“And a dragon roll,” I whisper.
“Add a dragon roll,” Archie says, and I’m grateful for the few minutes of reprieve from Piper’s interrogation while Kenzo repeats the order and chats with Archie.
But as soon as Archie ends the call, Piper’s right back at me. “I thought you were into him, and he feels the same. Why would you put the brakes on now?”
“Did you not notice my life blowing up over here, Pipey? I couldn’t stay in Serenity and make Cal and his family casualtiesof my implosion.” My voice rises. “I had to leave for their sakes. He’s got a kid to take care of.”
“I get it, Frankie,” Piper snaps back.
“Do you? ‘Cause I feel a bit judged here.”
“You know how many times my mom has been married. Trust me, I’m not judging anyone for putting a kid first.” Her stare makes me squirm, but then she softens. “I wish Mom would have put a fraction of the thought into how her relationships might affect me that you and Cal have put into how his kid might be hurt.”
I exhale and let go of my defensiveness. “Junie.”
“What?”
“That’s her name. Junie.” I press a fist into my chest to stop the burning there. “She adores me.”
“’Course she does.” Archie swings his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close.
“Cal said they’d be waiting for me once I got things sorted,” I say into his chest.
“You can stay here till you do.” He pats my head, which is my signal that he’s reached his limit for sisterly affection.
I sit back up and take a deep breath. “I’m done being a waitress. That much I'm sure about.”
“’Bout time. You were never cut out for that work,” Archie says cheerfully.
“Cheers, yeah.” I smile, trying on his optimism. “You think I’m still cut out for acting?”
He beams. “Are you serious? ‘Course you are! I told you to reach out to Alison Fisher after she asked about you.”
“Yeah. I wasn’t ready then.”
“It’s not too late. Don’t look so worried.” He elbows me encouragingly then swipes open his mobile again. “I should invite Dex, Rhys, and the girls over to celebrate you coming home.”
I put my hand over his mobile to stop him. “Can we keep this between us right now?”
Archie tips his chin and sets his mobile aside.
I look at Piper who’s studying me. “Does Cal know you’re thinking about acting again?”
I shake my head, slowly. “I haven’t said anything to him.”
“Are you going to?” she asks.
“Not sure. He doesn’t want his kid caught up in everything that comes with being associated with Frankie Forsythe,” I bite back, which is massively unfair to Piper.
She’s not the one who said the words; Cal did. I wish I could be mad at him, but I can’t. He only wants to protect Junie.
“Okay. I get it. But if you’re into him as much as it seems like you are, maybe talk to him before making any decisions about whether a relationship would work.” She pulls off her glasses to clean them with the hem of her shirt, something she designed herself in a Japanese Boro style from repurposed materials.
I trace my eyes over the stitching, dissecting the layers of fabric and Piper’s words at the same time. “You wanna explain what you mean?”
She takes a breath. “I wonder if you’re scared things with Cal might go somewhere, so you’re finding excuses to walk away before they do.” Piper straightens, trying to make herself bigger, which is impossible for someone as small as she is. But I do get a sense of how hard it is for her to stand up to me.
I blink. “That’s not fair. Why would I run away from that? I didn’t have another choice. I wanted to stay with Cal. Leaving was one of the hardest things I’ve done.”
