“And he didn’t say anything to you.”
Archie shook his head. “I don’t know what to do with this yet, so I’m going to just—worry about it later.”
I nodded. Mom chose that moment to catch my eye and motion gently for me to join them. “I get that,” I told Archie. “If he was anyone else, I’d say just—go with it. He’s family. They’re never going to be perfect.” Look at my dad, then again… “But he’s also the guy who protected you. That’s got to count for something.” Especially considering how much the man was hurting, and you’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to see it.
“I know,” Archie said. “Go on, your mom is gonna give herself whiplash if she keeps doing that nod.”
With a chuckle, I left him to think while I made my way toward my parents. Hopefully, we could all get out of this unscathed. Well, no more hurt than we’d already been.
CHAPTER FOUR
WORDS BLEED
FRANKIE
“Let me get you a drink,” Archie murmured after we went back inside. Rachel and Dominic were talking and Coop had been less than subtle in choosing to stay outside and wait. Honestly, I could kiss them all for looking out for her, even if I wished she and Dominic could figure out whatever was going on there. I needed to be more there for her and less—less the hot mess I’d become.
“Okay,” I told him and gave his arm a squeeze. “I think I need a minute.” The room was full of people I knew and cared about. Hank caught my eye and when he raised his brows in question, I shook my head. I was all right. For the most part. Coop’s parents and Trina had taken to one of the tables and it looked like Carly and Coop’s dad were deep in conversation. Trina was on her phone.
Jake’s sisters had settled at a different table, talking amongst themselves, but their attention was laser-focused on where Alicia sat talking to Jake’s dad and Klara. Not only was she talking, she laughed. Hope surged through me, not because Jake needed his parents back together, but because Alicia deserved some happiness. If this made her happy again? Then I was all for it. I loved that Jake and his dad had been mending bridges, and now Archie and Eddie were.
Speaking of Eddie, I did a quick scan of the room but didn’t see him. Had he left? I also didn’t see my grandparents. Dammit. They hadn’t been outside, so that meant they may have left through the other doors and out into the hotel. Pivoting, I headed for the doors and pushed the crash bar to let myself out. I didn’t have to go far to find them. Eddie stood in the hallway, his chin down, hands in his pockets as he spoke with my grandparents.
Correction, as my grandmother chastised him. Her voice didn’t carry, but that was probably the only discreet thing about her current actions. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, her face flushed and her whole body seemed to vibrate with her anger. Next to her, my grandfather actually looked uncomfortable. It was Grandpa Ted who was trying to calm her down. He wasn’t quite blocking Eddie from her, but he also wasn’t letting her get any closer.
Anger spiked through me. The past few days had been absolute hell. I’d spent most of it trying to sort out how I felt. Even worse, trying to mourn a woman who had made good on a threat she’d made more than a decade before. She had tried to kill me. She tried to kill Archie.
Just…
I marched toward them, arriving just in time to hear Patience say, “I would think you could at least have the decency to let us mourn in peace without having to be face to face with her murderer—”
“He didn’t murder her.” I cut Patience off, and she jerked her tearful gaze to me.
“Frankie…”
“Shut it.” I didn’t have it in me to even pretend politeness right now. I’d avoided them as best I could and done everything to try and respect their grief.
Shock rippled across Patience’s face and Eugene glanced up from wherever he’d drifted during the conversation to focus on me. His rheumy eyes held surprise but not—disapproval. I didn’t think he agreed with her, but he also couldn’t stand up to her or to Maddy or to anyone really.
“Frankie—”
“I said shut it,” I repeated. “Eddie is welcome here. Eddie is grieving. You could respect his grief too, but you choose not to. You could respect my needs as well, but that’s not even in your wheelhouse.”
“Darling, of course we do…”
I laughed. “Wow, you sounded just like her there.”
Patience reeled back like I’d slapped her.
“She always turned it around so that she was the victim, so that everything she did was for the best and how could I think any other way about her.” My chest squeezed and my eyes burned, but I didn’t look away from Patience. “She was there with you on Long Island before the wreck with the Ferrari. You knew she was there. You kept her secret. Just like you walked away from me when I was a kid because she threatened to kill me if you tried to look away.”
This time, my grandmother paled, even as embarrassment stained her cheeks. Unlike her, I wasn’t keeping my voice down or being polite.
“You kept that fact from everyone, including me, after they pulled me out of that wreckage. She tried to kill Archie more than once and she didn’t care if she killed me too.”
Hand to her mouth, Patience flinched.
“So, spare me your morality play. This could be my funeral you were at, instead of hers, if Eddie hadn’t come along when he did. It could be Archie’s funeral. She was the would-be murderer, not him. It broke his heart, and if you’re too damn blind to see that, then I can’t do anything for you. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for supporting her and hiding her after everything she did. That doesn’t mean you aren’t my grandmother, and I will never talk to you again, but it does mean you don’t get to dictate anything. Not about this. Not about anything. So, if you can’t respect Eddie being here, then you can leave.”
“She’s right,” my grandfather said before Patience could say another word, and she dragged her stricken gaze from me to Eugene. “Maddy bullied us both, but you kept trying to placate her. You covered up for her and funded her and then…then we lied to Frankie about all of it.” He shook his head. “Maybe we didn’t help her, but we didn’t stop her either.” The long sigh he let out sounded so weary.
That was why he’d been so sick and exhausted. Why he’d looked like his health had been taking a turn for the worse.
“I’m sorry, sweet girl,” he told me and then he looked past me. “And I’m sorry you were caught in the middle of all of this.”
“Why are you apologizing to him?” Patience demanded, the sheen of tears escaping her eyes. “He killed our baby.”
“No, he didn’t,” Eugene replied in a firmer voice than I’d ever heard him use before. “She stopped being our baby a long time ago. We’re going to go now and we’re going to let Frankie have the time she needs.” Then he looked at me. “Please don’t be a stranger. Even if I would understand it.”
“I’ll do my best,” I promised and when Patience pulled from him and took a step toward me, I just folded my arms and took a step back. Pain flickered across her expression, but I shook my head. “We’re not there.”