She shrugged. “He was never around. He was a random guy in a random city. He made it abundantly clear that Collette wasn’t any of his concern. Joey was in a better place when she found out she was pregnant. She thought Collette would make him change his mind or maybe change her life. I don’t know. She has been better. Mostly.”
I made a sound of sympathy. She pulled her hand back.
“I owe it to Collette to have some stability.” She took a deep breath in and out. “I don’t think this is working out, Harrison. It’s almost been two weeks. And I love how fun you are with Collette. You aresofun, but I need something serious.”
“Something serious,” I repeated. My smile trembled.
I never thought those words could hurt any more than they had in the past. I thought I had come to terms with the expectations people had for me, but hearing Frankie say this hurt in a way I never imagined.
“I’m sorry I got so mad about the cupcakes. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” She reached out her non-hurt hand as though she was going to pat my shoulder but dropped it to her side. “This is me letting you off the hook. You don’t need to stay here. I think we were caught up in the moment when we came up with this plan, but this is too much to ask from anybody. Let alone …” She flicked a look at me and then away.
A muppet like me.
“I’m letting you loose,” she finished.
This was why I tried never to take anything serious. All I did was end up hurting people. Nobody could count on me. You couldn’t let anybody down when they didn’t hold you to any expectations.
I swallowed and nodded.
“I really appreciate all that you have done. And I know Collette and I would love for you to come visit as much as possible, but I need someone I can count on. Someone who is going to help and not add to my responsibilities. Do you understand?”
“Of course.” I smiled easily. “What does a guy who’s been acting his whole like know about raising a kid in a stable environment anyway?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down.
“Nah, love. Nothing to be sorry about. We’ll get in contact with George’s team and see what we need to do to get someone down here to help.”
She let out a breath. “Okay. Sounds good. Well, I better get back before things get too out of control.”
I gestured back to the house, my other hand behind my back like an usher. “After you.”
I felt numb. Not even two weeks, and I had already ruined everything. If I had just paid better attention. If I only didn’t get so distracted. If only I wasn’t such an absolute idiot.
I thought of not seeing Collette in the mornings when she stumbled out of her bedroom bleary-eyed and mussed hair, mumbling whatever nonsense was on her mind first thing in the morning. This morning, she asked if her stuffies could wake her up. I had an entire cast of characters helping her get ready for the day. I pictured her sweet features as she scolded a particularly ornery stuffy.
I thought of how Frankie chewed her lip in thought as she typed notes. Or, when she was working on the book, she mimicked the silly faces that her characters were making. How she hummed as she cooked but pretended not to have any clue what you were talking about when you asked her what she was singing.
Or how George whistled “Fly Me to the Moon” when he was in a happy mood. Which had been often lately.
My throat was suddenly so tight it was like I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t ready to leave this place. It was more of a home than I had ever known. It was like the last day of shootingTerraformative, knowing the magic was coming to an end. The pain was a physical ache in my bones.
We were silent as we walked back to the house. I held open the door as we were greeted with the sound of the girls’ laughter.
We followed the cacophony to the sitting room, where George was tied to a chair with scarves and feathered boas. The girls danced around him with chocolate-covered mouths, loudly belting out a song about candy.
“Hello,” he said happily.
Frankie covered her mouth, hiding a smile.
“Okay, girls, let’s untie George,” Frankie said. “And maybe clean your faces. Your parents will be here any minute.”
They shouted their disapproval of this new plan as I sensed a new person enter the room behind me.
“Well, so glad to see you have everything under control here,” a woman’s voice said.
Frankie turned to the entryway to the kitchen, where the woman entered the room. Her eyes widened just as Collette looked to see who spoke.
“Mommy!” Collette screamed and ran toward the woman.
