“Frankie wanted to finish filling her bag,” Hayes answers. “Junie insisted on helping.”
He shrugs like the six adults here had no power to tell an almost-four-year-old no.
With a sigh, I walk past three rows of nearly picked clean trees until I reach my daughter and my…friend?
“Daddy! Look how many cados we picked!” Junie runs the last few feet to grab my hand and pull me over to Frankie.
I look down, but not into the bag. I stop at Frankie’s eyes. “That’s a lot of avocados, Bug. Good job. Now run eat some lunch so you’ll be ready to pick more. Jo-Joe has Goldfish for you.”
“Okay, Daddy!” She sucks in her breath with excitement, then runs as fast as she can to the blanket.
When I turn back to Frankie, she’s moved to the next row, still picking. I stuff my hands in my pockets and follow. Might as well get the conversation we’re both avoiding out of the way.
“You don’t want to eat?” I ask, picking the avocado she’s on tiptoe trying to reach.
“Once my bag’s full. Don’t like to leave a jobunfinished.” She flashes me a quick grin, then drops her eyes. “You should eat, though. I’ll be there in a sec.”
I ignore her and pick another couple avocados to drop in her bag. “Speaking of unfinished, we should probably talk about last night.”
Our eyes meet and my entire body snaps like I haven’t just been struck by lightning; I’ve become it. In that flash, I see Frankie like I haven’t before. For a brief second, she peels back the mask she hides behind and reveals a piece of herself, the real her.
No Fran. No McVey. No Forsythe.
No waitress, or actress, or heiress.
I see a woman who’s made me laugh again. A woman I can count on in an emergency, whether it’s to help turn a posterior foal, or watch my kid for a few hours. A woman who sacrificed everything to buy a hotel to save Serenity Cove. A woman who is loyal and kind and giving.
I see… justFrankie, actually.
And then her practiced smile appears, and Just Frankie disappears. “No worries, mate. It’s been a minute since I’ve snogged anyone. I got a bit out of control.”
She steps around me to move to the next tree, leaving the door wide open for me to run away again.
But that’s not what I want to do. Maybe it’s what Ishoulddo. My feet, though, are already catching up to her.
“Frankie, hold up.” I grab her elbow.
She looks from me to my hand around her arm. I loosen my grip, but I don’t let her go.
“I don’t regret kissing you. I wanted it to happen. We both did.” I drop my hand and step closer. “And I liked kissing you, Frankie. I liked it a lot. There’s nothing I want more than to do it again.”
She raises her eyes. Her shoulders soften. “Then why’d you stop, Cal? I made it humiliatingly clear I didn’t want to.”
I exhale, searching for a way to explain why without the risk of losing any chance with her. But all I can find is the truth.
“I’m not built for temporary. Even if I didn’t have Junie, it’s not in me to be casual. I tried, and I ended up married.” I huff a laugh.
Frankie raises an eyebrow, which I take as a sign to keep talking about my dead wife…or I’m just really nervous and can’t stop barfing up words.
“Kayla would have been happy keeping things casual, even after she found out she was pregnant. But I couldn’t. I pushed her to get married, and neither one of us were happy. Now that I’m raising Junie by myself, attempting casual again isn’t an option.”
Frankie tips her head, squeezing one eye shut to keep the noon-day sun out. “So, you’re worried I’m temporary?”
“I hope you’re not. But if I’m being honest, yeah, I’m worried about Junie getting any more attached to you than she already is if you’re planning to leave.” I study the trail of freckles across her nose, wondering why I haven’t noticed them before. Wondering what else I won’t get to discover about Frankie if she leaves.
“And you? Areyouworried about getting too attached?” Her eyes reflect the color of the bright, waxy leaves surrounding her, shining like green glass caught by a ray of sun.
Without thinking, I grab the rim of the avocado bag strapped to Frankie’s chest and tug her closer. With the full bag between us, I can’t wrap my arms around her, so I clasp her arms instead. “Frankie, I’m on the verge of falling so hard for you, I won’t recover. If kissing you would convince you to stay, I’d do it right now. I wouldn’t stop. We’d spend the rest of ourlives under these trees…” I catch her smile and take a breath. “Morethan kissing, I’ll tell you that much.”
