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“Cheesecake is at leastdairy, so it’s breakfast adjacent.”
I snorted. “I’ll come get it. Let me just text Mom back.”
“Tell her I said ‘hi.’”
“Will do.”
Me:She’s doing better. She says hi. Gonna eat something, then watch a movie. Hopefully she can nap.
Mom:Good. Love you.
Me:Love you 2.
Clicking the phone off,I stood. “Why are you still in the kitchen… Frankie, I said I’d get it.” She had the cheesecake balanced as she tugged it out of the fridge.
“I’m good,” she said. “Pain meds need time to kick in. So not loopy yet.”
Shaking my head, I went to help. “You are so impatient sometimes.”
“It’s cheesecake, and there’s actual leftovers.”
Like all of two pieces. We both stared at what was on the platter, then at each other. “Split them?”
“Deal.”
Not even an hour later, I sprawled with Frankie tucked into my side on the sofa, her cheek against my chest as she released the most adorable little snore. I was also stuck watchingGhost, which wasn’t a terrible movie. But I couldn’t reach the remote without moving her, so I’d watch it while she slept.
Though the idea that your best friend was the reason you got killedsucked.
Chapter Four
I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
Coop
“You sure you want to do this?” I asked for like the third time, and the sour look she shot me said the question irked her to hear as much as it irked me to ask.
“You guys have both been working on and off all week. Yes, I want to do this. I need to get out of the apartment, but I don’t want to go in places while my face looks like this.” The bruise on her face was definitely better, though it remained angry. “And I have an appointment with the doctor this afternoon, so why not let you work and I can ride around in the car with you?”
I sighed. As plans went, it wasn’t a bad one. “If you’re sure,” I hedged, then studied her for a moment. I had the keys in the ignition, but I hadn’t turned the car on. “Frankie, you want me to go work for a couple of hours and let you have the apartment to yourself?”
Everything in meloathedthe idea. I didn’t have those kind of reactions often, but just the thought of leaving her by herself made my skin crawl.
Fifteen minutes.
She had been out of our sight for fifteen minutes, and it cost her. The thought of another fifteen minutes, much less a couple of hours, made me sick. At the same time, we couldn’t smother her. It wasn’t healthy for her or us. Not that the guys wanted to hear that. The only one listening on that particular front had been Bubba, and even he’d been reticent to entertain it this soon.
“No,” she said, and the relief swamping me was pathetic. “I like hanging out with you guys, I just want to get out of the house. Archie took me for a drive on Wednesday, and it was nice. But I was a little out of it yesterday, so I didn’t bug Jake to go out.”
“Bug him next time,” I advised. He’d kick himself if he figured out she hadn’t wanted to ask him for any reason. “Trust me. And I don’t mind going to do some work, or we could, you know, just go for a drive.” The freedom of having a car was still new for me. I loved being able to take her wherever, whenever, or just getting in the car and going.
Sis had gotten used to asking me for the weirdest crap just to get me to say I’d run to the store with the car and get it. Though, she’d been pretty good this week and only asked a couple of times. She wanted to come over to see Frankie, but I wanted her to stay home. I didn’t want Frankie worrying about putting on a show for Sis or for anyone. It was bad enough she’d been doing it for us. Not all the time, but enough it was noticeable.
“But you like working, and if you get some hours in today, you won’t have to work as much this weekend.”
Suspicion itched through me. “Frankie?”
She shot me a sideways glance. “Hmm?”
