Page 41 of Gravity of Love
Frankie’s smile widened as she touched her chest and introduced herself, “Frankie, nice to meet you all.”
Lina’s brows knitted. “Wait, are youPoppy’sFrankie?”
“Nope.” Phoebe raised her hand. “I already asked,”
Liam was lost. Why were his sisters so caught up on this Poppy’s Frankie thing? He knew he was missing something.
Lina’s eyes narrowed. “But youwereat JT’s with her on Friday night, right?” She pointed at Liam. “And Poppy askedyouto take Frankie home.”
“She did?” Frankie looked up at him, clearly it was the first time she’d heard any of that information.
“She asked me to take care of you, but you know I would have anyway.” Liam turned to his sisters. “Why are all of you asking so many questions about Poppy?”
The three women immediately clammed up and shook their heads back and forth. He’d never seen his sisters behaving so strangely. Teresa and Kerri, who had both been silent up until then, exchanged a knowing look and then greeted Frankie warmly, the way he would have expected his sisters to.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Kerri gave her a hug.
“Don’t mind us, this group takes some getting used to,” Teresa remarked as she too gave her a hug.
“What is going—” he started to ask.
Phoebe’s phone rang, cutting off Liam’s question. She handed Bristol to her mom and answered the call, “Hello. What? I can’t hear you.” She plugged her other ear and stepped away from the group.
“So Frankie, Poppy said that you are an artist.” Teresa bounced his niece on her hip.
“Oh, um…yeah, well…” Frankie’s eyes darted to him and then back to Teresa almost sheepishly. He didn’t know why, she was anamazingartist. “I was. It’s been a while. If I’m being honest, I haven’t touched a paint brush in years.”
“Oh, that’s—” Teresa began but stopped when Liam spoke at the same time.
“Youhaven’t?” Liam’s question came out sounding like a defamatory accusation. He hadn’t meant it to. He just couldn’t imagine a world where Frankie Costas didn’t paint.
Frankie’s face flushed, which only happened when she was nervous or embarrassed, two things sherarelywas. He immediately wanted to kick his own ass for making her feel either way.
He was thinking of how to apologize without drawing more attention or making the situation worse when Phoebe rejoined the group. “Fucking, motherfucking, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Mommy has a potty mouth," Teresa stage-whispered to Bristol before sweetly asking her daughter, “Everything okay, dear?”
“No. That was Fairytale Entertainment. Elsa and the face painter are both no-shows. Apparently, they were dating, and they broke up. So, because they didn’t want to see the other one, neither of them showed up for work.”
“Can they send someone else?” Kerri suggested.
“The only other characters they have are Shrek and Donkey, and?—”
“Freddie’s scared of Shrek,” Pippa finished. “It’s fine. I can take him home.”
“No.” Phoebe shook her head. “Finley wantedElsaand aface painter. If Shrek and Donkey show up with swamp slime, I don’t think it’s going to have the same vibe.”
“Um, I don’t know if this helps, but I worked as a party princess during college.” Frankie raised her hand, then listed off characters on her fingers. “Every weekend for four years I was Elsa, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty), Ariel, or Belle. And I have painted literally thousands of kids’ faces. I don’t have any costumes or supplies?—”
“I was Elsa for Halloween, so that’s covered, and just tell me what you need as far as paint supplies, and Duane or one of the guys will get it for you,” Phoebe’s words sprang out of her mouth like the water from a popped hydrant. “I will pay you double, triple, whatever your rate is!”
“I’m not going to charge you.” Frankie shook her head, her expression making it clear even the suggestion was out of the question. “You’re family.”
Hearing Frankie say that—family—did something to Liam. A warmth spread through his chest. He wanted to say it was a good feeling, but it was tight, and constricting, and he wasn’t sure if he could actually take a breath.
“You are a lifesaver!” Phoebe threaded her arm through Frankie’s as Pippa and Lina surrounded them on both sides. Teresa followed behind with Bristol, leaving Liam alone with Kerri.
“She’s great,” Kerri observed as they watched the women walk away.
