Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
F rankie studied the man across the table from her, trying to reconcile him with her shadowy memories, but they were too faint and too fleeting.
“You look deep in thought, Frankie,” Buck said. “Is there something you want to ask me? You can, you know. Whatever you want. I’m not here to keep anything from you. I mean that. I’m an open book.”
“I appreciate that.” She thought about what she really wanted to know. About what was really bothering her. “Did you do anything to try to stop the state from taking us?”
Willa glanced at her, as if that was too harsh of a question. Frankie didn’t think it was. It was an honest question. One she really wanted an answer to.
He stared at the table before taking a breath and raising his gaze to her. “I tried a few things. My parents were older and didn’t want a lot to do with me at that time, which I don’t blame them for. But they petitioned the court on you and your sister’s behalf. Sharlene did everything she could to prevent that. She told the court that my parents were abusive and that she feared for any child in their care.”
“What?” Frankie felt sick.
“She didn’t want my parents to have you and the courts in those days usually listened more to the mother than anyone else.” He swallowed and looked away for a second. “Before my parents could appeal, my dad had a heart attack. The stress of it all, I think.”
Buck shook his head. “He survived it, but the courts ruled him medically unfit. My mother was heartbroken.”
“Had we met your parents? Did we know them as grandparents? I have no memory of that.”
“You did. You’d met them a few times. My dad was a truck driver, so he was on the road a lot, which meant you saw my mom more.”
Frankie’s heart hurt. “I wish I could remember them.”
“I can show you pictures. If you’d like.”
She nodded, feeling sorry for herself and Harper and all that had been lost. But also feeling angry at how many lies Sharlene had told them. Her eyes went hot with tears. “I wish I could remember you.”
She sniffed, but it was too late. The tears slipped free. She covered her face with her hands, grateful they’d been seated in an isolated corner.
Willa’s arm went around her shoulder. “It’s okay, Mom.”
A moment later, stronger arms went around her. Buck. “It’s all right, Frankie. It’s all right.” He put one hand on her head.
She leaned into him and wept softly, the comfort he offered a stark reminder of all she’d missed out on. After a moment, she pulled away. “I’m okay,” she said softly. “This is just…hard.”
“I know,” Buck said, taking his seat again. “I’m sorry for everything you girls went through. I’m especially sorry for my part in it.”
She used her napkin to dab at her eyes. “I had great parents. I don’t regret them. At all.”
Buck nodded. “I’m glad for that.”
“I just wish…” She heaved out a breath, trying to find words. “I don’t know what I wish.”
“It’s okay to want some things to be different and others not.”
She sniffed again. “Yeah, I suppose it is. I don’t think I can call you Dad. I’m sorry.”
“Wouldn’t expect it,” he said. “I haven’t played that role in your life. Buck is fine with me if that’s fine with you.”
He was not at all who she’d expected. He was better. A lot better. “Buck works.” She managed a small smile. “Thanks for coming today.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
“Um, can I call you Grandpa?” Willa asked. “Would you be okay with that, Mom?”
Frankie nodded, her smile expanding. “I would be fine with that. If Buck is.”
They both looked at him. Tears shone in his eyes. He cleared his throat before answering. “I would love that.”
Harper and Glenda returned with their salads.
Harper took her seat. “What did we miss?”
“Just catching up,” Frankie said.
Buck winked at Glenda. Maybe a sign that things were going all right? It was sweet and spoke to their closeness. “Willa’s going to call me Grandpa,” he told Glenda.
“Oh, that’s wonderful.” She looked like she might cry.
“I could call you Grandma G,” Willa said. “Or is that weird?”
Glenda reached across to grab Willa’s hand. “You can call me whatever you like, sweetheart.”
“Thanks,” Willa said. “I never thought I’d get more grandparents. My dad’s parents are kind of… out of the picture since the divorce. I mean, they send cards for holidays and birthdays, but I think they feel guilty about what my dad did to my mom, so…” She shrugged. “It’s just weird.”
Buck’s eyes gleamed with a protective light. “Did he hurt you, Frankie?”
“Not physically. Just the usual mental trauma.”
“And the attorney cost a fortune,” Willa added, brows raised in emphasis.
“Willa,” Frankie said softly. “We don’t need to share everything.” She didn’t like talking about finances. And she really didn’t want Buck to think she was angling for help. She smiled at him and Glenda. “It’s fine. Everything’s being managed.”
The server arrived with the rest of the food, giving Frankie an easy way to change the subject. “This looks great. Probably shouldn’t be eating all this fried stuff, but it’s kind of a special occasion, right?”
“Definitely,” Buck said.
Frankie picked up a shrimp. “Did you ever have any other children?”
“No,” Buck answered. “I know I missed out on a lot, but it never felt right to me. I knew I had two little girls out there somewhere…I just couldn’t. And Glenda has two boys from her first marriage.”
Glenda stopped eating for a moment. “My first husband had cancer, may he rest in peace. My boys were already young adults by the time I met Buck, but since they’ve married and had kids of their own, Buck’s done a great job as a grandpa.”
Buck smiled. “I like kids. Always have. I even taught the little boys Sunday school class for a while, but they have too much energy for me now.” He laughed.
Harper cut her eyes at Frankie as if to comment on what else she might have missed. Frankie gave her a little shrug and left it at that. She could explain on the way home.
“You work on a charter fishing boat, though,” Harper said. “That has to take a lot of energy.”
“It does,” Buck said. “Which is why I’m tapering off. But I love being out on the water. As long as the captain will have me in some capacity, I’ll go. Being out there is like nothing else. There’s something about the vastness of the ocean that puts you in your place. Makes you mindful of everything you have and how grateful you should be for it.”
He touched Glenda’s arm, still looking at Frankie, Harper, and Willa. “I am grateful for my life, despite all my mistakes. Just being here with you three right now is proof that things can change. I prayed so hard that I’d get to meet you someday and now, here you are.” He grinned. “And I have a granddaughter! A grandson, too, I think you said. Life is good, isn’t it?”
Frankie could only nod. Her reservations about meeting this man hadn’t been without reason, but they were nearly gone now. They had a long way to go to get to know one another, but he was so different from Sharlene. So sincere and open. “Life is good,” she said.
She meant it, too. Their biological father was a decent man, despite what Sharlene had led them to believe.
She looked at Harper and smiled, then at her daughter. “I’m so glad you searched for Buck.”
Willa grinned. “So am I.”
“You know,” Frankie said to Buck and Glenda. “Without Willa, we’d have believed what we were told. Sharlene informed us that her parents said you’d been killed in a car accident. But as you know, Willa found you and wrote to you.”
Buck’s eyes narrowed. “Sharlene’s parents probably did tell her that. Not that she didn’t make up enough stories to have invented that one, but they were never fond of me.”
“Why not?” Harper asked.
He snorted. “Because I didn’t have any money and they thought she should marry someone who could take care of her and them.”
“Wow.” Harper breathed the word out. “They were all looking for the next big thing, huh?”
“Lot of people are,” Buck said. “They want the easy way. Hard work takes guts and fortitude. So do hard times. Not everyone’s cut out for it. But looking for the next big thing just means you spend a lot of time looking and not a whole lot of time doing. Doing is what gets you to the next step. Doing is how you move forward in life. Prison was full of grifters. Guys who thought the next score was the one that would set them up.”
Scowling, he shook his head. “Prison was hard, but it taught me that I had to make something of myself, or I’d end up right back there. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
“I’m proud of you,” Frankie said quietly. She meant it, too.
He looked at her. “Thank you.” A few seconds of silence passed, then he leaned forward. “When I said I had some money set aside for you girls, I meant it. If I can help in anyway, I would be happy to.”
Glenda nodded. “He puts a little away every paycheck.”
“That’s kind of you, but we don’t need it,” Frankie said.
Willa looked at her. “So much for telling the truth.”
“ Willa .” She shot her daughter a look. “I’m doing fine.”
Harper stabbed a cherry tomato. “We are all doing fine, but Frankie has a lot of debt from her divorce and Willa has debt from school. Both circumstances beyond their control. But they’re also stubborn and proud.”
Willa sat up straighter. “I’m not.”
Frankie sighed. “I can’t take money from you, Buck.”
“Why not? I’m your biological father. If I can’t help you, then what good am I?”
“It feels wrong,” Frankie argued.
“Not to me it doesn’t,” he said. “It feels very right. It feels like I’m getting a chance to make up for not being there.”
She took a breath and looked at him. She did not want to take money from him. But what if letting him help her meant she got to stay in Hideaway Bay? If she could concentrate on her business for a few good months, she could probably get it going enough to replace her salary. “What if it was just a loan?”
“Frankie, what’s the difference if I give you the money now or you get it after I pass away? Because I’m leaving it to you in my will anyway. I’d much rather give it to you now when I can enjoy helping you.”
She thought about that. How much could he really have saved up? This probably wasn’t a lot of money they were talking about. A few hundred dollars? A thousand? “All right. When you put it that way, makes it seem silly to say no.”
Buck smiled. “I’m glad I brought my checkbook.”