Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
W hat a night with Lucas. So much fun. And the food! Frankie sighed a happy sigh. Lucas was dreamy. There was no other word that more accurately described him.
She used her ring finger to dot eye cream all around her eyes. Next, she rubbed moisturizer into her skin as she thought about what a wonderful evening they’d had. She should probably do more than eye cream and moisturizer, but her skin ought to be happy she did that much.
What did Lucas do? He had nice skin. Maybe she’d ask him. Or would that be weird? Nah. They were friends. They could talk about anything.
She peered closer at the image in the mirror. She had no idea how some women managed night after night to go through a multi-step routine. They clearly had more time, money, and patience than she did. But maybe there was a little something extra she could do.
A face mask once in a while. Or something.
But not tonight. She turned to go into the bedroom just as a knock sounded on her door. “Come in.”
Harper opened the door. She’d taken Archie out for a last pee. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Frankie massaged the last bit of lotion into her hands. She’d do her feet and legs, too, before she got into bed. “What’s up?”
Harper shut the door behind her, eyes lit with an unusual gleam. “Buck answered the email.”
Frankie went still, her breath caught in her throat. “He did? Did you read it? When? Just now?”
“He did and I read it. I wanted us to read it together, but it came in when we were at Lucas’s, and I couldn’t wait.” She held her phone out, the screen bright with her email app. “Go on, see for yourself.”
Frankie could already tell by Harper’s mood that the email had been good. She took the phone, eager to dive in. “Sit on the bed with me.”
They each settled onto one side. Frankie put her reading glasses on and got to reading. When she reached the end, she looked at her sister. So many things stuck out to her, but the one she had to mention first was obvious. “He offered us money.”
“I know. Can you believe that?” Harper shook her head like she didn’t get it either. “He sounds so different than what I expected. I like him. I realize one email is a terrible way to judge someone’s character, but that’s my gut reaction.”
Frankie couldn’t lie. “I didn’t want to like him, but I kind of do, too. He seems like such a real person. Like he’s not trying to present himself in any kind of way. Other than who he really is.”
“Just throwing this out there, but Jekyll Island is only two hours from here.”
“You looked it up already?” Frankie handed the phone back. “I’m closer to him here than I am at home in Charleston.”
“You are.” Harper tapped her screen a few times, then Frankie’s phone chimed with an incoming notification. “I just forwarded his email to you, so you’d have it. I want to meet him, Frankie. I want to hear his side of things. It’s only fair. Don’t you think?”
Frankie couldn’t argue that. Not after she’d pushed for them to meet Shar.
She picked up her phone and opened the forwarded email, reading through it again. He definitely came off as sincere and honest, but like Harper had said, it was one email. Even so, Frankie nodded. “Based on this, I do think we should meet him.” She sighed. “I really don’t want to get my hopes up again. Not after Shar.”
“I know. I’ve thought about that, too. He might just be great on paper. For all we know, his wife helped him write that email.”
Frankie snorted. “For all we know, his wife doesn’t exist.”
“No, she does. Glenda McCandless is listed as the church secretary at Community Baptist Church on Jekyll Island. I found her on Facebook and Pinterest, too. She pins crafty things that can be made for the homeless, recipes, mostly casseroles, and Bible verses. There are pictures of her and Buck on her Facebook profile, too. His Facebook profile seems more like a placeholder. The last photo was from that fishing contest Willa found.”
“So Glenda is real. She sounds too good to be true, but that would be a lot of work to go to in order to fabricate a wife.”
“If he even had those skills. But then there’s the part where he said she knows about the money he set aside in case we ever reconnected. That means Glenda knows about us .” Harper poked the bed covers for emphasis. “And she has for a while.”
It was certainly more than Shar had done. Frankie put her fingers to her mouth as she tried to think. This was a lot to process. But her heart ached at the prospect of meeting her father. “Did you answer him?”
“No, not yet. We need to do that together. Unless you don’t want to?”
“I do. Definitely. Thanks for waiting for me. What should we say?”
“I think we tell him a little more about ourselves and then see if he’s interested in meeting.” Harper lifted her chin slightly. “And I think we should take Willa with us if that happens. She’s the reason we found him.”
Frankie wasn’t so sure. But before she could say anything, Harper spoke again. “I know you want to protect her, but Willa’s an adult. She can manage herself. And I think it would be better for us to all go together than for her to meet him on her own. This way, if things don’t work out, she won’t wonder what might have been.”
“Good point. I agree with that.” Frankie couldn’t help but be cautious when it came to her kids and what was in their best interests. “Let’s email him back and converse with him a little more before I make that decision, okay?”
“Sure. But you know Willa might go meet him anyway, even if you say no. She’s old enough to make her own decisions.”
“I’m aware. But I’d rather know him better first.”
Harper nodded. “Then let’s get this email sent.”
“Now? Won’t that look…I don’t know, too eager?”
“The man is in his eighties, and we obviously are eager. Why wait?”
Harper had a point. “You’re going to do it on your phone?”
“Yeah, why not?” Harper had already opened up a new screen to reply and had her thumbs poised over the keyboard.
Frankie typed text with one finger or, better still, voice to text. She’d never gotten the hang of thumb typing. “Okay. What should we say? Thanks for writing back? And for sharing so much with us?”
“Good start.” Harper typed away for a bit, then read. “Dear Buck, thank you for answering so quickly and being open about yourself. It seems odd to us to find you after all these years, but it was only because my sister, Frankie, tracked down Sharlene that we know about you at all.
“Shar told us her parents told her years ago that you’d died in a car accident. I don’t know if her parents really told her that or if it was her way of trying to stop us from looking for you, but my niece, Willa, the young woman who found you, wasn’t deterred.”
Harper looked at Frankie. “What do you think so far?”
“Good. Keep going.”
Harper typed some more, then read what she’d added. “We would very much like to know more about you. Especially the full story about what happened that caused us to be taken away. All we know about the bank robbery is what Shar told us. She said she had no idea what had been planned, no idea that she was the designated driver until it was too late.
“It’s nice to know that you remarried. Do you have other children? If so, do they know about us? The offer of money was kind, but it’s the furthest thing from either of our minds.” She looked at Frankie again.
Frankie nodded her approval.
Harper went back to reading. “We both have great lives. I’ve never been married, but Frankie has. She’s now divorced but has two fantastic kids. Willa, who you’ve messaged with, and Jason, her son. Frankie is an assistant principal at a charter school. I work as a personal assistant in L.A. No kids, but I do have a labradoodle named Archie.” Harper looked at Frankie. “Do you mind if I tell him all of that about you?”
“No, that’s okay. It’s not like he couldn’t find that out himself with a little digging on Facebook. Ask him…” Frankie shook her head. “I want to know about prison and what his life was like afterwards, but that’s a lot to cover in an email. I feel like that’s more suited to in-person conversation. Don’t you?”
“Yeah, I’d agree with that. Okay, let me wrap up and then I’ll read the whole thing over again.”
“All right.” Frankie read Buck’s email on her phone while Harper typed a little more.
After a few minutes, Harper’s thumbs came off the screen. “Okay, here’s how I ended it. We look forward to getting to know you better. Please share anything you want. We’ll be happy to answer your questions, too. All the best, Harper and Frankie.”
Frankie nodded. “That’s good. Read the whole thing back.”
Harper did that. They tweaked a few minor things, then decided it was ready to send.
“Hang on,” Frankie said. “Include my email in the addresses so I get a copy.”
“Just a sec.” Harper tapped away at the screen. “Okay, I added you. All good?”
Frankie took a breath. It was exciting to think that they were reconnecting with their biological father. A little nerve-wracking, too, after their experience with Shar. But if they didn’t have a dialogue with him, they’d never know what could be.
She nodded. “All good. Send away.”