“I won’t. And you will.” Flo blows him a kiss through the order window, and with a wave, Larry lumbers toward the door.
I return his wave, thenset the booster chair on the counter in front of Junie and reach into my apron pocket for a Sharpie. “This isn’t any booster. This is a Just for Big Girl Junie booster.” I glance at Flo who looks suspicious but doesn’t say no, so I hand Junie the marker. “You can decorate it any way you want so it’s your special big girl chair whenever you eat at Flamingo’s.”
Junie swivels toward me, takes the marker, and turns back to the counter. “No thank you,” she says as she tugs the cap off the marker.
Cal grabs the marker and recaps it. She’s about to protest, but I pivot and let out a disappointed sigh.
“That’s too bad, because this chair ismaaaagic.” I use my accent—quietly—and maybe a sprinkle of fairy dust, and Junie faces me again, suspicious, but interested.
“Magic?”
I nod and become the fairy godmother she never knew she needed. “When you sit in it…you’re as big as a grown-up.”
Junie’s eyebrows shoot up. “I can drink coffee?”
Cal raises a matching eyebrow, and a smirk follows.
“Suuuure,” I answer, absolutely notsure.
“Decaf, mostly chocolate, with lots of whipped cream.” Cal winks over Junie’s head.
“Got it. And for you?”
“That is for me. She’ll take hers black.”
I turn before Cal sees me laugh, but not before I catch his smile.
He does that heaps, Cal. He’s all serious and stone-faced, sorting out a hundred details in his head, making plans, then,boom, he makes a joke you could miss if you’re not paying attention. Like, say, if you got distracted by his eyes or the little scar at the corner of his left eyebrow, you’d miss how funny he is.
Never at someone else’s expense though. Not like my ex-husband.
“Okay! Daddy help me with my name, pease.” Junie sits up on her knees while I go around the counter to make their drinks.
“Fwankie talks like Booey, Daddy. Are you from Stralia, too, Fwankie?” Junie yells while I’ve got my back to her at the hot cocoa machine.
I’ve made a huge mistake, telling a four-year old my real name. Cocoa spills over the top of the mug, burning my hand. I shake it off and keep my back to the counter and the conversation between Junie and Cal.
“Do you mean Fran?” Cal asks.
“No. Fwankie. Right there.”
I turn around to undo my mistake just as Junie stands in her seat.
“Your name is Frankie, right?” Junie yells even louder than before.
The first R she lands all day is in my name. Clear as the sky over Burleigh. At the exact same time Ponytail LA Lady, on her way to the restroom, passes behind Junie.
Of course she does.
Ponytail and I make eye contact. In slow motion, every part of her face registers what she’s known all along, she just needed a little push to get there. A little encounter with a Tassie devil is all it took.
“I knew I recognized you!” Her mobile goes up. “I knew it!”Click. Click, click, click, click.“You’re FRANKIE FORSYTHE!”
Chapter 2
Cal
Fran freezes, her eyes wide as a cornered animal, too confused to run and too surprised to fight. I spin around as a woman with her hair pulled back tight starts taking pictures of Fran. I've got an idea why the lady is invading Fran’s privacy, and it’s not okay. Fran clearly doesn’t know this woman or want her picture taken.
