He chewed at the edge of his lip. “Thing is, when you have a daughter you were solely responsible for until she was five-years-old? When you love her so damn much you can’t see straight? When she is your entire world and the only thing you want is for her to have the very best? I think it’s not hard to imagine that I would have a problem accepting there was someone that could ever be good enough to fit the bill.”
Wasn’t sure if it was an objection or agreement that was getting ready to come off my tongue, but he held up his hand to stop me from saying anything. “And it’s even harder when you realize she found that person at such a young age. Hard to watch a little girl love with everything she has. It’s terrifying being afraid she might be crushed if she lost it.”
Guessed Frankie and I hadn’t even come close to managing to hide it.
His mouth pinched when he shook his head. “And when you took yourself from her? Made the choice to leave her? That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to witness. Watching my child crumble, fall apart, and be helpless to do anything about it.”
Emotion clotted the airflow at the base of my throat, knives of regret impaling my skin. “I never wanted to hurt her.”
“Don’t imagine much that you did, but the fact of the matter is you left her, Evan. You up and left her without a word and then came riding back with a kid three years later. After she’s finally, finally moved on.”
Knew his voice was strained with emphasis.
My brow twisted, half apology, half aggression. “Jack’s an asshole. She doesn’t belong with him. She belongs with me.”
His nod was slow. “You're right. She belongs with you.” He pushed off the counter, cocked his head to the side as he took one step my direction. “So don’t you dare stand behind your disability and say you are protecting her when who you are protecting is yourself. When it’s you who is scared of losing her. You love her? Fucking prove it.”
Lifting my jaw, I gave him all the honesty I had. “That’s why I wanted you to come, Uncle Rex. To tell you that is exactly what I intend to do. To tell you it was wrong that we kept it from you, and I was a fool to leave. It is the biggest regret of my life. But I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
He huffed a breath through his nose, and he moved toward me, shocking the hell out of me when he pulled me in for an overbearing hug. Arms tight for a full two seconds. He clapped me on the shoulder and then squeezed it when he pulled away. “It’s good to have you home, Evan. We missed you.”
* * *
Frankie Leigh fumbled along the sidewalk as I led her toward the single step, the blindfold hiding the thrill I knew would be waiting behind those gorgeous eyes.
“What are we doing, Evan?”
“I told you, I have a surprise for you.”
“I know you did, but I’ve been wearing this thing since you showed up at the café and kidnapped me.”
“Believe me, it will be worth it.”
Unable to see, she focused all of her excitement on that bottom lip she was chewing to shreds.
Fucking loved it.
Loved her.
Loved it all.
It bottled in my chest.
Pushing and expanding.
Getting ready to blow.
I’d never been so happy in my entire life.
“Easy, there’s a step,” I warned her as I helped her up it. The white wooden planks thudded under our feet.
Could see the questioning grin quirk at the corner of her mouth. “Where are we?” she asked, already in awe before she even knew what to be in awe about.
“Where I want you to be,” I told her. Wondering if she could feel the disturbance.
The restless harmony.
The peaceful anxiety.
Yeah, I was excited.
So goddamn excited I was sweating.
I led her to a stop right in front of the door, then I inhaled the deepest breath as I swung it open. I let my fingertips flutter across her mouth, her nose, her cheek before I finally removed the blindfold from her eyes and urged her across the threshold.
Confusion contorted every line on her stunning face, her eyes rushing to take in the massive room we stepped into.
Hope and a future echoing back.
So it turned out if you had enough money you could make things happen quick.
I’d sped through the process of buying and had the house furnished in a handful of days.
I stood back and watched her as she took the whole place in. Bewilderment that slowly turned into a soft wonder. She finally turned back to me. EVAN, WHAT IS THIS?
I slowly edged her way. IT’S LOVE, FRANKIE. THIS HOUSE IS LOVE.
Knew she was trying to stop them, but tears streamed from her eyes. FOR US?
IF YOU WANT IT.
There was a question there.
A petition.
A call.
I dropped to a knee and pulled out the ring I had in my pocket.
Frankie’s hands went to her mouth.
No, I couldn’t see what she was saying.
But I felt it.
I knew it.
“When I was eight, I promised you I’d marry you for real, Frankie Leigh. I told you again when you were eighteen. I think it’s time I kept that promise.”
Twenty-Eight
Frankie Leigh
Eighteen Years Old
Frankie Leigh blew out the candles on her birthday cake. She was pretty danged proud of herself when she snuffed out all eighteen in one fell swoop. Oh, but she was determined to get that one wish.
It cast the entire kitchen into darkness as a roar of cheers and hollers echoed through her parents’ house.
The lights flicked back on. She blinked against the brightness, and she grinned when she saw all her family and friends staring back. Still shouting and clapping where they were gathered around the table.
“Happy birthday, Frankie Leigh!”
“Whoop, whoop, Frankie’s an adult!”
“Watch out, Sweet Pea is getting ready to take on the world.”
Love overflowed. Frankie Leigh was so grateful to everyone who had gathered to celebrate her. She thought literally every person in her family had to be there, plus a mess of friends from high school and a few other people she’d met along the way.
All of them were stuffed into the kitchen and overflowing into the living room.
Maybe it was wrong, but her heart sought out only one person.
Evan.
Her eyes immediately raced to where she knew that he would be. That gorgeous boy was up against the wall just outside of the commotion, like he wasn’t sure that he wanted to slip into the fray.
On the outskirts when the only thing she wanted was him by her side.
Sipping at a beer, he watched her in a way that made her tummy shiver.
Twisted inside out.
God, she’d been lovin’ that boy her whole life, and she was praying it was time that he would finally love her back. The way she’d been dying for him to. In the way that she’d lie awake at night with her heart pounding and this vacant place inside of her throbbing, aching for him to fill it.
Her mama and her aunt Hope wedged their way through the chaos. “I hope you’re ready to taste this, Frankie Leigh. I know what a sweet tooth you have,” her aunt Hope teased as she gestured to the cake she’d made.
“Um, yes, please. That looks delicious.”
“Well, you know I made it special just for you. A brand-new recipe.”
“I think it’s a perfect match,” her mama said with a laugh.
Frankie Leigh gestured to herself. “I guess you two know me well, don’t you?”
Her mama and her aunt Hope started cutting it into pieces and placing the small squares of cake on party plates.
It was this huge sheet-cake that was about as big as the table. In cursive letters, it read, “Even unicorns become adults one day,” and it had a soaring unicorn flying for the moon.
It was frosted in a rainbow of colors and
sprinkled with edible glitter.
Yeah, it was pretty much perfect, and Frankie’s heart swelled again, loving that they knew her so well.
“Here you go, Sweet Pea Frankie Leigh. This one’s for you.” Her aunt Hope handed her the piece that had the unicorn horn that was made out of a waffle cone cookie and white chocolate. “I think this is worth a second wish.”
But the thing was, Frankie would wish for the same wish all over again.
She only wanted one thing and it didn’t cost a cent.
Frankie gave her the biggest hug. “Thank you, Aunt Hope. Thank you so much for being such an important part of my life for all these years. I hope you know how much I love you.”
Pulling back, her aunt set her hand on Frankie’s cheek. “It’s me who’s thankful for you, Frankie Leigh. My son would never have had the childhood that he did without you. I love you like you’re one of my own, and I’m praying that you find all the joy in this world that you deserve.”
Emotion welled up so fast that there was the threat of tears. The last thing Frankie wanted to be doing was crying on her birthday.
That would just suck.
This was a night to celebrate.
So she did.
She celebrated with her family and friends while she and Evan seemed to orbit around the other.
He remained distant, like he couldn’t bear the thought of gettin’ too close, all the while remaining the closest person to her there.
And she wanted to call to him. Gesture with her hands in the language they knew best.
To tell him to come stand by her side because that was where he belonged. But there was something about him tonight that knotted a ball of apprehension in her belly. Something that was sad and distant.
Like that boy felt he didn’t fit in.
Everyone at the party ate and talked and danced.
Frankie Leigh opened presents. Clothes and money and gag gifts.
Frankie received a sweet ring from her parents, her uncle Ollie and aunt Nikki gave her her own camping gear, and then she opened a ridiculous check from her uncle Broderick and aunt Lillith that they said was to help with her college education.
Next, Frankie was handed a tiny box that was wrapped so pretty. The paper a shimmering pink, the ribbon streaks of silver.
Her hands started shaking when she saw it was from Evan. He was still standing way back in the back, but she knew he could feel the tremors of her anticipation. Knew he could feel her love that was already pouring out when she slipped off the ribbon, tore off the paper, and lifted the lid.
A shocked gasp raked her throat.
Pure affection.
Unending thankfulness.
Ceaseless love.
Trembling out of control, she reached and pulled the necklace from where it was nestled on a satin bed.
Never Cut Your Wings was written in a dainty white gold, and a unicorn hung from the ‘s’, a diamond on its horn.
Heart beating so hard it almost hurt, Frankie stood. She met his eye. Energy flashed. Their connection that they’d always shared so intense, making it difficult to walk, but she did it anyway.
Weaving through the crowd toward the one who invaded her thoughts and her mind.
Her best friend.
Her best friend who she wanted to be more.
Her best friend who she wanted to be her everything.
The only thing she wanted was for him to finally really see her the way she saw him.
All those wishes she’d cast praying for that very thing.
Would he see her now?
Could he feel the depth of her love?
He almost looked sad when she made it to him, something so tender and full of wistful devotion awash in those green eyes.
“Evan,” she whispered before she threw herself at him, hugging him so fiercely that she thought she could sink in and disappear in him forever. She kinda wanted to cry when he did the same, his arms firm and strong, so right when they were wrapped around her body. He murmured in her ear, “I want the world for you, Unicorn Girl. Go out and own it. It’s waiting on you.”
Pulling away, she brushed away her tears, hands on his shoulders as she offered him a smile that she hoped he could read.
One that promised him that he was her favorite person in the world.
That he had always been and that was never going to change.
That she was the one who was waiting on him.
“Happy birthday,” he gruffed aloud in that raw, sexy voice, and she was so desperate for him to kiss her right there.
Right out in the open.
He’d kissed her twice before.
Once when she was thirteen. One other time last year.
Both times it’d been her begging for it. Pushing through the attraction until he’d caved, groaning when his body reacted.
Both times Evan had torn himself away like he was committing some kind of mortal sin.
She wanted to wipe that from his consciousness. Show him there was no shame in the way that they felt.
Before she could throw herself at him, her friend Nina, cut in. “Hey, I have to leave in a few minutes. I wanted to give this to you before I go.”
“Oh, of course.”
Reluctantly, Frankie Leigh stepped away from Evan, hating that she was so rude that she was wishing that it was just the two of them right then.
Alone.
She gave him a soft look that promised later, and she turned away and dug into the gift.
Guests surrounded her as the celebration continued.
Rowdy and lively and fun.
But still, she couldn’t stop the anxious feeling that slithered into her spirit.
Unsettled and vacant.
Restless, she let her gaze hunt through the crowd.
Searching for him.
Already knowing he was gone before her eyes could confirm it.
She did her best to just wait. To enjoy her party.
She waited until the last person left, and she hugged each guest tight, telling them how grateful she was that they came.
She stayed and helped clean up the mess. Her daddy and her brothers took all the folding chairs and tables out to the shed, and she and her mama swept up the floors and loaded the dishwasher.
When they finished, her daddy looked at her from across the kitchen, his smile soft. “I can’t believe my baby girl is eighteen. Blows my mind . . . seein’ you all grown up. Wild Child.”
Tenderness filled his words.
Wistfulness overflowed, and Frankie wondered how much more affection she could take before she completely burst with it. Her voice quivered with sincerity, “I am so thankful that I got to have my childhood with you as my daddy. You were the best one I ever could have asked for.”
Emotion crested in his eyes. “You will always be my little girl.”
Crossing the room, Frankie hugged him tight. “And you will always be my daddy. Age doesn’t change that. Things just look a little different now.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he said with a rough chuckle. Nostalgia rimming his features, he touched her chin. “Good night, Sweet Pea.”
Frankie Leigh turned to her mama and hugged her just as tight. “Thank you, Mama, for being the woman I needed. The woman my daddy needed. Our lives were made complete in you.”
Only Frankie knew she was still missing one person.
Her mama touched her face, her smile full of wonder. “It has been my absolute honor to get to be your mama, Frankie Leigh, and I am so excited to see what you do with this new stage of your life.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more than you’ll ever know,” her mama said before she released her and retreated upstairs as well.
Frankie climbed the stairs behind her, only she had no intention of turning in.
She rushed into her room and changed her clothes and slipped right back out the door. She hopped in her car and drove to the small apartment complex by the college where he now lived.<
br />
She parked and got out, nerves coiling her stomach in a gazillion intricate knots. Excitement declaring anarchy on any bit of self-control that she had.
Above, the heavens were strewn with a cascade of stars, the air crisp and cool and brushing her overheated skin.
Frankie moved for his door, and she rang the doorbell that she knew would trigger the light inside.
It felt so much like she was flashing her SOS at Evan’s window, the way she’d done all their years growing up.
I need you.
I need you.
I need you.
Only tonight, it was meant in an entirely different way.
A second later, the door cracked open and he peered out.
“Frankie Leigh.” He mumbled it like he hadn’t expected her to come which was ridiculous in itself.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
Wary, he widened the door and stepped back, and she slipped all the way into his tiny apartment. Standing just inside, she gazed at the boy who had somehow become a man.
So beautiful in every way.
His hair mussed like he’d been tugging his fingers through it.
He was wearing no shirt, only a pair of dark jeans.
His feet bare.
God. Why did she think that was sexy, too?
FRANKIE LEIGH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
She took a single step his direction. He took one back. YOU ACT LIKE YOU DIDN’T KNOW I WOULD COME.
He sighed, and moved over to the chair he’d been sitting on, took a sip of his beer before he set it aside. He seemed to hesitate before he lifted his hands to speak. YOU SHOULD BE OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS.
She was certain he didn’t believe that statement any more than she did. Her head slowly shook, that energy gaining momentum, her heart going thug, thug, thug as she confessed her truth.
YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON I WANT TO BE WITH.
He leaned over, and he roughed a hand over the top of his head.
Sadness gushed out.
She edged forward, wearing the outfit she knew he would like, wanting to catch his attention. But more than that she wanted him to know how special that he was. What he meant to her. The way he made her feel.
She inched all the way forward until her fingers were taking the place of his, and she urged him to look up at her in the shadows of his living room.
Hold on to Hope Page 28
