Chapter 17
Jillian
Ihad barely gotten a foot inside my house when I heard a colossal collision behind me.
"What now?" I huffed to Athena.
She squawked disapprovingly. “RUM AND BOTHERATION!”
This was a fair assessment of the situation.
I went outside to see that Frankie had totally lost it.
I didn’t know what Cash had said to him, but whatever it was, Frankie had gone absolutely berserk, roaring at the top of his lungs and windmilling his arms at the much bigger man.
Frankie was a lover, not a fighter, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him angry in my whole life, but now he was absolutely flailing about in rage.
“YOU BASTARD!” he spat. “Stay away from my wife!”
“Stop it!” I shouted. “Stop right this instant!”
Of course, by now 90% of Ramshackle Bay had turned out watching to see what would happen.
I heard encouraging cries,
"Get him, Cash!" and "Make him pay!"
Frankie grabbed Cash around the waist and was attempting to wrestle him to the ground, which lasted about five seconds until Cash flipped Frankie on his back, knocking the wind out of him.
“RECALL THE BUM MAYOR!” Mrs. Greenberg called from her front porch.
Before I could beg someone to help, my father-in-law was there, plucking Frankie up from the fight by the back of the collar as Claudette emptied a perfume bottle over the whole situation.
“Capital aim, madam,” called Earnest, who had stuck his head out of the law office to watch.
Dumped unceremoniously on the ground, the weeping Frankie was barely recognizable as the man I had met in college. Or even as the man who had been my husband just a few days ago.
There were times in the past I thought nothing would get Frankie down. Not even when we were left behind on a cruise once. We had been those last two people running toward the ship in flip-flops as it emitted a loud foghorn blast and took off right in front of us.
Even though he’d been dashing around at our port of call trying to find me the perfect coconut margarita, Frankie had just shrugged and said, “Great excuse to stay here another few days.”
Then he kissed me and we ran back toward the beach, hand in hand.
And I had loved that about him. Had absolutely loved his easygoing, serene attitude, but all that was gone.
He was a complete and utter wreck, so many tears streaming down his face that his eyes were swollen almost shut.
“Everyone else, please leave!” I called, feeling the words stick in my throat.
“Come to our yacht later,” Claudette called back. “This invitation is for Jillian, not YOU, Frankie.”
Frankie sat, dirty and defeated, in the middle of the street as all our neighbors melted slowly away. Cash was breathing heavily, and put his hand gently on the back of my throat, the rough pads of his fingers scraping by my skin.
"See you soon, baby girl. Call me if you need anything.”
He bent and kissed me, his lips confident and assured, all heat and fire and a tiny taste of jealousy as his lips covered mine.
Frankie's agonized eyes followed every movement, and he was sobbing brokenly as Cash left.
“Spit out what you want to say to me,” I sighed. “And then that is it. I don’t want to hear anything more from you about the past. This will be the last conversation about our former relationship we ever have.”
“No, Jillian, please—“ he begged, crawling over to me and falling at my feet. “I can’t live without you. I just made a mistake. I don’t love her. I love you.”
I felt revulsion at his weakness, his vacillation, the stupid, stereotypical mistakes he’d made.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Why would I care if you love her or not? Why did you do it then?”
“I—“ his face looked crimson with embarrassment, his wavy hair standing out around his face as he tore at it.
“It’s—not—it-- wasn’t—it was nothing that went all the way. Just stupid—fooling around. I felt guilty, though. So guilty.”
“I was your second choice, your backup. Now you have your first choice. So what’s the problem? Why are you here crying to me? Go be with her.”
He flushed miserably. “It wasn’t even—about her. I knew it was wrong I—shoved down my guilt. I had to shove it down deep to ignore it was wrong.”
“Your guilt or your dick?” I asked. “Because your dick was pretty far down her throat.”
“Forgive me!” he begged, starting to cry again.
“And what did you mean by it wasn’t about her? That’s supposed to be an apology? That you would’ve shoved your cock down anyone’s throat?”
“No! It’s so stupid and embarrassing, but I liked the—adulation. The idea that there was someone out there who had been waiting for me for ten years.”
“It’s possible,” I said. “I think Cash was doing that for me.”
His face looked stricken, and his lips trembled. “It wasn’t—true with her. It was a lie. But it was like I couldn’t resist that last star-fucking hit. Please. I know how shallow that was. If you give me a chance, I’ll do better next time. I’ll never do that again.”
This pissed me off.
“Cash was right about you,” I said. “Just a spoiled rich boy. I gave you everything, Frankie. All my attention. All my love. And it wasn’t enough.”
“I made the biggest mistake of my life. You are my peace and my safe place and I want that back. I love you so much.”
Anger was pulsing through me. Bullshit excuse. Bullshit man.
“You’re weak, Frankie. I can’t be with you. You threw away what we had because you can’t stand not to be the star of everything. You love being the hot rich guy everybody wants, and you can’t live without that fucking star worship. And I don’t want to be with someone like that. It’s over.”
When I went inside I wanted nothing more than to never see Frankie again.
He was pissing me off so much I closed up the shop, told Earnest to do what he could to make the divorce quick, then took Franklin and Claudette's kind invitation and sailed off for a trip on their yacht.
Athena and I spent the next few weeks eating private chef-cooked meals, tanning in the sun, shopping, and napping.
I felt tanned, rested, and much more cheerful when they finally returned us to Ramshackle Bay.
I would reopen the coffee shop tomorrow morning. I had missed Perk Up & Read.
However, when I got home, I was annoyed to be greeted with several reams of official letters from Earnest.
Setting Athena down on her perch, I glanced over them.
Taking longer than expected
Frankie being difficult
Frankie refusing to sign anything
Bastard!
I was supposed to call Cash when I returned. I certainly wouldn't object to seeing him again. He had been pretty damn good in the sack.
What day should I suggest for our next date?
I glanced over idly at the calendar.
Wait, what was that? I peered closer.
Shit, wasn’t my period supposed to start a few days ago? I wasn't always regular, though. I was only on Day 28 of my cycle, and it could range from 25-29 days.
Still. . .
I rushed to my bathroom where there were still a few pregnancy tests stacked under the sink. Frankie and I had been talking about starting to try for a baby soon.
I shoved the bitter memories aside and ripped open the package.
Frankie was dead to me. Was Cash my future?
With trembling fingers, I put the test on the counter and waited. . .