She hurries away and I turn back to my brother. “Let me know the minute you hear from your Italian contact.”
“Will do.”
I leave the office and head to the tasting room to look for Frankie. I don’t expect her to be there, but I take a cursory look around the kitchen, the stock room, and the retail area by the registers just in case she’s wandering. Nothing. Knowing her, she’s probably pacing the grounds and has completely lost track of time.
After circling the front of house one more time, I’m just about to exit the building when she walks in. My heart skips a beat when I see her. She looks collected and put together. Strong and poised. It hits me then just how lucky I am to have her.
“Frankie—” I reach for her, intending to give her a kiss on the cheek, but she sidesteps me and turns to engage with a customer.
Her brush-off stuns me for a moment, but then I realize that she’s probably wearing a very fragile mask right now—and that she’s trying to keep all her walls up so she doesn’t break down. No wonder she’d rather chat up a stranger than face me. She knows I’d be able to see through her brave façade better than anyone, and it might just push her over the edge.
Which I know because I’m basically the same way.
Giving her the space that I myself would want if our roles were reversed, I head back to my office. I keep tabs on her for the rest of the day, covertly. Once the tasting room closes for the day, she heads back to her office and keeps her head buried in work. When I ask, Ruby says Frankie is busy sorting through the inventory mess that Jessica made.
Still, she has to eat.
When three p.m. rolls around and she hasn’t taken a break, I decide to bring Frankie a late lunch. I call up to the main house and ask Alain to make one of her favorite meals, but then change my mind—feeling inspired, I request a bistec sandwich and tostones for her. My hope is that the familiar comfort food will cheer her up.
But when I knock on her door and let myself into her office, she barely glances up.
“You need to eat, Frankie. I had Alain make you a special order.”
“Thanks, but I already ate.”
“You’ve been locked in here for hours,” I remind her. “Take a little break.”
She reaches for the sandwich and absently takes a few bites, not seeming to notice what it is. Before I can say anything more, she looks at her phone and then jumps up from her chair.
“I need to change and go lead a horseback tour. Marco’s taking off early to prep for a race at the speedway. I don’t want to be late.”
With that, she pushes past me and strides out the door.
Frankie must be working late,because she doesn’t show up for dinner. I immediately feel how starkly different the mood is, compared to the night prior. The table feels empty again, with just me, Armani, and Livvie present. Frankie is absent and so is Marco. Charlie, of course, is back in Nob Hill.
Livvie seems a little withdrawn, understandably. What teenage girl wants to be stuck dining with two grown men she barely knows? But since she’ll be living in the guesthouse for the foreseeable future, I figure now is a good time to learn more about my youngest sister-in-law.
“Livvie, I have to say I’m impressed with the amount of training you’ve put into your horses,” I tell her. “How did you learn so much about dressage training?”
She wipes her mouth and looks up, her eyes sparkling. I definitely started off with the right question. “YouTube.”
“YouTube?”
“Yup. The trainer who I worked with for six years has a full instructional series posted.” Livvie’s smile wavers before she goes on, “I would’ve been happy to keep learning from her if not for my dad’s…financial situation…but she and I still keep in touch, and her training videos are the next best thing.”
“Wow,” I say, genuinely taken aback. “I’ve seen how your Friesians go through their paces. That’s an incredible accomplishment.”
“Thank you,” she says proudly.
I’m not being hyperbolic; the horses’ movements are nearly flawless and speak to much more professional training than one would expect from a teenager using YouTube videos. Armani and I share a look.
“That’s amazing, truly,” Armani pipes up.
She takes a few more bites of her ravioli. “I’d like to do more with them, but I’m taking a full load of senior year classes, with a few APs that I can use for college prerequisites. Once I graduate, I’ll have more time. I’d like to go to the Olympics one day.”
“I didn’t realize there were equestrian events at the Olympics,” Armani says.
“Oh yeah,” Livvie says, perking up even more. “There are over sixty-five events with horses. Dressage, Eventing, and Jumping. I don’t even care if I’m not the rider, I’d just love to see some of my horses compete.”
