Page 34 of Keel

The porch light flashed on, and the door opened. The three women stepped out, laughter coming easily. It made him feel good to hear the laughter. It looked like Frankie had enjoyed her time with the pair. He was glad she could find some happiness.

“Sounds like you all had fun,” Chase said.

Ansley flashed a wide smile. “We did.”

Keel kept his eyes on Frankie and was glad to see her nod. She needed friends if she wanted to recover from what she’d been through.

He would be there for her, but there had to be other people she talked to about her recovery and what she needed. Getting through it all would be difficult, but he had faith in her.

“I’m glad you had a good time,” Bean said to Garnet.

She flashed him a wide smile. “They let me practice on them.”

Chase’s eyebrows shot up. “Practice?”

“I’m trying out new non-alcoholic recipes for drinks. They approve of my strawberry basil lemonade.”

“That sounds good,” Scott said.

“It is,” Ansley said.

“Maybe you can be our mixologist,” Chase said.

Garnet chuckled and shook her head. “I’m far from being a mixologist. I’m just dabbling in it.”

“You did a great job for dabbling,” Frankie said. “Those were great drinks.”

“Thank you for coming over tonight,” Ansley said.

“Thank you for having me. It was nice to get to know both of you better,” Frankie said.

“We should do a cookout next month,” Garnet said.

Bean draped his arm around Garnet’s shoulder. “We can do it at our place.”

“I think it’s my turn to supply the beef for burgers,” Keel said.

Chase nodded. “We’ll plan it out next week.”

“Thank you,” Frankie called out as they started their walk down the walkway to the street. She still had a smile on her face, and that made him feel great. She’d been so worried about hanging out with the women. He was glad he’d been right, and the other women had been nice.

Once back at Keel’s place, Scott and Stanley began getting ready for sleep. Stanley was sleeping on the couch, and Scott was sleeping in Keel’s room.

She felt guilty for taking up the bed in the guest room and had suggested she sleep on the couch, but all three men had told her there was no way they would let her sleep on the couch.

Before going to bed, she went out to the kitchen for some water. Stanley was on the couch, his eyes closed. She felt bad when he opened his eyes and smiled.

“Hey, I hope we don’t disturb you too much.”

Frankie shook her head. “You’re not disturbing me. I’m sorry I came out here and woke you.”

“I wasn’t asleep yet. Besides, I can drop off to sleep in just a few seconds. It’s something I learned in the Army.”

His words were nearly shocking. “Heck, I wish I could do that. Some nights, I’m up for hours before I actually drop off to sleep.”

“Yeah, you have to quiet your mind. Keel can teach you how. It is a learned mechanism.”

“It would be nice to know,” Frankie said as she filled her glass with water. She took her water with her, not wanting to interrupt the rest of Stanley’s night.