Chapter 4
Chapter Four
F rankie took up her usual spot on the back deck overlooking the pool and the water beyond. She had her tablet on her lap, her pen for sketching, and a cup of coffee nearby.
Harper had woken up and taken Archie right out. They were somewhere in the yard below.
Willa had yet to show her face, but that was no big deal. She could sleep as long as she wanted. This was her vacation. At some point, she’d turn up. Looking for coffee, no doubt.
When Harper and Archie got back, Frankie would see what her sister wanted to do about breakfast.
At the moment, Frankie was content to sit with her coffee and work on the logos she’d promised Lucas. He was paying her, money she dearly needed, so she wanted to get them done and delivered.
Not just for the money, though. She liked him a lot and wanted him to be happy with what she was doing for him. She was hoping to grow her business. Logos were a new thing for her, but if they could bring in the kind of money he was paying, she was all about them.
There was a little more to her need to work this morning, however. It was a great distraction from having to think about yesterday and how disappointingly awful the meeting with Shar had been.
Frankie sipped her coffee, holding the cup as she looked out at the water, the sun sparkling on the rippling surface.
Why had Shar said Buck was dead? Frankie replayed that part of the conversation in her head. Shar had told them her mother had said Buck was killed in a car accident. But Willa believed otherwise. She’d found what might actually be proof that Buck was still alive.
Could it be that Shar didn’t know? That her mother have been the one who’d lied? Frankie set her cup down. That had to be a possibility. As unhappy as Frankie was with Shar, a part of her still wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.
But Sharlene could have done the same simple search Willa had. Wouldn’t she have been curious enough to do that?
Frankie huffed out a breath. It also really hurt that Shar had never told her children about Frankie and Harper. What kind of a mother didn’t bring that up at some point? Shar’s kids were adults. With kids of their own.
A reminder to Frankie that she’d yet to fill her son, Jason, in on all of this.
She could draft an email to him. See how it read. A call would probably be better, but he was always so busy. She tapped the tablet’s screen and brought up her email, and saw she had a handful of new messages in her inbox.
Three of them were from Sharlene.
Frankie stared at them, not sure if she was in the right mindset to read them just now. Reading them certainly wasn’t going to help her get these logos finalized.
She clicked on the first email.
I’m so sorry about how today went. I know you probably won’t respond to this, but that’s okay. I understand, mostly. I know you and Harriet are mad at me. I don’t know how to fix that. I will tell my kids about you someday, although I’m not sure there’s a point now. You don’t want to meet them, do you?
Frankie looked up. Did she? She was torn. On one hand, it would be really something to have a half-brother and half-sister after so many years of it just being her and Harper. Real blood relations.
But on the other hand, she and Harper had gone this long by themselves. Would a half-brother and half-sister really make a difference? There was every possibility they’d want nothing to do with her or Harper. They might see them as a burden from the past.
A reminder of a hard time in their mother’s life.
Frankie swallowed. She did not want to be looked down on by siblings she didn’t know.
She went back to the letter.
If you do want to meet them, please tell me. You don’t have to go through me. I can connect you with them and walk away, leaving you to sort it all out on your own. You are family. You should know each other. But if you don’t, then maybe it’s best to leave them be. Let them live their lives without having to go through the heartache of knowing they have family that’s not interested in being family.
Frankie rolled her eyes and muttered, “Talk about a guilt trip. Passive aggressive much?”
Crazy words from a woman who hadn’t bothered to tell her kids about her past.
Shar then signed off with her name and her phone number, which Frankie already had.
She clicked out of that email and went to the next one from Shar.
Forgot to mention that I’ll be in town for a few more days if you want to talk again. I know we can work through this. No matter what happens, you’ll always be my girls.
“No, we won’t,” Frankie said. They hadn’t been her girls for a long time. It wasn’t that easy to just ignore the fact that they’d been raised by other people. People they held in their hearts as their real parents.
Shar might want to think they were still family, but that wasn’t reality. Frankie was sorry things had gone so poorly for her, but actions had consequences. She’d spent countless hours as a parent teaching that to her own children.
Now she had a birth mother who didn’t understand it?
She got out of that email and hesitated before opening the third. Did it really matter what else Shar had to say?
Harper would probably delete it without reading, but Harper was a little more mercenary than Frankie.
With a sigh, Frankie opened it.
The note was short and had arrived around three a.m. Can’t sleep. Sick about how things went. I hope we can talk again. Please. I still love you both.
Frankie swallowed and shook her head. She shouldn’t have read them. They’d only left her more conflicted. Her stomach was sour with nerves and indecision.
Just then, the sliding doors opened, and Archie came trotting out. Harper leaned through the opening. “Did you eat yet?”
“No, I was waiting for you.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
“One of Lucas’s omelets, but since that’s not an option, I won’t be picky.”
Harper rolled her eyes and laughed. “I was thinking some eggs over easy with some toast with cream cheese? We got that seedy bread yesterday. I bet it would be good toasted with a schmear of cream cheese on it.”
Frankie nodded. “All right.”
Harper stepped outside. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem like yourself.”
Frankie made herself smile. “I’m all right. Just…some emails from Shar.”
“Oh.” Harper stretched the word out, indicating she understood exactly why Frankie wasn’t herself. “You okay?”
“Not really, no.” Frankie sighed. “I was supposed to be doing work, but I read those instead.”
“And now you’re in a bad mood?”
“Not a bad mood, but definitely a mood.” She frowned and looked away. “This is my fault. I started this whole thing. I only have myself to blame.”
“Hey,” Harper said as she walked over and sat next to Frankie. “Don’t do that. It’s not your fault that Sharlene isn’t who you wanted her to be. She made choices in her life that had everything to do with her and nothing to do with you . That much is crystal clear. If she’d been thinking about us, a lot of this wouldn’t have happened.”
Frankie glanced at her sister. “You really think so? She didn’t know our father and his friends were going to rob that bank.”
Harper scoffed. “Right.”
“You think she knew?”
“If you were married to a man who hung out with the kind of guys who thought robbing a bank was a good idea, don’t you think you’d at least be suspicious of them? These guys weren’t pillars of the community. They weren’t church deacons or little league coaches. She might not have known they were going to rob a bank, but she had to have figured something was up.”
“Maybe.” Frankie hadn’t thought about it that way. “But if you believe that, why do you want to meet Buck?”
“I told you, fair is fair.”
“But you also want to know the real dirt on Shar, don’t you?”
Harper shrugged one shoulder. “I want to know the whole story. We got her side, we should get his. No harm in that, is there?”
Frankie just sighed. There’d already been harm. What was a little more?
“Listen,” Harper said. “Why don’t we have something a little more comforting for breakfast?”
“Such as?”
Harper grinned. “Pancakes? We have that whole container of fresh strawberries. We could slice some of those up and with a little whipped cream…”
“Who are you and what have you done with my oat-milk-drinking sister?” Frankie laughed, instantly feeling better. “That sounds like exactly what I need.”
“Great.” She patted Frankie’s leg. “You can work after breakfast. You’re on strawberry-slicing duty.”
Harper got up and headed back inside the house. Frankie set her tablet and pen aside, grabbed her cup and followed.
Archie did the same, not wanting to be left out, undoubtedly.
Harper started assembling ingredients. “If we’re missing anything, Joyce can probably hook us up.”
“I’m sure. I bet she makes good pancakes.”
Harper nodded. “Oh, definitely. She probably has some secret ingredient she learned from the Queen or something.”
Frankie chuckled. “You never know with her.”
“You never know with who?”
They both turned to see Willa, in leggings and a big T-shirt, hair in a messy knot, coming down the steps.
“Joyce,” Frankie answered.
Willa nodded as she headed for the coffee maker. “Yeah, she’s legit. I like her a lot.” She filled a cup with coffee, added creamer and sugar, then blew across the surface before taking a sip and sighing. “That’s better.”
“Were you up late?” Frankie asked.
“A little. But get this.” Willa smiled. “Buck messaged me back. And he was indeed married to a woman named Sharlene.”