Chapter 27
Frankie
“I’m back in Serenity,” I tell him.
He stays quiet long enough for me to wonder if we’ve been disconnected.
“Arch?”
“You might have waited until we had things sorted with Sanctuary. Or were you looking to get flogged?” Irritated is Archie’s standard MO, but he sounds even more annoyed than usual.
“Maybe. I don’t know. I just—I needed to come back. If I didn’t, everyone here would think I had a reason not to. And I don’t.”
“And you wanted to see Cal,” he adds, only slightly less annoyed than before.
“And I wanted to see Cal. Obviously.”
“Obviously.” There’s enough mocking in his tone to open the door for teasing him back.
“He’s a smoke show, Arch. I can’t quit him.”
Archie scoffs with just enough of a laugh to signal we’re back on good footing. “What about the memorial service?”
Malcolm wanted to be cremated, so that’s where he is now. Being…cremated. No embalming. No viewing. No seeing him one last time.
I should be grateful. He didn’t look like himself by the time he passed. He wasn’t a giant anymore, just skin and bones. As human as the rest of us.
I liked him that way. Not sick like he was, but real.
Archie and I are supposed to be taking his remains back to Brisbane for a memorial service there next week. Sybil’s planned it. Some of Malcolm’s business associates and friends will speak. I told her I didn’t have anything to say that I hadn’t already said to Malcolm.
Now that I’m back in Serenity, though, I’ve changed my mind about leaving again. “I’ve said my goodbyes. I think I need to be here now,” I say to Archie.
He’s silent on the other end.
“Arch? You there?”
“I reckon that’s alright,” he says, finally. “I’ll check in with the solicitors to see where we are with BIG buying Sanctuary.”
“Cheers, Arch.”
“It’s going to cost a pretty penny.”
Archie took some convincing to agree with my idea. He sounded a bit like Dad, actually, when I told him about it. He kept talking about going into business to make money, not lose it.
“I know.” I’m already preparing myself to possibly lose the money I worked hard to earn then fought hard to get back from Dad.
“No clue how we’ll make that place profitable,” Archie mutters as much to himself as to me.
“An eco-friendly surf wear company shouldn’t be profitable either but look what you’ve done with Bombora.”
“Text me later,” he growls, which I take as his wholehearted agreement and support, before I end the call.
Driving the roads around Serenity already has me feeling more hopeful than I did when I arrived, even with the fields dry and brown at the end of summer. It’s still beautiful. It won’t be long until everything is green and growing again.
My enthusiasm falters when I turn into the Holloways’ drive and stop at the gate.
I take my time pressing the buzzer to be let through.
I want to see everyone—okay, maybe not Cassidy—but what if they don’t want to see me?
What if my being here causes more problems?
What if I turn their lives upside down all over again? Especially Junie’s?
I don’t know if there’s any way to avoid stirring up trouble.
But if everyone at Flamingo’s can forgive me, maybe the Holloways will be willing to also.
And if I leave now, there’s no coming back. No matter what I do to save Sanctuary, Cal won’t forgive me. And he’ll have every right not to. I can’t pop in and out of his life when it’s convenient for me or when I need his support.
So, I drive the long, dry driveway up to the house. Jo walks out of the house as I pull up and waits for me on the front step. She smiles when I step out of my car, but there’s no welcome in it. It’s polite. Taut.
“Hi, Jo.” I wave.
When I reach the top step, I offer her a hug, which she returns out of obligation, not with the same warmth the first time she met me.
I’ve got my work cut out for me here, yeah.
“Come in and get settled. How long are you planning on staying?” She looks toward my car. “Do you need help with bags?”
“I don’t have any…I hadn’t really planned on coming. Suddenly, I was just…here.” I hold back adding again.
Jo doesn’t need a reminder that I’ve already shown up once with nothing, then left with a piece of Cal’s heart. Junie’s too. None of it was fair after how they’d welcomed me into their family without any reservation.
“So, I’m not sure how long I’ll stay.” I don’t miss the worry on her face. “But I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You won’t be a burden,” she says lightly before guiding me inside.
Somehow, I don’t believe her.
“Don’t forget to say goodbye before you leave this time. Okay?”
I wait for her to say more. She presses her lips together, and I understand her message. Don’t break my babies’ hearts again.
“I won’t, Jo. I promise.” I hope she hears how much I mean it.
“Cal said you’d like a little quiet,” she says, leading me to the guest room. “Make yourself at home and yell if you need anything at all. If you’re planning to stay the night, I’ll round up some clothes and toiletries for you.”
“Thank you. But do you need any help in the grove? Anywhere else?” I ask her, already feeling like a burden.
She stops in front of the guestroom and offers a tight smile. “No. We don’t have a reason to pick right now.”
I know what she’s referring to, and I tell her the same thing I told everyone at Flamingo. “I wasn't part of what they were doing, Jo. But I’m working on fixing it.”
She really looks at me for the first time today, studies me for a sec, before a genuine smile slowly appears. “I trust you, sweetheart.” She rubs my arm encouragingly, then adds, “And I was sorry to read about your dad.”
“You saw the obit?” I swallow hard.
“Read the story on the front page of the Daily.” Her eyes are kind, but the bit of pity there makes me uncomfortable.
“It wasn’t very flattering.” I wish I could tell her how wrong it was, but that would be a lie.
“That’s okay. There’s always more to a person than you can put on a page. Cal said you were taking care of him. That was really kind of you.” Her expression widens with more pity.
“You’re the one who told me to love him where he was at. I’m grateful for that advice.” I shift my eyes downward with the weight of her gaze.
“I don’t even remember saying that, but it sounds like good advice,” she says in her usual cheerful voice.
I bring my eyes back to hers which are warm and lovely. I may have mistook understanding for pity. Her smile, though, clears up any lingering doubts that things will be okay.
“Do you mind if I do a bit of work before Cal and Junie get home?”
“Go right ahead. I’ve got things to do, but you know your way around.”
She leaves me, and even though Archie said he’d talk to the solicitors, that’s something I can do. Then I won’t feel so guilty for showing up on the Holloways porch after I’ve threatened their ranch again. It’s the least I can do to repay their kindness.
For the next hour, I talk to a solicitor at the firm we’ve hired to work out this mess.
My partners at Wild Coast aren’t willing to budge on renewing contracts and the loopholes they’d found to break them will be hard to fight.
But we’ve stopped the landscaping they’d planned to limit beach access.
The trucks that blocked Cal and Junie on her birthday won’t be back.
The only way now to force them to renew contracts with producers like the Holloways and Gerry, is to buy out the other investors and restore the contracts myself. But Archie wasn’t wrong about it costing a pretty penny. It’ll take a big chunk of what’s in the trust I finally have access to.
By the time I hear Cal and Junie in the hallway, I’ve made a little progress, but not enough to report. I didn’t get the quiet time I wanted, but I’m ready for playtime. Or, at least, a four-year-old’s adoring smile.
When I walk into the hall to meet them, though, instead of running to greet me, Junie eyes me warily.
“Hi, Junie.” I wave to her.
She tucks her face into Cal’s legs and mumbles what I think is, “Hi, Frankie.”
Cal sends me an apologetic look and pats Junie’s head. “Aren’t you excited to see Frankie, Bug?”
She doesn’t answer.
Instead of waiting for her to come to me, I walk to her and crouch down to her level.
“How are you? I’ve missed you.” I rest my hand on her back, but she arches away from it and buries her head deeper into Cal.
“You want to give Frankie a hug?” Cal asks.
She shakes her head, and I lower my hand. “Yeah, alright. You don’t have to. Sometimes I don’t want hugs either. Your choice who you want them from.”
At this, she peeks at me.
“Hi.” I smile. “Do you want to play a game or do something together?”
She looks up at Cal. “You too, Daddy?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” He winks at me, like we’re making progress, but this is a tougher negotiation than the one I’m in with my agent over his percentage if I get the part in Frederica.
Junie shifts to face me, leaning her back against Cal, but she doesn’t say anything. Just looks at me with those big blue eyes.
“Junie,” she lets me take her hand. “I didn’t leave because of you. I like you heaps. I couldn’t wait to see you again.”
“For a playdate?” she asks tentatively.
“Yeah, of course.”
Her face twists with thought before she breaks into a smile, then throws her arms around me. “I glad you’re back, Frankie,” she says.
I hug her tight, but I have to tell her the truth. So, when we break apart, I look her in the eye. “I'm not sure how long I’ll be here, Junie. But I’ll always come back.”
Her brow dips, and I look up to see the same look on Cal’s face, but he quickly wipes the worry there away.
“Are you hungry? You want something to eat?” he asks, stepping right back into his caretaker role.
I stand. “Yeah, I could eat.”
“Let’s do tea party!” Junie slips her tiny hand into mine, blanketing me in a soft warmth.
“With cucumber sandwiches and everything?” I ask as she takes Cal’s hand with her free one.
“Uh huh,” she nods. “But only the kind with peanut butter and jelly.”