Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
L ucas greeted Frankie with a hug as Scout danced around them. “Hey, you,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ve missed you.”
She laughed as they came apart. “That is very sweet, but we were just together last night at Mitch’s.” She gave Scout a good scratch on the head, then the dog went back to her bed in the living room.
“Yeah, but we haven’t had a lot of alone time lately. Just the two of us, I mean.” He kissed her. “Sorry, am I being too needy?”
She shook her head. “Not even a little bit. And even if you were, so what? You’re allowed to be needy once in a while. Have you checked your email in the last hour?”
“No, I’ve been busy prepping for Joyce and Beryl tomorrow. Also, I was working on a little surprise for you.”
“I surprise for me?” She hadn’t been expecting that.
“Yep. I made a Facebook page for your business. I’m sure you’ll want to edit a lot of it but I got it set up. I sent you an admin invite, too. Once you accept, feel free to kick me off.”
“That was so sweet of you. Thank you. I’ll check Facebook as soon as I get home.” It had been on her list of things to do, but she hadn’t gotten to it yet. She’d been hoping to get Willa to help her. Now she might not need the help after all.
“Why did you ask me about my email? Did you send me something?”
“Just go check it.” She’d sent him the portrait of Scout, along with the new T-shirt design, just before she’d left the house.
“You’re being very mysterious.”
She smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “Am I?”
He narrowed his eyes in obvious amusement, but went to his laptop, which was on the kitchen counter. He opened his email.
She could see the screen but couldn’t make out any details. She stayed where she was. She didn’t want to invade his privacy. “Is there one from me?”
“Yes. Like you didn’t know that. What is this?”
The only note she’d put in the body of the email was, A little surprise for you . “Open it and find out.”
He clicked on the first attachment and Scout’s face filled his screen. His breath caught in an audible hitch. “Frankie. That’s beautiful. That’s my girl! I love it. You did that?”
“I did.”
“It’s amazing. I’m getting that printed out and framed immediately.”
Frankie went to stand next to him. “I’m really glad you like it, or the second one would have been a waste of time.”
He glanced at her. “The second one?”
She dipped her chin at the screen and the second attachment. “Open it.”
He did as she asked, and as the T-shirt design popped up, he barked out a laugh.
She smiled. “It’s for a T-shirt for your shop. Or whatever you want to do with it. Up to you.”
“That is freaking brilliant. I love it. Prime doggo. It’s perfect.” He laughed again and shook his head. “My followers are going to go nuts for that. They love Scout. They’re constantly sending her goodies and presents.”
At the sound of her name, Scout looked up, clearly wondering if this was turning into a treat situation.
Lucas opened his arms. “I don’t know how to thank you for these.” He pulled Frankie in for a kiss.
She stayed in his arms when it was over. “You don’t have to thank me. This was me thanking you for all you’ve done for me. I owe you, Lucas.”
He smiled at her. “Have I mentioned we make a great team?”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
He let her go but took her hand as he turned to look at the portrait again. “You know what I’m going to do?”
“What?”
“I’m going to have my merchandise people do a T-shirt, a tote bag, and a coffee mug, and I’m going to donate a dollar from each item to Sandy Paws Rescue. That’s where Scout came from. They’re a local animal rescue and they’re great.”
“I love that.”
He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “You’re really good. I can’t believe how well you captured Scout. That is completely her. Right down to the tufts of eyebrow fur. I’m blown away.”
“Thank you very much. Just so you know, I’m adding the picture to my portfolio. Pet portraits are a big deal. I’ve had some questions about them. Which reminds me—I’m going to design a logo and some T-shirt graphics for your friend, Stacy.”
“Did you tell her you do pet portraits, too? Because she has a pair of Siamese cats that are basically her children. Has she told you about them? She’d be all over this.”
“She didn’t mention them, but we’ve only spoken briefly.”
With a gleam in his eyes, Lucas dropped Frankie’s hand and went to his keyboard. He tapped away for a minute or two then hit Send. “I just sent her the picture of Scout and told her if she wanted a portrait of her cats done, she needed to get on it, because your availability is going fast.”
“But that’s not entirely true.” Even if Frankie had sort of let Stacy believe that same thing herself.
“Maybe not yet, but when my followers see this? It will be. You have two days to get this up on your website, because that’s about how long it’ll take my merch team to make it live on my site so I can announce it.”
She chuckled. “Okay, I’ll get on it.”
“Good.” He rubbed his hands together. “Hungry? Thirsty? What can I get you? Hey, I have a batch of chocolate chip macadamia ice cream that should be frozen enough to eat. You want to try some of that?”
“Do you really think I’d say no to ice cream?” He still had a lot to learn about her. “It sounds amazing. Yes, please.”
“Reserve your judgement. It’s part of a dairy-free summer special thing I’m doing, so it’s made with coconut milk. I haven’t tasted it yet myself. It could be awful.”
“I doubt that. In fact, I just want to say yes even more now. Coconut, chocolate, and macadamia nuts? Sounds like a fancy-pants Almond Joy.”
He blinked, then screwed up his face in an odd expression. “Yeah, it does. Why didn’t I think of that?”
She giggled. Lucas had that effect on her. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”
“Hey!” But he was grinning. “Stay for dinner. We can sit in the pool afterwards and have drinks and watch the stars come out.”
She couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do more. It sounded very romantic. “I didn’t bring a suit.”
“I’d say you don’t need one but we’re not really at that stage yet, are we?”
She smirked. “Not quite.”
“So run home and get one.” He tipped his head to one side. “Please. I really want to spend some time with you.”
“Since you said please.”
“All right. You good with steak and salad for dinner? Most of my fridge is taken up with ingredients for the British invasion tomorrow.”
“Steak and salad sounds great. And then the ice cream for dessert?”
“If you’re willing to wait, so am I.”
She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“I’m already counting the seconds.”
She hopped in the golf cart and raced back to the house. She planned on grabbing her swimsuit, a coverup, and a towel.
She parked in the driveway and ran inside. She’d thought about taking the elevator but waiting for it and then riding up would take about the same time as jogging up the steps. And the elevator didn’t burn any calories.
Hustling up the steps, she arrived on the third floor in time to hear Willa speaking to someone.
“Really?” Willa said. “That’s fantastic. Thank you. I am so excited. I look forward to it very much.”
Frankie frowned, trying to figure out what her daughter was talking about. She peeked into the guest room where Willa was staying and saw her standing there, on the phone, her back to Frankie.
Willa nodded. “I’ll do that right away. Thanks again. See you soon.” She hung up and turned, jumping as she saw her mother. “You startled me. I thought you went to Lucas’s.”
“I did. Sorry. Who was that?”
Willa hesitated, then took a breath. She chewed the inside of her cheek for a second. “I was going to tell you and Aunt Harper together, but I guess I could tell you now.” A grin spread across her face. “I got a job teaching social sciences at Pelican Middle School. It’s not quite twenty minutes from here. I start at the beginning of the school year.”
Frankie’s jaw unhinged and she felt vaguely sick to her stomach. “What about your degree? Are you quitting school?”
“I’m not quitting, exactly. I’m going to keep working on my degree but I’m going to do it online. That’s been an option since the pandemic. It’ll take me longer, but this way I’m working and earning some money, and,” her smile got bigger. “I get to be here. With you and Aunt Harper. I’ll be able to see Grandpa Buck, too.”
Frankie didn’t quite know what to say.
Picking up on that, Willa’s smile faltered. “I know I should have talked to you about this, but there wasn’t any point until I knew I’d have a job. Aren’t you happy that I’m going to be here? That I’m staying?”
Frankie nodded. “I am. But this seems so sudden.”
Willa shrugged. “I know, but after talking to Kyle—”
“Mitch’s son?”
Willa crossed her arms. “Yes, Mitch’s son. He’s a really nice guy and we got to talking and a lot of what he said made so much sense. About how opportunities in life aren’t guaranteed and how sometimes you have to do things that scare you and it just got me thinking. When am I going to get a chance like this again?”
“What chance is that? The job, you mean? There will be all kinds of jobs.” Even more when she actually had her degree.
“No. I mean to live here, in a place like this, with you and Aunt Harper.”
“Willa…” Frankie shook her head. She had so much to say that she didn’t know where to start.
“I’ll contribute. You won’t have to pay as much that way.” She sighed. “I really thought you’d be happy.”
“I’m not unhappy.” Actually, Frankie was unhappy. Willa was so close to getting her doctorate. But Frankie held that in. For now. “I’m mostly shocked. And I can’t help but think this all feels…hasty.”
Willa pursed her lips. “You mean the way you took all that time to decide about quitting your job?”
“It’s different for me.”
“How?”
“Because I’m older and have less life ahead of me than you do. And this was a change for the better.” Frankie took a breath and tried to stay calm. “I don’t know if the same can be said for you leaving school.”
“I’m going to finish my degree.”
“Have you asked your aunt if you can stay? This is still her house.”
“Not yet, but I’m sure she’ll be fine with it.” Frowning, Willa jammed her phone into her pocket. “I’m sorry you’re not happy for me. But I’m even sorrier that my mother doesn’t want me here.”
She stormed past Frankie.
“ Willa .” Frankie spun around. “I never said that. I just think we could have talked about this.”
But Willa was gone, stomping down the steps.
Frankie rubbed her forehead and groaned softly. She exhaled and glanced at the ceiling. Lucas was waiting on her. She knew he’d understand once she explained why she’d been gone longer than ten minutes, but her desire to be with him outweighed her desire to continue arguing with Willa.
Then she reminded herself that Willa was an adult and capable of making her own decisions. Just like she’d have to take responsibility for whatever consequences came from those decisions.
Frankie couldn’t see Harper turning down Willa’s request to stay, but she wasn’t completely sure Harper would be pleased about it. Then again, Willa seemed awfully sure Harper would say yes.
Because of course she would. But Frankie had a feeling Harper wasn’t going to be thrilled when she found out Willa’s decision had something to do with Kyle. Harper was pretty protective of Mitch, of all her clients, really, and anything that might cause him issues would bother her.
This wasn’t going to be solved in a day. And honestly, it was Willa’s issue to deal with. Frankie threw her hands up and went to her bedroom. She grabbed her suit, a coverup, and a towel and stuffed them in her beach bag.
She was going back to Lucas’s. Staying here wasn’t going to change anything. Willa had made her mind up.
Fighting with her wouldn’t accomplish anything except make her already stubborn daughter dig in deeper. Maybe Harper could talk some sense into her.
And maybe she couldn’t.
Frankie headed down the steps, listening for any sounds of conversation, but the house was quiet. So far.
Going to Lucas’s definitely seemed like the right decision.