Chapter 30
Frankie closed her laptop, pleased with the amount of work she’d gotten done. She was less pleased about how long she’d been sitting. She stood up, stretched, and decided that much inactivity was not a good thing.
She felt her age. She needed to move. To get some exercise. She might need the money these illustrations would bring in, but she couldn’t sacrifice her health and mental wellbeing by spending her entire summer vacation doing nothing else.
“Come on, Archie. Let’s see if your mama is ready to go for that walk. It’ll do all three of us good.”
Archie got to his feet, did a slow, downward-facing dog stretch, then came to stand beside Frankie. He smiled, tongue out, ready to go wherever she was going.
She grinned at him, giving him some pets. “You’re such a sweet boy. If I could afford it, I’d get a doggy just like you.”
She would, too. But she had too much debt to take on the responsibility of a pet, as much as she would have welcomed the company. Living by herself was kind of awful sometimes. And sometimes the peace and quiet were wonderful. But mostly, she was acutely aware of how alone she was.
She didn’t miss Tom, but she missed her kids. They were off living their own lives, busy with their own day-to-day, but Frankie wished she lived closer to them. She’d be able to see them more often that way.
She opened the slider, letting Archie in ahead of her. Was she going to be alone for the rest of her life? She really hoped not.
Wait. Alone? She wasn’t going to be alone. At least not tonight. Holy cow, how had she forgotten? She rushed into Harper’s bedroom. Harper was sitting on the bed, working on her computer. “We have to get ready,” Frankie said. “Right now. I completely forgot.”
Harper looked up. “Forgot what?”
“Lucas Prime. Dinner. Tonight. Come on, we have to go!”
“Slow down and start from the beginning.”
“You know Lucas Prime? The YouTube chef?”
“Sure. He’s great.”
“Well, he invited us to dinner tonight. To taste-test some recipes.”
Harper narrowed her eyes. “How did that happen? Are you friends with him on social media or something?”
“No, I met him on the beach. Here. And Archie’s invited. He lives on the river side. I forgot to tell you. Come on, get ready!”
Harper pushed her laptop aside. “Lucas Prime lives in Hideaway Bay, you met him on the beach, he invited both of us to dinner, and you’re just telling me this now?”
“You were busy talking with Prisha and it slipped my mind, then we got back, and I told you about looking for our birth mother and…” Frankie shrugged. “Get ready! We’re supposed to be there in half an hour.”
“Half an hour?” Harper jumped off the bed.
Frankie ran upstairs and took the quickest shower of her life. She dabbed on simple makeup, but made sure to include a little eyeliner, mascara, and her brows. Good eyes were everything.
She changed into a blue and green tropical sundress, thankful she’d brought the dress with her even though she’d been sure she wouldn’t get to wear it.
A few pieces of gold jewelry and simple tan leather sandals and she was done. She checked the time. Nine minutes to spare. Yikes. They needed to move.
Back downstairs, she heard Harper still getting ready. “We need to go,” Frankie called out.
“I know,” Harper yelled back. “Find another nice bottle of wine we can take. I’ll drive. We can take the golf cart.”
Golf cart? Frankie hadn’t known there was one. She looked through the wine fridge and found the bottle she’d first thought about taking to the book club. She hadn’t, because after Googling it, she’d found out it was almost eighty bucks. For dinner with Lucas, it was perfect. She grabbed it.
Harper came out in white skinny jeans and a hot pink T-shirt featuring a cat sitting in a teacup. The T-shirt was big but tied at the hip to give it some shape. She wore white rubber flipflops on her feet. “You look really nice.”
“Thanks.” Frankie raised her brows. “Is that really what you’re wearing?”
“Yes, why? Too casual? This T-shirt is Gucci, by the way.”
Frankie shrugged. “It could have been from Walmart for all I know.”
“It was a gift from a client, and I never get to wear it. I can change if you want me to.”
“No, it’s cute. And you’d look good in anything. Ready?”
“Just need to put Archie on his leash.”
A few minutes later, they were out the door and in the golf cart.
Frankie knew the little electric cars were pretty popular in the higher-end Florida communities, but she’d never ridden in one. She was glad to see there were seatbelts. “What about Archie?”
“What about him?” Harper asked.
The dog was on the seat between them, which didn’t seem very safe to Frankie. “Shouldn’t we secure him somehow?”
“I’m not going to go that fast. He’ll be fine.” Harper looped the leash around her hand a second time before leaving the garage.
She drove at a reasonable speed to the address Frankie had given her.
Frankie kept one hand firmly on the wine and the other on Archie’s leash. Just in case. Harper turned down the drive and the house came into view. The house was nice. Maybe a little modest by Hideaway Bay standards.
All white stucco with blue shutters and a blue tile roof made it look like it had been transported from the Greek Isles. The driveway and paths around the house were done with terracotta pavers in a half-moon pattern, and the flowers were in shades of white, yellow, and blue. It was very cheery.
Harper parked behind a white Range Rover. They unbuckled themselves and went to the front door. Archie buried his nose in a big ceramic pot of flowers, snuffling softly at the wonderful smells he was apparently enjoying.
Lucas answered the door. “My taste-testers have arrived! Welcome, ladies. I’m so glad you could join me. And Archie, too, of course. Nice to have another man in the house. Come on in.”
“Thanks for inviting us,” Frankie said.
A yellow Labrador came trotting around the corner.
Lucas grinned. “Meet Scout, my baby girl.”
“She’s a beauty,” Harper said.
Frankie nodded. “Very pretty.”
Archie went right up to her, tail wagging. They gave each other a good sniffing, then Scout let out a little woof of excitement.
Lucas laughed. “Why don’t we head out to the back. I’ve got the grill getting hot.”
Frankie held out the wine. “I don’t know if this goes with what you’re planning, but you don’t have to open it now.”
He took the bottle, glanced at the label, and nodded, his brows lifting. “Very nice choice. Thank you. I’ve got some white chilled already, so we might save this for later.”
“Works for me,” Frankie said, a little mesmerized by the man in front of her.
“Your house is beautiful,” Harper said.
“Thank you,” Lucas said.
Frankie agreed, “It’s great.”
It was, too. Lots of white, but lots of big, bold splashes of color. The kind of decorating Frankie imagined to be very high-end Miami Beach. She wasn’t sure why, but that’s how it struck her.
They followed him to the backyard. His pool overlooked the river and there was lighting strung through the trees and on posts, outlining the rear of the property. It was very pretty. And, at least to Frankie, quite romantic.
“I hope you like chicken. I’m trying out three new kinds tonight. A Greek marinade, a Korean barbeque sauce, and an Indonesian satay.” He was in the summer kitchen, which was pretty nicely set up. Made sense, considering what he did.
Frankie had seen that kitchen in numerous videos. She smiled. “Those all sound great.” They smelled good, too. Her mouth started watering as the breeze shifted and the smoky aromas from the grill wafted toward them.
Lucas lifted the grill lid to check the food. “Let’s hope so, but we’ll see when we actually taste them.”
He used a meat thermometer to check one of the pieces of chicken. “Almost there. The fridge here has the wine and other drinks in it. Please, help yourself. I’m going to get the rest of the food from the indoor kitchen.”
“Do you want help?” Frankie quickly asked.
“Sure, I’d love some.”
Frankie went after him, but not before catching the sly smile on her sister’s face. “Keep an eye on the dogs.”
“Oh, I’ve got my eyes wide open,” Harper said, grinning. “Don’t you worry.”
Frankie carried out a big bowl of salad. Lucas brought a bottle of vinaigrette he’d made, along with a bowl of rice he’d scooped out of the rice cooker. They put the food on the already set table, which was between the summer kitchen and the pool, under a portico with more lights hanging from it and two spinning fans that kept the air moving.
He went to the grill and started putting the chicken onto a big platter. In the middle went a pile of vegetables that had been roasting on a different part of the grill. When he brought it to the table, he pointed out the three different kinds of chicken. “I just need to grab the satay sauce and we can eat. Fill your plates and I’ll be right back.”
He returned with a pretty, handmade pottery bowl filled with the sauce, a spoon already in it. He took his seat, laughing as the dogs came racing past. “Those two look like they’ve known each other all their lives.”
“It’s nice,” Harper said. “Archie doesn’t get much play time like that, being an only dog.”
“Same with Scout,” Lucas said, helping himself to a piece of each kind of chicken. “I really should take her to the dog park here more often, but I get so busy. That’s no excuse, I know.”
“There’s a dog park?” Harper asked.
He nodded. “It’s on the other side of the parking lot where you park for pickleball.”
“There’s pickleball?” Frankie said. “This place really has it all. You know, I could take both dogs sometime. If you guys wanted.”
Harper glanced at her sister. “I thought you had work to do?”
Frankie spooned some of the satay sauce over her Indonesian chicken. “I can spare an hour.”
“What kind of work do you do?” Lucas asked.
“I’m an assistant principal, but I’m also an artist. I do some graphic design, but mostly I specialize in illustrations. Right now, I’m working on a children’s book.”
“Impressive,” Lucas said. “As it happens, I’ve been thinking about redesigning my logo. I’ve had a few samples done, but I’m not crazy about any of them. Maybe I’m just too picky. I’d love your input.”
Frankie smiled, even as her sister nudged her knee. “I’d be happy to tell you what I think.”
Was Lucas flirting with her? Or did he really just want free help? Probably just free help. But she wasn’t sure she cared. He was nice to look at and enjoyable to be around. Plus, he could cook.
She’d help him pick out trash bags if that’s what he wanted.