sorry for Frank. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him right now. Father and son had been deprived of each other, but Candy didn’t blame Roxanne. It wasn’t her fault. More than anything else, Roxanne was as much a victim as Frank or Frankie.
But Frank refused to cut Roxanne that much slack. Not in this lifetime. As far as he could see, this was all her fault. She alone would carry the burden and ultimately pay the price.
Although he still didn’t know how to make that happen, but with a little time he would find a way.
***
Chapter 15
Roxanne stumbled out of her bathroom, and crawled back in bed. She didn’t want to get up. Not yet. She wasn’t ready to go out there and face the world.
She’d better talk to Frankie soon though. Considering last night’s events, it wouldn’t take Frank long to show up. And when he did, he’d be demanding an introduction to his son.
Frankie burst into her bedroom. “Mommy...” He bounced onto her bed, excited. “You’ll never guess who’s here.”
“Who?” she asked, sharing his enthusiasm.
“My daddy.”
“Your daddy?” Roxanne’s tone went weak. That thought wiped the smile off her face. “Your daddy’s here?” she asked again, trying not to show any fear. “Now?”
“Yes.” Frankie nodded. “And you know who he is?” he added, as if the man’s identity would be news to Roxanne.
“Yes, Frankie, I know who he is.”
“You were right, Mom.” Frankie paused, deep in thought. “He says he does love me.”
“Well of course he loves you. He would have been here with you if he could.” She found herself wanting to, but not fully capable of explaining why things were the way they were.
“I know, but he’s here now. And he wants to talk to you.”
“He does?”
Frankie was silent for a moment, and then, as if a memory struck him, he said, “Mommy...? What’s a wild she-cat?”
“A wild she-cat?” she repeated his words delicately.
“It’s one of my Daddy’s songs.” Frankie proceeded to sing it for her. “She’s a wild she-cat and I’ve been a fool. She’s a wild she-cat and you’re nothing but her toy.”
Roxanne stuck her hand out to stop him. “I know the song, Frankie.” He stopped singing and waited for an answer to his question. “A she-cat…” her voice trailed off as she tried to figure out how to answer that one.
“A wild she-cat,” Frankie corrected her.
“A wild she-cat.” She added extra emphasis to the word wild. “Well...that’s just someone who isn’t very nice.”
Frankie nodded slowly. After a moment of deep thought, as typical of a small child’s mind wandering from one topic to the next, Frank looked at Roxanne and smiled. “I’m glad my Daddy’s back. Are you glad, too?”
What was she supposed to say to that? Roxanne could feel herself easily losing this battle with Frank, and rather quickly.
“Frankie...go back downstairs and tell your daddy—” She used the term loosely. “—to come up to my study in fifteen minutes.”
As soon as the door closed behind Frankie, Roxanne jumped up and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower. Once dressed, she headed for her study.
The beach and her study, the two most peaceful places on Earth for her. Even in her study though, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Frank was up to no good. She declined the notion of deluding herself that he would forgive her just like that. This story didn’t have a happy ending. Of that, she was certain.
Frank and Candy’s conversation had gotten a little tense and he was thankful when Frankie returned. But without Roxanne. That didn’t please Frank.
“My mommy says to come to her study in the fifteen,” Frankie said to him.
“In the fifteen?” That confused Frank. He looked at Candy for clarification.
“She probably wants fifteen minutes to get dressed,” Candy translated.
Moments later, Frankie opened the door to Roxanne’s study and led Frank inside. “Mommy, look who’s here.”
Roxanne smiled at her son, but when her eyes met Frank’s steady gaze she lost all hope of this turning out well.
“Hello, Roxanne.” Frank’s greeting was a little too polite.
“Hello, Frank.” Quickly, she looked back to little Frankie. She didn’t want him to hear what she had to say to his father. “Frankie…why don’t you go to your playroom and gather up all your hot wheels, and maybe Frank will come in and play with you.”
“Will you play?” Frankie asked excitedly.
“Of course, I will,” Frank said.
Frankie ran out of the room, filled with anticipation. This was great. His mother and Aunt Candy played with him all the time, but this was different because this was his father. The one thing he’d always wanted, but the one thing he never had.
Inside her study, Roxanne glared at Frank. “Close the door, please.”
“It’s nice to see you too, Roxie” He did as she asked.
Roxanne was overcome by sadness. She smiled but couldn’t shake it. It’d been a long time since anyone had called her Roxie. But she couldn’t let her incessant reminiscing get in the way. “You might have discussed it with me before you decided to share this revealing news with my son.”
“He’s my son too.” Frank refused to apologize for telling Frankie what he should already know. He turned away from her and scanned the books on the shelf. Without really looking, the book still caught his eye. He pulled the thesaurus out from the line of books and turned to her. “You still have this?” Was this the book he’d given her such a long time ago? The fact that she’d kept it stunned him. “I’m surprised you didn’t burn it!”
“Frankie,” she said, “I don’t deserve that.”
He gave her a blank glare before opening the book and reading the inscription he’d written inside all those years ago.
Dear Roxanne,
I just want you to know how much you mean to me. And if writing is your heart’s desire, then consider me standing beside you all the way. I love you with all my heart!
Forever, Frank….
Frank snapped the book shut. He couldn’t allow his feelings to get in the way. Not now. Not when it was going to be so easy to attain the goal he’d been coveting for five long years. He had to keep in mind that he had only one objective. To torture Roxanne. Nothing mattered but making her pay. Nothing else. Not even his true feelings.
“When were you going to tell him? In your own good time?” he questioned her bitterly.
“I just thought we should tell him together.” For the first time, she saw a real possibility that he could turn Frankie against her.
He put the book back in its place on the shelf, and turned toward her. “Well—” He laughed at the irony. “I’ve learned from experience not to believe anything you say. Or anything you let other people say for you.” Frank’s anger chased away what little amusement he was feeling, and his fury thundered out in his overpowering voice. “So why in the hell should I believe you now?”
“Please don’t turn him against m
e.”
“Roxie,” he said in a much calmer voice, “I just want the chance to be his father.”
Roxanne clasped her hands together in front of her face in a prayer-like stance. “He’s all I have in this world.” She looked at Frank, wanting to see his eyes but those damned sunglasses were in the way.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he said like he really believed it. “You’re his mother. That’s not going to change.”
Truth be known, Frank wouldn’t want to change that, although he didn’t have a problem with making her a very lonely mother, just like she’d made him a lonely father.
The gentle knock at the door broke into their unfriendly conversation. “It’s Frankie,” Roxanne said in a tone of never-ending duress.
Frank moved a couple of steps toward the door and opened it.
“Are you ready to come play with me?” Frankie asked.
“I sure am,” Frank knelt beside the boy and propped his sunglasses on top of his head. “Would you like to go to the zoo tomorrow?”
Frankie nodded and then looked at Roxanne. “Can we go, Mom? Please, can we go?”
“Well, I think he means you and him,” she said.
He turned back to Frank. “But I want Mommy to go with us.”
“Well of course she’s coming with us,” Frank said.
Frankie grinned and threw his arms around Frank’s neck. “I love you, Daddy!”
Later that afternoon, Candy went to look for Roxanne and found her in her study. She went inside and closed the door behind her. “You busy?” she asked, strolling across the room toward Roxanne’s desk.
“Never too busy for you,” Roxanne said. “What’s up?”
Candy sat down on the corner of the desk and hesitated briefly before speaking. “Everything’s blowing up in our faces, isn’t it?”
“No shit.” Roxanne pushed her hair back from her face. “I can’t believe it…within twenty-four hours my whole world has fallen apart.”
“For what it’s worth, I think Frank means well.”
“Candy…Frank never means well,” Roxanne said. “Why have you always been so blinded by him?” Why was it so hard for Candy to see what was so damned obvious to Roxanne?
“I’m not blinded by him,” Candy said. “I had my own little talk with Frank this morning. I told him exactly how I’d feel about Frankie getting hurt by this mess.” Candy gave her a perfunctory glance. “But I truly believe that Frank means well.”
“I hope he knows how fortunate he is to have you on his side.” Roxanne caved, knowing she wouldn’t be able to sway Candy’s opinion this time around.
“I made a really big mistake all those years ago.”
“How so?”
“Rich,” she said simply. “I should’ve accepted his love when I had the chance.”
“I guess we both made our share of mistakes, huh? I can’t correct mine…but maybe there is something we can do to fix yours.”
“No...” Candy shook her head. “He’s made it very clear that he’s over me.”
“Why do you suppose that it was so easy for them to get over us…but we aren’t capable of getting over them?”
The zoo proved to be a tiring experience for Roxanne, both mentally and physically. Between trying to keep up with Frankie and trying not to feel too threatened by Frank’s presence, the day had taken its toll.
Approaching a park bench, she decided to take a break.
Quickly, Frankie ran to her side. “You tired, Mom?” he asked attentively.
“Yes.” She smiled at him. “Mom’s tired.”
He sat down beside her. “Me too.”
“You guys want something to eat or drink?” Frank asked, splitting his gaze between them and the concession stand a few feet away.
“Something to drink would be wonderful.” Roxanne nodded.
“Yeah. Can I have a coke?” Frankie asked, looking to Roxanne for approval.
“Sure.” She gave him a wink.
Frank strolled off toward the concession stand and Frankie turned to Roxanne. “Are you having fun, Mom?”
“Uh huh. How about you?” she asked. “Are you having fun?”
“Yes.” Frankie looked toward the concession stand and then back to Roxanne. “I like my Dad,” he said. “Do you like him?”
“Yes,” she said with a little smile. “I do like him.”
Frank returned with the cold drinks and sat down beside Frankie. “I got you a 7-UP,” he said to Roxanne, handing it to her. “You still drink it, don’t you?”
She nodded.
Frankie took a drink and saw the swings a few yards away. “Can I go swing?” he asked Roxanne.
“Be careful.” She barely got the words out before he darted off.
“You’re a good mother, Roxanne.” Frank complimented her but it was beside the point. He could have been a good father, too. If he’d been given the chance.
“He means everything to me.”
“I want to take him for the weekend.”
She glared at him, horror darkening her eyes. “I…ah…I don’t know.”
“Jesus, Roxanne. You act like I’m trying to take him away forever.” Frank let his frustration pour out. “I just want him for one stinking lousy night. You on the other hand have had him all to yourself for four years…and what have I had?”
“I have no problem with you and Frankie spending time together,” she said. “It’s just that he’s never been away from me overnight. I don’t know how he’ll react to that.”
“Well...why don’t we ask him what he thinks?” Frank felt confident that Frankie would jump at the chance to spend the night with him.
And he was right.
Saturday morning, Frankie had been up since the break of day, waiting eagerly for Frank’s arrival.
Once he showed up, Frankie kissed Roxanne goodbye, then ran to his father’s side. Hand-in-hand, they walked out the front door and headed toward Frank’s car. Frankie glanced over his shoulder and waved at Roxanne. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mom.”
She stood in the doorway watching them drive away. Even after they were long gone she continued to stand there, staring out into space. She harbored a twinge of resentment and jealousy toward Frank, thinking he’d managed to edge his way into Frankie’s heart while pushing her out at the same time.
Roxanne wandered around the house until she couldn’t remember what she’d been doing from one moment to the next. When she finally realized it, she got scared. Mechanically, she went to the telephone and dialed a New York number that’d been permanently etched into her brain a long time ago.
“Hello,” a familiar voice answered the call.
But Roxanne couldn’t remember who she was calling. “Hello…” she muttered. What am I doing? Think! She issued silent warnings but it did no good. Who was she calling? And why? “I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I can’t remember who I was calling.”
“Roxanne?” The anxious voice reached across the wire. “Is that you, Rox?”
“Yes.” She thought it might be Jerry, but she wasn’t sure. “Jerry? Is that you?”
“Roxanne, what’s wrong?” he asked, as if he’d picked up on the confusion floating around inside her head.
“I don’t know,” she said vaguely. “What’s happening to me? Everything’s all jumbled up.…” her voice trailed off.
The line went dead.
***
Chapter 16
Within two hours Jerry and Jason boarded a plane headed for Tampa. Both had ample reason to be concern about Roxanne Simon’s well being, even though they had very different yet equally important motives.
For Jason, Roxanne turned out to be one of his most notable authors and he hadn’t forgotten that her name alone had attracted other successful writers his way.
Jerry on the other hand, felt a sense of protectiveness over Roxanne, much like a parent does for a child. Jerry had treated Roxanne from the beginning of her career and it had taken him a long time to bri
ng her back from her mental breakdown. Although he’d never admit it, he’d never known what brought it on.
Oh he knew what her problem was. Quite simply put, Frank Garrett was Roxanne’s problem. Jerry just didn’t know why. Still, he’d managed to bring her back to reality safely, and he’d patted himself on the back more than once for that achievement.
But now, a chance existed that Roxanne had fallen over the edge again, and that bothered Jerry. What if he couldn’t bring her back this time?
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