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“Well!” She beams at me. “That’s absolutely wonderful, Spencey.”
“Yes, Spencey. So wonderful.” Frank smirks. “And also? You’re so welcome.”
“Welcome?”
“Yeah. I finally shamed you into making a move.”
“Uh, no.” I shake my head. “That’s not exactly how it happ—”
“Anyway,” he interrupts, “I hope you two will be very happy together.”
I blow out a breath. I can let him have this, I guess. And anyway, he might not be entirely wrong. “Thank you, Frank,” I say.
He scowls. “And I really hope she doesn’t want to move to Flagstaff and get married and have a bunch of kids before you’re ready.”
My mother clucks, “Oh, Frankie.”
I flash back to the moment Tess told me she might want to get married and have a kid someday. That’s something. A very big something. Maybe the biggest. My heart starts to pound again, and I swallow hard, shrugging that subject off for now.
First things first, I’ve got to get this next part with Frank over with. “Here’s the thing,” I say. “Tess and I aren’t allowed to start dating officially until camp’s over, so it turns out I lost the bet.” I dig in my pocket, and pull out my phone. “You won the money, Frank. Fair and square. Can I Venmo you the amount? Or is there a limit?”
Now, I’ll be honest. My gut is churning, and it’s not from the pancakes or the talk of marriage and kids. This is a pretty enormous gamble. I’m playing Russian roulette with my entire down payment, banking on Frank not being a jerk.
He glares at me. “Shut up.”
I widen my eyes, playing innocent. “What?”
“Here’s the thing,” he says, mimicking me from a minute ago. “The whole bet was under false pretenses or whatever you call it. I wasn’t ever gonna give you that car in the first place.” He frowns. “I’m selling it to that British guy. Clive. And since my original stake in the bet’s been spoken for now, that means you can keep your stupid down payment. All right?”
“Frank …” My voice is gruff. I know what he’s doing, and I appreciate it. I was the wise mouth who started the bet in the first place, and he’s letting me off the hook. With most of my honor intact.
He throws up a hand. “Can we stop talking about all that now, and start talking about how much you owe me?”
“For what?”
“Finally landing you a girlfriend.”
“Oh, that. Nah.” I press my knees to heave myself up from the chair. “That old bedtime story puts me to sleep. I’m just gonna head to bed.”
* * *
Two hours later I wake up to a half dozen texts.
DAD: Are you sleeping? Your mother called me at work to tell me you’re dating Tess McCoy. Good for you. She’s very excited.
DAD:I mean Mom is very excited.
DAD: But also she’s a very nice girl.
DAD:I mean Tess is a very nice girl.
DAD:And also your mother is a very nice girl
DAD:PS: When are you moving out?
