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I’d work this evening since Coop worked the night before—and likely why he’d slept on the sofa.
After the guys left, Frankie let out a long sigh.
“Okay, Baby Girl,” I said while rinsing the breakfast plates. “Talk to me. What’s going on in that beautiful brain?”
“Nothing,” she said, but then made a face. “Just…tired of everyone tiptoeing around me.”
“We’re not tiptoeing.”
“Yes you are.” Then she shrugged and faced me, leaning against the back of the chair. “And I get it. Things are kind of screwy, and I look like this and I have this.” She motioned to her face then waved her splinted wrist at me. “Hard to forget. Unless you’re me, and then you have this blank wall.”
One she wasn’t happy about, so no, I wasn’t taking that bait. “You’re recovering. So we’re taking it easy. That’s not tiptoeing. Nor is taking care of you.”
“You guys have practically moved in, everyone is making sure I’m not alone, at any point. I can barely go to the bathroom by myself.”
“Sick of us already?” I teased, keeping it light.
“No, shockingly enough. You’d think I would be, but I almost don’t mind it—though I feel guilty that Ian keeps sleeping on the floor.”
“Hey, the sofa’s there, and you offered to let him crash on the bed a couple of nights ago.” It had been a strained offer on her part, and we all knew it. He’d turned her down gently, and he’d even teased her, so…that was something. “Besides, I think he’s doing it to show you how devoted he is.”
That got me rolled eyes.
“He brought you roses,” I reminded her, and the corner of her mouth kicked up. “Not that I’m going to plead his case.” On this portion of it, Archie, Coop, and I were in agreement. We’d be supportive, but Bubba dug this hole and Bubba had to be the one to fix it. That didn’t mean we couldn’t root for him, but Frankie came first.
“I know he did, and I like them,” she said, and then chuckled. “It’s kind of funny, I wanted you guys to be the ones sending the roses, and then it turned out to be Rachel, and now he brought me roses, and I’m wondering if he’s bringing me flowers because he wants to give me flowers or because he thinks I want them.”
“I followed that—mostly.”
“Good, because when I think about it, it gets all tangled up in knots, and then I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
“I get that, too.”
She pushed her left hand through her hair and then made a face. “Do you think you’d mind helping me put this in a ponytail?”
It cost her to ask me that, so no way in hell was I teasing her.
“How about I braid it?” Then it would be out of her face and off her neck. At her blink of surprise, I spread my hands before shutting off the sink. “Three sisters. Trust me, I can braid hair.”
“That’s true. I’ve even seen you braid it, but I was sworn to secrecy.”
“That was when Blake was into drill team.” I made a face. “I cannot tell you how happy I was when she gave up that crap.”
“Louisa still does cheer though. All three of them dance.”
True. “But drill team is where…” Then I winced. “Okay, I’m shutting up about that.”
“Drill team is where the football team starts trolling for girls,” she pointed out, and I sighed. “Jake, you don’t have to edit for me. I get it. I tried out for drill team, remember?”
And she’d been on the spirit squad too, yeah. I remembered. “You were hella cute making us those spirit boxes, too.”
Her snort made me grin. Drying off my hands, I motioned her to the living room.
“Come on, let me braid your hair for you. It’ll be fun.”
“Will you put ribbons and trinkets in it?”
“Yeah, let’s not go too far.” I’d only done that for Blake once. “But if you really want a ribbon, I can thread one in there.”
