Archie gave her an indulgent look as he lifted his beer. “Babe, trust me, that company has been my legacy my whole life. If you do decide to run it, you won’t be alone. Promise.”
Her laughter wreathed the room. “I like working with Eddie. I like working with you and Jake. I adore working with Ian.” She shot me a smile. “I’d love to work with you, but I’m not qualified, so I’m going to be your personal cheerleader.”
“Does that come with one of those cute little cheerleader outfits? Cause, I’m definitely feeling that.”
I wasn’t the only one who focused on her. “You know,” Bubba said slowly. “Halloween is coming.”
She would be too if she dressed in that outfit.
Rolling her eyes, Frankie raised her wine glass. “Noted. Skimpy cheerleader outfit. Lots of skin?”
“Uh-huh,” Jake said, wiping his mouth. “The only place you’re trick or treating is with us.”
We all laughed.
“And on that note, let’s circle back to the meeting portion of our meal.” I broke the end off of one bread loaf to butter. “I’ve been looking into a Master’s program.”
I had all of their attention.
“If I want to get licensed, most states require you get your master’s degree in their state, then I can test out and do my clinical hours, and I can license as a clinical therapist. That’s still my goal. I like working with kids.” I’d actually upped my volunteer hours this year. They’d offered to add me to the payroll once I was in clinical hours, but that wouldn’t be for another year to a year and a half.
I was good with that.
“So, you need us to make the call now so you can apply to the program you want?” Frankie cut into her meat and then studied me. “I like New York. I always kind of thought we’d just be here for school, but… I like the city and I love the house in the Hamptons.”
Archie smiled at her. “Well, they are ours. The brownstone and the Hamptons house. We could add a third up north in Westchester if you like—or Boston.”
I had to bite back a smile at the faintly sour look on Archie’s face. He loved her siblings, but the only child in him struggled when my sister or Jake’s were there. Frankie’s were a lot younger and so full of zest. He loved her little brothers and sister, yet that zest often made them too much.
Little Chloe genuinely was a miniature her in some ways, and that threw me back to elementary school. Her brothers, on the other hand, were hellions and I loved it. Bubba and Archie might complain, but they loved the little shits too.
“I don’t actually want to have a house there,” Frankie admitted. “It’s weird that we have two places already.”
“Three,” Archie said. “Well, technically four. There’s the house in Texas, and your grandparents are probably going to leave that house in Connecticut to you.”
Silence draped the table as Frankie stilled. Jake shot Archie a glare, but he didn’t take his gaze off Frankie.
“I get it, you’re still pissed at them,” he continued. “You have every right to be angry with them, Babe. But it’s been almost two years—and you’ve talked to them twice.”
Frankie sighed and lifted her head. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive Patience. I know Maddy was her daughter, and she wanted to protect her—I get that.” Her mouth twisted. “Or maybe I don’t. I know you guys would do anything to help me, including lie to everyone we know. But it’s hard to even think about the way she risked you.”
That was it in a nutshell, and I wasn’t the only one who glanced at Archie. The threat Maddy had been to him had been incredible, and more than once, Frankie had been caught right in the middle.
“But I’m here,” Archie said softly. “Maddy isn’t. Patience was a fool, but I don’t think she ever meant you, or me for that matter, any harm. Eugene… he definitely didn’t. They’re weak people, but they’re your grandparents and they want to know you.”
I got where he was going with this. We’d all discussed it on and off for the last few weeks. The conversation sparked when she’d been in Paris with Rachel and Eugene sent a card to her. That card had sat unopened for three weeks after she came back.
When she opened and read it, I had no idea, and she hadn’t told us what it said. “Beautiful,” I said, stepping in. “What Archie is saying, what I’m saying, is we don’t want you to look back someday with regret. Forgiving her might be hard, but you’ll never get there if you keep them cut out of your life.”
“To be perfectly clear,” Jake added. “We don’t give two shits about her feelings. You’re the one we care about and your huge fucking heart.”
Bubba nodded slowly when she glanced at him. “They aren’t wrong, Angel. No one will judge you if you choose not to, it’s always your choice.”
“But Grandpa Ted liked them,” Archie said, bringing it full circle. “Fuck if I know why, though he was a good judge of character most of the time. So, there has to be something there to value.”
She looked back at her food and began eating again. The silence was telling, so we all backed off, resumed eating, and waited her out. I would kick Archie for bringing it up now, except there never was going to be a “right” time to discuss her grandparents and her feelings on that subject.
We finished eating and then moved upstairs to our living room. Frankie curled up on one corner of the sofa, fresh wine glass in hand.
“New York,” she said finally, then glanced at us. “We stay here? Whether we live in the city or the Hamptons or Archie gets to build us a house in Westchester.”
Jake laughed and I grinned. Archie didn’t even look remotely humbled by the declaration. “I like it. And I love the idea of building us a house. We don’t need to move yet. We’re good here. But eventually, we’ll want a place to expand.”
“Agreed,” Bubba said. “Which means Coop can work on his master’s here, and we can discuss where we want to have the wedding.”
“I still say we elope,” Archie kicked back on one of the chairs and put his feet up. Jake was scrolling through movies, more to just do something than looking for real. However, we would end up watching one. “Tell no one, go get married, then come back and plan a huge party and make it a commitment ceremony or a reveal party, you know?”
“As much as I kind of like that idea,” Frankie said. “We still have three problems with that.”
“Give them to us, Babe. We can’t fix the problems without the parameters.”
A smile flashed across her face, alleviating some of the earlier melancholy. “There’s the legal issue of five people getting married.”
“We’re working on that,” Archie said. “Legal we can handle. The ceremony itself is for us, and it’s our emotional commitment.”
“Goddamn,” Jake said, then gave a low whistle of appreciation. “You’ve really grown.”
“Yeah, fuck you too,” Archie said with a smirk. Everyone laughed, even Frankie. Bubba slid over and picked her right up before settling her in his lap. When the tension drained out of her, I nodded. That was what she needed and Bubba must have felt it as she curled into him.