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Chapter Ten
Clive
“Now boarding Alpha Airlines flight fifteen-twelve, nonstop service from Seattle to Minneapolis,” the flight attendant said over the loudspeaker.
“Clive, I’m really worried about you,” Frankie said. And she meant it, I could tell—her voice was tight with anxiety, even though she stayed on the phone with me through my entire wait at the airport.
“I just can’t fucking believe that Denton would do that to me,” I said, still furious that I’d caught my business partner—my best fucking friend—at my daughter’s apartment earlier that morning in as close to a compromising position as one could get. The thought of it all made my blood boil all over again.
I had planned to go to breakfast by myself, but instead, I climbed into my rental car and drove to Marcie’s apartment to surprise her. But the surprise had been on me when I’d found her holed up with Denton Sawyer, the two of them obviously very familiar with one another. When I’d told Denton to keep an eye on Marcie while he was working in Seattle, I never thought he’d take advantage of the situation.
“Did you know?” I asked, wearily leaning my head against the back of my chair.
Frankie paused, and I could practically hear her mind working. Considering her words.
“I knew she was involved with Denton, yes.” Frankie’s voice was gentle, but firm, and the message was clear. Do not put this on me, Clive. “But I’d be a pretty shitty friend if I flashed Marcie’s private business all over town, even if I am dating her father. Which she doesn’t know either,” she pointed out.
I winced at her last statement and scrubbed a hand over my jaw. Yeah, it wasn’t lost on me what a fucking hypocrite I was being about the situation considering my secret relationship with Frankie, but this was my daughter we were talking about. Everything was screwed up in my head, and I was having a really difficult time reconciling Denton messing around with my baby girl behind my back. It just felt like a huge betrayal of trust, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to forgive him for this anytime soon.
Even if I was deceiving Marcie by fucking her best friend, I thought with a shake of my head. I wanted to argue that it wasn’t the same thing and hold on to my anger toward Denton and my daughter, but really, was I any better than Denton?
Fuck.
“Last call to board Alpha Airlines flight fifteen-twelve, nonstop service from Seattle to Minneapolis.”
I sighed and rose to my feet, my carry-on bag clutched tightly in my hand. “It’s time for me to board.”
“Just tell me if you’re angry at me, Clive.” Frankie’s voice was soft. “Or just tell me anything. You’re so…distant.”
I couldn’t disagree. “I need a little time to think and process everything.”
God, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. My eyelids felt gritty with fatigue, and I was ready to slide into whatever seat they crammed me into for the last-minute flight change, order a stiff drink and spend the rest of the flight blissfully asleep.
“I just feel…all out of sorts right now,” I said, unable to explain all the conflicting emotions rioting through me. My own growing feelings for Frankie and if what I was doing with her was wrong . . . my daughter’s possible feelings for Denton. Worry over Marcie getting her heart broken when Denton decided he’d had his fun and walked away. And what I was going to do about my situation with the woman on the other end of the line when I’d just reamed Denton and shunned my daughter for doing the same damn thing I was.
Yeah, total fucking hypocrite. Yet, I couldn’t stem my anger. Not yet, anyway.
“I understand,” Frankie said, pulling me out of my thoughts and my own self-loathing.
Her voice was soft. Kind. Like a cool, soothing balm to the fresh, hot wound in my chest. Some warm, mysterious feeling—gratitude, maybe—whooshed through my body.
I was grateful, I realized. For Frankie. She wasn’t perfect. None of us were. But she would never be angry at me for having honest feelings. For being an imperfect person, as long as I had the strength to learn and grow from my failings.
But what happened today—walking in on my daughter and my business partner after they spent the night together, and not for the first time—it hurt me. Deeply. And I needed to sort through those feelings and figure everything out before I could do anything else. I’d stormed out of Marcie’s place, full of righteous anger and rage and wanting to kick Denton’s ass for daring to touch what he knew should have been off-limits, and I needed time to cool off, calm down, and think more rationally.
When the plane landed in Minneapolis, I pulled my phone out again and turned it on. Within seconds, text messages and missed calls inundated me. Mostly from Marcie, but a few from Denton. I was too hurt and filled with animosity to speak to either one of them, but I forced myself to read the texts.
I love you, Daddy. I’m sorry you found out like this.
Clive, your issue is with me and not Marcie. Please call her back.
Please call me, Daddy. We really need to talk.
If you want to sever our partnership over this, fine—but we need to decide soon. People depend on us for their paychecks.
I scrolled through all of them, my heart wrenching the whole time. There was just one that didn’t push hard at my wounds, and it was from Frankie.
I’m not going anywhere. Call me when you’re ready.
