Chapter 11 Frankie #2
“My sister’s not the only one who knows how to cook. Fact is, I’m the one who taught her everything she knows. Named her, too.” Jo hands me a carton of eggs.
I measure flour and dump it in the mixing bowl, then turn and face Jo. After three years of working for Flo, I’m ready to finally have a burning question answered. “You’re the reason she’s named Flamingo?”
Jo flips some bacon while she talks. “Sally Flamingo, to be specific. I was five when Mom told me she was pregnant. I was so upset about getting a sibling she said I could name the baby. I chose Flamingo. She was so sure she was having a boy that she promised she’d use it if I got a sister.”
“And she kept her promise?” My mum promised me lots of things—like that she’d visit me in America—and she didn’t keep most of them.
“Sort of. When Flo turned out to be a girl, Mom said she’d need a human name too, so people would know she was a girl and not a bird, so we settled on Sally.” Jo cracks eggs in a bowl while she talks until she’s used up the entire dozen.
I’m worried she’s counting on me to eat them all. But I’m not about to interrupt her story. “So why does she go by Flo instead of Sally?”
Jo pours the eggs in a frying pan on the stove, then faces me again.
“Fact is, she looked more like a flamingo than a Sally, all pink and long-legged with white, wispy hair that stuck out all over. Not to mention her nose. Poor thing.” Jo grimaces.
“I never called her anything but Flamingo, and it stuck. At least until our younger brother came along. He could say Flo, but not Flamingo, so she got a nickname, but most people around here know she’s Flamingo. ”
“Junie calls her Fingo. Maybe that one will stick next.”
Jo laughs. “Hmm. I think Junie’s the only one who can get away with that.”
“She cringes every time Junie says it.” I laugh too, something I’ve wanted to do every time Junie’s yelled Fingo!
“Frankie!” Junie calls from somewhere outside the kitchen.
Speak of the Tassie devil, and the Tassie devil will appear.
I walk toward the hallway just in time for Junie to launch herself at me. She throws her arms around my waist, claiming me again, which both warms me and freaks me out.
What am I supposed to do with this kid? What am I supposed to do with this kid’s dad? I’m in no position to get attached to anybody when I’m likely ditching Serenity Cove.
Problem is, I don’t want to leave this ranch.
Maybe it’s talking to Jo that’s poked holes in all my internal arguments about leaving, or maybe it’s Junie’s giant hug.
Either way, I feel my resolve slip away.
I should go, but I don’t want to. Regardless of whether Cal regrets kissing me, I don’t regret it.
He’s the one who said he was going to kiss me. We both wanted it.
I peel Junie’s arms from around my waist and crouch to her eye level. “What are you doing up so early?”
“Time for pancakes.” She squirms out of my hold and wraps her arms around me again.
Her hair is mussed from sleep, and I resist the urge to smooth it. I definitely won’t offer to fix it into pigtails that aren’t cockeyed. I won’t play Mum.
But I will keep my promise.
“Okay, love. You want to help?” Her wide, innocent expression is all Cal, and with her arms clamped around my neck, she has me in a chokehold. Literally and metaphorically.
Neither one’s good.
A door opens at the end of the hall, and Cal steps out. His eyes meet mine, pausing long enough to take my breath before he shoots me a shy grin.
“Get dressed for school, June Bug,” he says.
But his eyes don’t leave mine as he buttons his shirt as casually as if a peek at his stomach and the muscles stacked on muscles there isn’t enough to bring back more than the memory of kissing him last night. My imagination trailblazes to where else we could have ended up.
The chokehold these Holloways have on me just keeps getting tighter.
“No. I stay with Frankie,” Junie declares before facing me again. “Right?”
Cal’s brow furrows in that way he has when he’s sorting through a problem. “Miss Merry is waiting for you. You can see Frankie later.”
“No school today,” she says, matter-of-factly.
I’m stuck on what Cal’s said about her seeing me later. That sounds like he’s planning for me to stay.
I scoop up Junie and carry her into the kitchen, making myself complicit in her rebellion. I set her in her seat at the counter. It’s not her magic chair, but she doesn’t fight me.
“You haven’t got time to take her all the way into town today,” Jo calls when she sees Cal down the hall. “And no one else does either. Juniper can stay with me today.”
“You don’t need to yell, Ma,” Cal says as he walks into the kitchen, shirt not only buttoned but tucked in tight. No more ab sighting for me this morning.
He glances between Jo and Junie and sighs with resignation, then sends me a half smile. “You sleep okay?”
“Yeah. Good.” I say, because what else can I say? “Good.”
I wonder if he tossed and turned all night like I did, back and forth between wishing we’d never kissed and wishing we hadn’t stopped.
“Good.” He nods toward Junie. “As long as she’s managed, I’ve got a couple things to do before checking the cows. You need anything?” he adds as an afterthought.
“A ride into town later?”
His eyes narrow. “You want to go home?”
He doesn’t sound happy about that idea. Which, I hate to admit, makes me happy and seals the deal. I’ll spend a few days with the Holloways while I sort things out.
“I’d like to pick up a few things, including my car so I don’t have to bug all of you for rides,” I tell him, and the line between his brow smooths but doesn’t disappear.
“You sure it’s safe? You don’t want to wait another day or two? Aunt Flo could bring your car out.” His voice is a soft growl, like a dog warning its owner something might be dangerous.
I shrug. “I’m not worried about any real danger. My place isn’t easy to find, but I can’t guarantee no gossip site photogs will be there. I’ll take my chances though to have a few of my own things.”
I need my own clothes and toiletries as much for the familiarity as for the grounding they’ll provide.
I can’t go back to being Fran McVey, but I’m not sure I’m ready to be Frankie Forsythe again.
It’d be too easy to be absorbed by the Holloways while I’m standing at this crossroad, trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be.
“Yeah. Of course. We can head in after lunch.” He glances at Jo who’s at the stove, then lowers his voice. “We should talk.”
I nod, because, yeah, we should sort out what happened last night.
I reckon that’s what he wants to talk about.
Luckily, I’ve got hours to obsess over what he might say and how I might answer.
Hours to fantasize about whether words will lead to more of what happened last night.
Hours to worry about what happens next if they do.
As though he’s read my mind—or maybe just my face—Cal quick turns on his heel and practically sprints down the hallway, almost as fast as he did last night. I reckon to avoid me. Again.
Good on him. We’re thinking alike. Avoidance is the exact approach we should be taking. We can keep things casual until I know for sure if I’m leaving. Who knows? Maybe the publicity will die as fast as it started once something else trends on Tik Tok.
I ignore the twisting in my gut, the doubts in my head, and even the tug of Hollywood and turn back to Junie and Jo. I force a smile that Jo returns like she’s totally unaware of anything that just happened between Cal and me.
Her acting skills are Oscar worthy. But not quite good enough to fool me. Not much gets past Joanne Holloway.
Junie refuses to let Jo help me with her pancakes, which is unfortunate because it’s been a long time since I’ve cooked any breakfast food besides instant oatmeal.
In the time it takes me to make Junie’s breakfast, the rest of the family files in and out of the kitchen, grabbing toast, coffee, a bite of eggs and bacon as they do, reminding me this house runs on routine, not emotions. Which is a relief. I fit right in.
When Cal reappears, Jo hands him a plate of eggs, which he shovels into his mouth faster than I’ve ever seen him eat at Flamingo’s.
He pours coffee into a travel mug, then refills my own cup before kissing Junie on the head, pausing only long enough to tell me, “Sorry to rush out. I’ll text you on my way back. Alright?”
He looks everywhere but in my eyes.
“Course. Whenever.” I shrug, keeping things casual, grateful for the distraction of Hayes, who’s the last one to roll into the kitchen.
“Heard I’m babysitting you today, Hollywood,” he says with a crooked grin from under his cowboy hat.
I don’t miss the glare Cal shoots his way, and I laugh before he can say anything to Hayes. I don’t need Cal protecting me from his little brother.
“Hollywood? That’s the best you’ve got, Cowboy?” I ask.
“If we’re vying for obvious, you’ve got me beat.” He raises one eyebrow. “Cowboy? Really?”
Cal’s nostrils flair as he looks between Hayes and me, almost like he’s…jealous? Which is daft. Hayes is cute, but he’s a kid. Still, I like the idea of Cal worried I’ll fall for his twenty-year old brother’s flirting.
With a piece of toast in his mouth, Wes claps Cal’s shoulder. “Dad’s in the truck. We’ve gotta go.” Then he calls over his shoulder to Bennett, “we need you, too, bro.”
Looking like he’s just been promoted, Bennett drops his plate in the sink and hustles to the back door with his older brothers.
Jo throws up her hands. “Who’s going to keep an eye on Hayes?”
“Sorry, Ma. We need him,” Wes says on his way out the door.
With a last dirty look at Hayes, Cal follows Wes out the back door.
Instinctively, my eyes follow Cal.
Involuntarily, a bit of my heart does, too.