Page 79 of Save Me
He leans in, dropping his voice. “Does Ronan know yet?” His words are slow.
“About?”
“You want me to say it out loud? Really, Sloane?”
Fuck. My stomach drops. “How did you know?”
“Told you, you’ve been acting off for days. And I caught you doingthat.” He nods to the dark puddle in the sand where I dumped my beer. “And never, in all the years that I’ve known you, have younotdrank after a toast.”
“It’s bad luck,” I echo what Gigi always says. As well as I know Frank, he knows me too.
And now he knows my secret. A wave of relief hits me that I don’t have to keep it from him anymore.
“So? Does he know yet?”
I glance around to make sure no one’s paying attention to our conversation before I shake my head. “I don’t know how to tell him.”
“You open your mouth, and you say the words. Simple.”
“But it’snot.” That ball of anxiety swells in my stomach. “I really like him, Frank. Like,really. But we’ve known each other for weeks. We barely know each other at all. What if he doesn’t want it?”
“You mean, what if he’s like your sperm donor of a father?”
“Yeah,” I admit after a beat. Never met the guy, but maybe I have daddy issues after all.
Frank is quiet for a moment, his focus on the fire. “Doyouwant it?”
I hesitate. “I think so, yeah.” I’m more comfortable with the idea each time I let it wander into my thoughts. “I’m thirty-one. I own my home and my business, thanks to Gigi. I’m kind of set.” Except for that one missing piece—a partner to share it all with.
Could that person be Ronan? If it’s not, if he runs the moment he finds out, then … he truly is all wrong for me.
“All right, then you have it.”
“Alone?”
“You’re never gonna be alone, Parker. You got me, you’ve got them.” He nods at Skye and Rebel and Jeremy. “You’ve got your village, just like Gigi always says. We can make it work.”
I allow myself a few long, calming breaths as his words sink in. I don’t know why I was so afraid to tell Frank. He’s always been my rock. “And Ronan?”
He shrugs. “He’s here if he wants to be.”
“And if not …” I let the thought drift.
“Then I rip his arms off and beat him to death with them.”
I burst out laughing at Frank’s signature threat.
“Uh … Sloane?” Mick calls out, interrupting our laughter. He nods to something behind me. “You expecting the boys in blue?”
“What?” I spin around in my chair. Sure enough, two forms in uniform are strolling this way, their flashlights shining their path.
Cops haven’t visited here since that time there was an escaped convict on the loose and someone reported seeing them heading down our driveway. Turns out the guy was hiding out in a tent on the vacant property next door.
What on earth could this be about?
I shimmy out of my seat and head to cut them off, Frank on my heels. “Can I help you, Officers?” Not until the beam of light shifts away do I recognize Jackson. “Oh, hey! Long time no see!”
“Hey, girl.” His friendly face splits with a wide grin that reminds me of our days back in high school, when he was catching pigskins and I was waving pom-poms. An injury killed his chances of playing college ball—a devastating blow for a running back with a promising career. So, he joined the local police force and has served Mermaid Beach ever since.
