Christy came jogging into the kitchen and snatched the plate out of her hand. “You couldn’t even put meat in them?” She scoffed. “What am I paying you for?”
I waited for Susan to freak out and leave, but all she did was shrug. “Who the hell knows, but my bank account thanks you.”
“In that case, remind me to tell Brooks to give you raise.” They both laughed like they were the funniest people in the world, and I couldn’t help but smile at them.
We all loaded our plates full of food and settled in the living room.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see that Brooks had messaged me. Caught up at the shop. Not sure when I’ll be home.
Uh, okay. I’m just hanging out with your mom and Susan. Not exactly the normal exciting evening of a twenty-seven-year-old, but I was having a good time.
Wait for me till I get home?
Not like I had anywhere else to go. Possibly. I do have to be to work super early in the morning. My boss is kind of a dick.
You shouldn’t call Roc a dick.
Ha. Ha.
Just wait for me.
Maybe. I tossed my phone on the couch next to me and took a bite of my taco.
“Was that Brooks?” Christy asked.
I nodded and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Yeah. He was doing something at the shop and will be a little bit.”
My phone lit up, and I was surprised to see he had texted me again. You make dinner?
For your mom and Susan.
Save some for me?
I don’t know. I saw how much lasagna your mom and Susan ate last night. I can’t make any promises.
Save some for me, and I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get home.
Promises, promises.
Gotta run. Miss you.
It felt weird to type my reply, but it also felt right. Miss you too.
“Look at that smile. I think her face is going to crack.”
My head snapped up, and I glared at Susan. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Susan laughed. “Well, yeah. Now you look like you’re ready to kill a pack of puppies who piddled on your shoe.”
“I bet that is the sass Brooks told us about,” Christy added.
“I do not have sass.”
“Riiiight,” Susan drawled. “And I have purple hair.”
“Purple would look good on you.” Christy set her plate on the coffee table and motioned for us to hush. “Now zip it so I can hear what is going on.”
Susan stuck her tongue out at me, and I gave her the bird.
“Sass,” she whispered.
I may not be spending the night with Brooks, but I was hanging out with Susan and Christy who were more than entertaining. I finished my food and gathered the empty plates. “You guys want ice cream?”
“I know they say there aren’t dumb questions, but I have to tell you, Frankie, that was a dumb question. Bring the whole damn container and three spoons.”
“I have to say, Susan, I grew up with three older brothers, and I think you could eat them under the table if you wanted to.”
Susan smirked. “I have four brothers and three sons and a daughter. I know how to eat before all of the food gets eaten by someone else.”
“You have kids?” I know I had just met Susan yesterday, but it felt like I had known her all of my life. The fact I didn’t know she had kids surprised me. She was with Christy all of the time, so I wondered when she had time to spend with her family.
“Yep. 24, 26, 28, and 30. Delaney is my baby. I waited six years to have my girl.” Susan beamed with pride. “Though my boys aren’t anything to snuff at.”
“You were a busy lady,” I laughed. Susan was around the same age as my parents would have been if they were still alive. Maybe that was why I loved spending time with her and Christy. They let me feel like I still had my mom around.
“Yes, well, I was until they moved away. The two oldest boys joined the Army right out of high school, then the younger boy became a doctor in California. My Delaney is the only one who still lives in Leeds Square.”
“I’d love to meet her sometime.”
“She comes and visits me on the weekends. The next time you and Brooks aren’t running off to some race, we’ll have to plan something.”
“Would you two, shush,” Christy scolded. “You two are chattering like a bunch of school girls while Dexter is trying to figure his shit out.”
Susan rolled her eyes and whispered, “She doesn’t get any ice cream.”
“I heard that,” Christy mumbled.
I stacked the dirty dishes in the sink, made Brooks a plate, and cleaned up the kitchen while Christy watched Dexter and Susan worked on a blanket she was crocheting.
After we had ice cream and watched two episodes of Dexter, Brooks still wasn’t there, and I felt my eyelids get heavy. I needed to be up early to head to the Meyer Royal, and with Brooks taking forever to get home, I snuggled into the couch and closed my eyes. A little nap wouldn’t hurt.
*
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Brooks
I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was eat and fall into bed.
That all changed when I walked into the living room and saw Frankie curled up on the couch with her hands tucked under her head. She was like an angel sent into my life to help me breath, but I didn’t know what I had done to deserve her.
After sitting with Roc and my lawyer for hours, we were able to figure out just how we were going to give my dad exactly what he wanted without sacrificing what I had built. Then it was another two hours to finally get the stubborn asshole to agree.
He tried to argue the fact that he was getting the short end of the stick, but he wasn’t. He wanted his name back, and that was exactly what I had given him.
“Are you watching me sleep? Not creepy at all,” Frankie whispered.
“Are you pretending to sleep so you don’t have to see me? Not sly at all,” I countered.
“Do I get to add sly to the unfavorable words that describe me?” She stretched out her legs and arms and yawned. “Bitchy, sassy, feisty, and sly.”
“I like all of them.”
“I think there might be something wrong with you if you like my bitchiness.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch. She fell into my arms and rested her head on my shoulder. “You just know what you want and you’re not afraid to ask for it, doll.”
She sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Also known as being a bitch,” she sighed.
I pressed a kiss to her temple. “You save me dinner?”
She nodded and threaded her fingers with mine. “Come with me. I managed to make you a plate before your mom and Susan ate it all.”
I sat down at the kitchen island while she grabbed a plate out of the fridge, a couple of small containers, and set the plate in the microwave. “I was going to assemble the tacos, but then I figured the shells would get all nasty.” She opened a sandwich baggie next to the microwave and pulled out three hard taco shells. “I probably put too much thought into it, but soggy tacos sounded nasty to me.”
After the microwave dinged, she built me three tacos and set it in front of me. “Where were you?”