by Heather Long
The pictures were fun and playful, and she’d kept the cosmetics to a minimum. She’d also started telling me a little about the guy she’d been experimenting with, but stressed it was only an experiment and she wouldn’t call it dating.
She wouldn’t even call it benefits, yet.
To say she’d been close-mouthed and sparse would be an understatement.
“I’m not trying to fool you,” Jake murmured. “I really do want to have a chat with whomever this was…”
“Well, I think she can handle you, but you have to promise to be nice.”
“She,” Jake repeated, his frown easing.
Coop let out a laugh. “Rachel took these?”
“I don’t know that that’s much better,” Archie said. “Some of these are hella sexy. Though I gotta say, babe, you wear my boxers better than I do.”
“Rachel’s got a good eye,” Ian told me, and then gave me a kiss. “Thanks for these, Angel. You didn’t have to.”
“I know but it was fun, and I wanted to give you guys something special.”
As much fun as it was, the morning wasn’t waiting for any of us. They had to get to school, and I had to get to my internship. The bubble of happiness floated with me on the drive in. Jake took me since the guys decided to trade out to minimize how often anyone of them were late, and even when I said I could drive myself, they insisted.
When I’d tried to argue that I would be fine, the strain around Archie’s eyes had squeezed my heart, so I left it alone. “We’ll all be here to get you,” Jake promised as he gave me a kiss.
“You guys never told me where we were going…”
“Karaoke,” Jake warned with a grin. “Dinner and karaoke. Then all of us back to the apartment, and everyone is crashing out in the living room. I’d say sex was on the table, but since Archie and Bubba haven’t mastered the open sharing, we’ll have to settle for cuddling. And maybe some sneaking off for seven minutes in heaven.”
I burst out laughing at that mental image. He meant it, too.
Valentine’s Day at Standish, even in the R&D areas, proved to be a lot of fun. Flowers were delivered all day long. There were small boxes of chocolates on everyone’s desks. There was even a heart-shaped box on mine, and Bryan handed his over.
The heathen didn’t like chocolate that much. Oh well, more for me. We grabbed lunch at the deli down the street, and the place was hosed down in Valentine’s hearts. It made me laugh, particularly when all the cold cuts were heart shaped, so I took pictures to send to the guys.
Bryan did not believe in Valentine’s Day. He waxed poetic about how Valentine was Santa Claus and the whole greeting card company nature of it. I kind of tuned him out when he really warmed to the topic. Back at the office, we split up to work with different R&D staff. I got to hang out in the robotics area, where they were working on rovers for space missions.
I pretty much blew up Archie’s phone at every single chance. His amusement at my excitement had me sticking my tongue out at him. But it was cool. They had to take all kinds of stuff into account, and there were so many different pieces that went into making the group work. It wasn’t just tech or design. There was someone managing all their projects and keeping them on track. There was someone who coordinated with other groups. Another person interfaced with their government liaisons.
They even showed me a test model of one they’d actually sent to Mars. It had failed. But they’d learned a lot from the data it sent back.
Standish really did have their fingers in everything.
Not long before the end of the day, I headed up for my weekly debrief with the HR rep. They liked to go over our experiences and to keep a finger on the pulse of it all. It made sense. I usually sent an email to our advisor at the program too for the same reason.
When I let myself into the conference room, I froze.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Mr. Standish. “I thought this is where I was supposed to be.”
I started to back out, but he took a step toward me and raised his hand. “You are supposed to be here, Frankie. I’m doing this week’s check-in with you.”
“Why?” The question slipped out as I stared at him. Mr. Standish raked a hand through his hair and then motioned to the table.
“Because at the end of the day, your internship is with my company. This program is highly regarded, and you are one of our top candidates. I’d like to get a feel for what you think so far, and if any of the divisions have interested you.”
My gut cramped. I did not want to have this conversation with him, but at the same time… “I like the research and development stuff. It’s been fascinating.” I moved toward the table and set my backpack down, but I didn’t sit.
Mirroring my posture, Mr. Standish stood on the other side of the table from me. “Are you interested in studying engineering? I was thinking the marketing or the educational materials might have held more interest for you.”
“I don’t know that much about engineering other than building rovers for Mars sounds cool, and I love watching Archie build stuff.” I wanted to add, remember Archie, your son? The one who does love engineering?
“He’s always been creative,” Mr. Standish said. “Driven, too. Took apart a vintage car when he was ten because he wanted to understand how the engine worked. He’d ordered all the equipment he would need. It was a mess and it took weeks for him to put it back together, but I thought that was more defiance because I’d grounded him for tearing the car apart.” Mr. Standish frowned. “I suppose I should have told him I was proud, but he was forever destroying things without regard for the time and investment. I wanted him to learn the value of it.”
Wow. I didn’t think I’d heard him put together that many words in a sentence before.
“Then again, that’s Muriel’s influence. She doesn’t value anything that she can’t replace for a more expensive brand. At least when he was with my parents, it seemed to help…” He tapped his knuckles against the table. “But that’s not the important part here.”
“Your son isn’t important?” What was wrong with him?
“My relationship with Archie is complicated.”
“Then uncomplicate it.” Was I really trying to fix this? “I can’t stand my mother.” The words just came out. “I think I hate her most days. I still love her and that makes it worse, because I hate her for her choices and for always choosing everything but me.”
Mr. Standish stared at me, his expression growing grim.
Fine. Maybe I was severely overstepping and I was about to lose this internship. Whatever.
“He deserves better than you and your wife. He’s so fucking awesome, and I don’t understand how you can’t see it.”
“I see it,” the older man said with a sigh. “It’s not his fault that we don’t get along. It’s never been his fault. It wasn’t his fault when Muriel set out to trap me in marriage, or his fault that my parents punished my hubris by making me agree to stay in the marriage if I was going to make the changes I did. I gave up a lot for him.”
He rapped his knuckles against the table.
“And I blame him for it. But it was never his fault. I’m not the best father. So I did the best I could by keeping my distance.”
“Well, that all sounds kind of shitty.” What else was I supposed to say to that?
“It was a choice. I can’t change it. I can only try to face what the results of those choices are. It’s part of why I wanted you to have this internship. When I saw your name on the list…I wanted you here. I’ve wanted to have this conversation with you for a while, but things weren’t working out. The dinner was a definite disaster. I should have realized you’d bring Archie, because you two have become such good friends.”
“Wait, why did you want to talk to me about it?”
“Archie was right about a few things. Before he turned eighteen, divorcing Muriel wasn’t an option. It is now. I’ve fulfilled the prenuptial agreement. She’ll receive a tidy sum, and we’ll both ha
ve our freedom.”
“Again, why do you want to tell me this? I get it, you’re engaged to Maddy. Good luck with that. But that’s not my problem anymore.”
“Maddy and I have known each other a long time, Frankie,” he said. “A long time. We actually knew each other back in school.”
What?
“We were close…practically engaged. We had a disagreement one night, and I went out and met Muriel.” His expression didn’t change an inch. If anything, he seemed carved from stone as he revealed these deeply personal and frankly disturbing details.
“Okay. Great. You used to know Maddy. More lies. So happy to know.” It was kind of nauseating actually.
Mr. Standish sighed and circled the table toward me. “I’m saying this badly, and you’d think after the months having to prepare, I would be able to handle this. But Maddy…Maddy wanted me to wait. and then she wanted to repair the damage done with you, but I don’t see that happening any time soon. She’s had nearly eighteen years to set this to rights, and if she isn’t going to, then I have to.”
My heart slammed against my rib cage as he narrowed the distance, but I took a breath when he stopped one chair away.
“I’m not a good man. In many ways, I’ve been a fairly terrible and selfish one. I cheated on her, and then I married another woman. I cheated on that woman with Maddy. Then Maddy punished me by not telling me she was pregnant when she left. I hadn’t seen her in years before we moved here. I think Muriel knew she was here and it was why she chose the place. Her own personal little bit of vindictive punishment.”
I was still back on the cheating on Muriel and Maddy being pregnant part.
“You cheated on Muriel by sleeping with Maddy?”
He let out a long sigh. “Yes. I’m your father. I’ve wanted to tell you since she provided me with the proof. She told me of course, after we reconnected…but I needed the evidence, and she had the DNA tests done… I’m aware this is a lot for you, and I’ve tried to…”
I was pretty sure he said other stuff after that, but I didn’t hear it.
“I can’t stay here,” I mumbled, grabbing my bag and turning.
“Frankie…”
When he tried to grab my arm, I flinched away.
“Don’t.”
None of this made sense.
None of it.
I yanked the door open and charged out of the office. The elevators kind of blurred ahead of me, and I kept jamming the down button until the doors dinged and opened. Inside, I pressed the button for the lobby, jabbing it frantically, and as the doors closed, I met Mr. Standish’s gaze.
No.
Not possible.
What the fuck just happened?
Edward Standish was my father?
Frankie and the boys will return in Trials and Tiaras.
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Trials and Tiaras
It’s not true.
It can’t be.
Four DNA tests. Only one positive. The man claiming to be my father is quite literally the worst option imaginable. This isn’t happening to me. For the first time in my life, I know who I am and where I want to be and, in the blink of an eye, everything is spinning so utterly out of control.
I thought the fight with Maddy was the worst thing I faced.
It’s not.
I’ve grown up in a house of lies and it’s all crashing down on the five of us, and I have no idea how to protect the ones I love best from the fallout. They’ve all made it clear, they’re not going anywhere.
Worse, I don’t know how to keep them from wading into this fight.
I can’t imagine my life without all four of them. I don’t want to.
We can survive this, right?
Afterword
Well, if you need a minute. Go ahead and do that. Grab some water. Maybe coffee. If it’s late and you were planning on sleeping, I hear breathing exercises are good.
Yeah, so I’ll wait.
Please don’t have damaged your Kindle or phone or other reading device. Do you need to check to make sure it’s okay? Yes? Okay. I’ll wait.
If you’re still here, I’m hoping all is well. If you’re asking did you just read that ending? Well, then the answer is also—yes. Sorry about that.
I promised you in the last book that their holiday in Colorado was very much needed and I think now you know why. Is this a curveball? Absolutely.
Do I hope you’ll trust me and return for Trials and Tiaras? Also yes. This series has truly taken on a life of its own. Frankie and the boys have become friends and in some ways family. I talk about them like they’re very much real people and I’ve been thrilled by how many of you have responded to them in the same way.
Their journey is far from over. I told you in the last book that happily ever after is a work in progress and I maintain that. They’re a unit, they can handle what life throws at them and they are adapting and shifting around in the relationship as they all find their footing in this dynamic. Curveballs and sucker punches are not the end of the road. Bad Meatloaf was always a problem that needed to be addressed and we always knew they’d come back around.
Thank you again for being on this journey with me. I am so excited to see where we go next. Fair warning, the gloves are off in the next book.
xoxo
Heather
About Heather Long
USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.
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