Page 132 of Summer Breakdown
Frankie smiles. “I’m not telling you to excuse my not being here; I’m telling you because you’re my friends.”
Zach raises his eyebrow. “In writing?”
Frankie grunts. “Not in this lifetime.”
He humphs, and Mali hugs her.
“I love you,” she says. “Every bit of you. Always.”
Frankie smiles and hugs her back. “Loser.”
Mali squeezes tighter. “I love you.”
Frankie kisses her cheek. “I love you too.”
Mali squeezes once more. She’s strong for a one-apple-tall kinda girl. Then she pulls back. “Do we need to do anything? Watch out for anything?”
“Nah,” Frankie says, with a smile. “Just wanted you to know.”
“We’re trying for a baby,” Mali says quickly. Frankie could have guessed they were doing that the moment Mali started working here. She hopes it’s easy for them. “Well, not until next year, but…”
Frankie laughs. She looks over at Zach, who’s smiling at Mali, like always. “Okay. I’m happy for you.”
“I wanted to tell you a secret too,” Mali says, chewing on her lip. “I panicked.”
Frankie smiles brightly. “I adore you.”
Mali hums, leaning against Zach. He kisses her on the forehead. Their child will be so stinking cute.
“Ready?” Mali asks, and Frankie takes a deep breath.
Then, there’s a knock on the office door, and Jasmine walks in with green flowers tied with a big black bow. Frankie would kill the flowers alone, but Jasmine will make them flourish. Lani bounces in her wheelchair as Marcel pushes her through the door. They’re all in matching rugby tops, COACH on their sleeve.
Lani gasps, her eyes wide as she looks at Mali, who has her green hair tucked under her baseball cap.
“Lan,” Marcel says, tapping her shoulder. It takes Lani a moment, but she looks back at Frankie.
“One, two, three,” Lani attempts to whisper. Frankie’s excited for whatever she has planned.
Then, they all say, “Happy final game day!”
Frankie laughs, and Lani holds her arms up for Mali to carry her.
“You look so pretty,” Lani says, her hands against Mali’s braids.
“Thank you, babygirl,” she replies. “I did braids to match you.”
Lani giggles. “I should have made mine green.”
“Let me find some scissors and you can have some of mine,” Mali replies. “We can weave them into your braids.” She takes her out of the office, and Zach follows with his arm around Marcel.
“Where’s your girl?” he asks, and Marcel groans. “Frank steal her?”
Jasmine laughs, pushing the door closed with her foot.
“That’s all we could string together without it sounding like a hot mess,” she says, as she places the flowers on the desk, then kisses her once.
“Hi,” Jasmine says, looking her up and down. “You look pretty today.”
