Page 21 of Say You Will

I refuse to be the one to pull away this time. Instead, I move my lips up to speak against her temple. “I missed you, Franki.”

“I miss you too,” she whispers.“Miss you,”not“missed.”The difference feels significant.

She backs away, and the loss of her arms around me leaves me cold and hollow once more.

She smiles, but her eyebrows are furrowed in a way that indicates sadness. “Still friends?”

“Of course.” Determination made of pure steel settles inside me. I have time to fix this and secure my wife before Grandmother’s ultimatum comes to fruition. “Until tomorrow, Franki.”

six

Franki

Achilles Come Down | Gang of Youths

Ijuggle my keycard, purse, leash, and rolling luggage as I escort Oliver from my hotel room with a half hour to spare for Henry’s nine a.m. pickup time. Backing up, I nearly run into a housekeeper’s cart and turn with an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

The housekeeper, a woman with dark hair highlighted with natural silver and scraped back into a tight bun, looks my way. “No problem.”

“I—Oh my gosh.Nanny?” I stare in joy and confusion when I finally look into her eyes.

Her own brown eyes widen as she takes me in. After a moment, her shoulders lower, and she asks tentatively, “Franki?”

“Yes!” I reach to hug her, and she folds me into her arms, hugging me back fiercely. “Oh, my girl. How have you been?”

“How have you been?”

We ask the question at the same time, then both laugh.

I don’t want to come right out and ask her why she’s working in housekeeping rather than in childcare. Maybe it’s a side gig or she became burned out. It’s not my place to intrude.

She smiles. “I’m hanging in there. Look at you, all grown up.”

“It’s nuts how that happens, huh?” I grin. “Things are good for me. I tried to find you on social media when I got older, but I couldn’t remember your last name and ‘Nanny Lisa’ didn’t help.” I laugh.

She puts her hand on my cheek. “It’s Bedford. Lisa Bedford, honey, but . . . I don’t use social media. You don’t need to bother looking me up.”

She pulls her hand back and glances behind me, looking for something. “Are you here alone?”

“I have Oliver.”

She leans down to pat him. “He’s a cutie.”

Oliver yips, and I crouch beside him, looking up at Nanny Lisa. “Would you let me take you to lunch sometime? I’d love to catch up.”

She hesitates. “It won’t cause problems with you and your mother?”

I shake my head. “Whatever went on with you and my father is ancient history and none of my business. She’s on the West Coast, anyway.”

Lisa grimaces and huffs. “Nothing went on with me and your father.”

We both straighten, and I try to make sense of her words. “Mom said you and Jonny—”

At Lisa’s look of distaste, I stop short. “Mom fired you because she was jealous about something that didn’t even happen? That’s horrible.”

“Your father had nothing to do with it.”

The look she gives me is weighted, as though she wants me to connect the dots. When I can only shake my head in confusion, she gives me a sad smile. “Honey, she was jealous of my relationship with you. She was gone for six months at a time on location. The last time she came home, she accused me of trying to steal you from her. She told anyone who would listen I told you to call me ‘Mommy,’ and I was pretending to be your mother.”

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