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“I kind of like it.”
“Yeah?” He raised his brows.
“Well…you guys have all been my anchors, I’m just glad I got to do that for you before everything went kind of crazy and I turned into a walking disaster.”
Eyes narrowed, Archie cupped my cheek. “You’ve always been that for us. You’re like the glue that makes this all work. I know we made some shitty calls…but you are not a walking disaster. You’re amazing. Beautiful. Strong. Fierce. A little kooky.” His lips twitched. “But you’re my kind of kooky.”
When he dipped his head and brushed his lips against mine, I leaned right into the contact. Nothing in his kiss demanded, it just gave. Gentle. Caring. It made my eyes burn a little at how slow and easy he was. It ended far too soon for my liking, but this wasn’t about me.
Archie was hurting, too.
“So you called your grandfather?”
“Sent a message,” Archie said. “I wasn’t sure if he was in the States or not. He works more now than when Nana was alive, says it keeps him busy.” He licked his lips. “Either way, I needed to make sure you were protected so if Muriel and Edward do decide to cut me off, I can still take care of you.”
Nose wrinkled, I fisted his shirt. “Well, my apartment rent is paid up for the next few months, and you’re already staying over there a lot.”
He chuckled. “Telling me that you’ll take me in if I find myself homeless?”
“In a heartbeat.”
“Would you support me? ’Cause I’m not sure about this getting a job crap.”
I laughed. “It’s not crap, and you’d be fine.”
Arm still around me, he started us walking again. “You got a job when you were fifteen.”
“I was almost sixteen, Marsha justtrainedme while I was fifteen on a really part-time basis.”
“Then you started working your ass off at sixteen. Frankie, I’ve never had a job.”
True.
“Then get one.”
He snorted. “Just like that?”
“Coop is delivering food, so is Jake. Coop worked at a store before that. Jake used to mow lawns. He and Ian both—all the lawns they mowed.” Three years running, those guys had mowed more lawns than I cared to count, and they’d made good money doing it.
“So I think it’s a little late in the year to start mowing lawns and not sure I’d be any good at delivering food,” he admitted with a wry smile. “Maybe I’ll come get a job at Mason’s and work with you.”
I laughed. “Well, at the rate I’m going, I’m not going to have a job.”
“Nah, Marsha loves you.”
She did. But it was hard to do anything with my wrist all locked up in the splint, and they might yet put it in a cast.
“You know it scares the hell out of me if I can’t go back to work, I’m going to have to figure out a way to do it even with this…”
“Woah,” Archie said, leading me toward one of the benches nestled in the garden. It was identical to the one I’d sat on with Rachel the night of the party.
It seemed like a million years ago.
“First, no matter what happens, you’re going to be okay.” Twisting on the bench to face me, he pulled his knee up and it pressed against my thigh, even as he took hold of my left hand. “When do you go back to the doctor about the wrist?”
“Monday morning. Coop was going to take me.”
“Let me do it,” he said. “I’ll take you, that way I can also make sure the bill is paid.”
