AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I was going to, but then Charlie happened.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “As soon as the adoption went through and things settled down. Even you must admit, I’ve had a lot on my plate lately.”
Frank shook his head, stepping back like he was trying to distance himself. I watched his face immediately shut down. “No, you weren’t. You’re lying. You were going to keep everything a secret.”
“What’s going on?” Dr. Steiner firmly asked, getting to his feet, finally catching on to the fact that something bigger was playing out before him.
“Frank,” I cried, getting to my feet. “I promise I was going to tell you. Tell him, Jess. Tell him I wasn’t going to keep this from him.”
Frank turned on Jess and glared. “You knew?!”
Jessica slowly nodded. “I’m sorry, Frank. Lidi asked me to keep silent.”
“Someone better tell me what the hell is going on?” Dr. Steiner growled.
“Nothing!” Frank shouted, turning away from me, marching down the hallway. “Nothing is happening. Nothing at all!”
“He hates me!” I cried into my pillow while Jessica sat next to me, rubbing my back. Seeing Frank leave upset, curdled my stomach, causing me to throw up again. To make matters worse, Dr. Steiner— George—was Frank’s older brother, and when he figured out what the hell was going on, he cursed loudly before leaving as well, damning all women to hell and back.
“He’s never going to look at me again.”
The second Frank stormed out of my clinic I lost it. I couldn’t stop crying, or throwing up, for that matter. It seemed my morning sickness kicked into high gear. Either that or the two fetuses inside me were taking their father’s side and decided to punish me.
Yeah. I was going with option two.
I wanted to punish myself too.
I tried calling Frank several times, but he wouldn’t answer. When I called the clubhouse, no one had seen him.
I didn’t know what to do.
“Thought you said he didn’t look at you.”
Glaring at my friend, I snarked, “Not the time, Jessica. What am I going to do now?”
“Give him some time to cool off. Frank’s a big teddy bear. He can’t stay mad at anyone.”
“Oh yes, he can,” King said from my doorway, with Bailey next to him. “Word is spreading like wildfire, Lidi. Want to tell me what the hell happened?”
“I fucked up, okay?”
“More like you fucked Frank and let him chase his tail for weeks. Not cool, Claudia.” Bailey frowned. “You of all people know Frank hates puzzles he can’t figure out.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. Everything happened so fast. I lost my job at the hospital, fucked the sweetest man on the planet, found Charlie in an alley. All within a fucking day. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about, hey, Frank, buddy, it was me? I was the one you rode to pound town on New Year’s Eve? Let’s get married and live happily ever after?”
“He won’t even call me back. He hates me now.”
“Lidi,” King sighed. “Look. I try not to get involved with the brother’s personal lives.”
Bailey scoffed, “Yeah, right. You’re worse than me.”
“Anyway,” King glared at his wife. “What I’m saying is you need to fix this shit fast. Frank isn’t like the rest of us. He takes everything to heart. He thinks he’s unworthy of love. That’s why he spends all his time out at the distillery. He thinks he’s unlovable.”
“I know and I made matters worse after he kissed me last night.”
