Harper reread the letter, her heart clenching at how honest and open he’d been. The fact that he’d offered them money…she could only shake her head. It was such a different letter than what Sharlene had written. Such a different vibe altogether.
Harper wanted to talk to him. She also wanted to meet him. She searched how far Hideaway Bay was from Jekyll Island, Georgia.
She sat up. Only two hours by car. That was an easy daytrip.
She heard laughter and looked up to see Lucas and Frankie still in the kitchen, no longer cleaning up but standing close to each other, drinking wine, and talking.
Good for them, but as soon as they got home, she and Frankie had some talking of their own to do.
Chapter Ten
What a night with Lucas. So much fun. And the food! Frankie sighed a happy sigh. Lucas was dreamy. There was no other word that more accurately described him.
She used her ring finger to dot eye cream all around her eyes. Next, she rubbed moisturizer into her skin as she thought about what a wonderful evening they’d had. She should probably do more than eye cream and moisturizer, but her skin ought to be happy she did that much.
What did Lucas do? He had nice skin. Maybe she’d ask him. Or would that be weird? Nah. They were friends. They could talk about anything.
She peered closer at the image in the mirror. She had no idea how some women managed night after night to go through a multi-step routine. They clearly had more time, money, and patience than she did. But maybe there was a little something extra she could do.
A face mask once in a while. Or something.
But not tonight. She turned to go into the bedroom just as a knock sounded on her door. “Come in.”
Harper opened the door. She’d taken Archie out for a last pee. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Frankie massaged the last bit of lotion into her hands. She’d do her feet and legs, too, before she got into bed. “What’s up?”
Harper shut the door behind her, eyes lit with an unusual gleam. “Buck answered the email.”
Frankie went still, her breath caught in her throat. “He did? Did you read it? When? Just now?”
“He did and I read it. I wanted us to read it together, but it came in when we were at Lucas’s, and I couldn’t wait.” She held her phone out, the screen bright with her email app. “Go on, see for yourself.”
Frankie could already tell by Harper’s mood that the email had been good. She took the phone, eager to dive in. “Sit on the bed with me.”
They each settled onto one side. Frankie put her reading glasses on and got to reading. When she reached the end, she looked at her sister. So many things stuck out to her, but the one she had to mention first was obvious. “He offeredusmoney.”
“I know. Can you believe that?” Harper shook her head like she didn’t get it either. “He sounds so different than what I expected. I like him. I realize one email is a terrible way to judge someone’s character, but that’s my gut reaction.”
Frankie couldn’t lie. “I didn’t want to like him, but I kind of do, too. He seems like such a real person. Like he’s not trying to present himself in any kind of way. Other than who he really is.”
“Just throwing this out there, but Jekyll Island is only two hours from here.”
“You looked it up already?” Frankie handed the phone back. “I’m closer to him here than I am at home in Charleston.”
“You are.” Harper tapped her screen a few times, then Frankie’s phone chimed with an incoming notification. “I justforwarded his email to you, so you’d have it. I want to meet him, Frankie. I want to hear his side of things. It’s only fair. Don’t you think?”
Frankie couldn’t argue that. Not after she’d pushed for them to meet Shar.
She picked up her phone and opened the forwarded email, reading through it again. He definitely came off as sincere and honest, but like Harper had said, it was one email. Even so, Frankie nodded. “Based on this, I do think we should meet him.” She sighed. “I really don’t want to get my hopes up again. Not after Shar.”
“I know. I’ve thought about that, too. He might just be great on paper. For all we know, his wife helped him write that email.”
Frankie snorted. “For all we know, his wife doesn’t exist.”
“No, she does. Glenda McCandless is listed as the church secretary at Community Baptist Church on Jekyll Island. I found her on Facebook and Pinterest, too. She pins crafty things that can be made for the homeless, recipes, mostly casseroles, and Bible verses. There are pictures of her and Buck on her Facebook profile, too. His Facebook profile seems more like a placeholder. The last photo was from that fishing contest Willa found.”
“So Glenda is real. She sounds too good to be true, but that would be a lot of work to go to in order to fabricate a wife.”
