Page 25 of One Last Verse

The room felt small. The entire house felt small. The world suddenly wasn’t big enough for the two of them.

My stomach quivered and my breath caught. I didn’t know what to say or do, because this, the battle against all the vices that drove people to their graves early in life, was new territory for me. Sure, I’d seen what it did to my father, but I had no idea how to fight it, because I was scared of it.

Frank drew away from my touch and moved to the center of the office. He stared at the glass in his hand, his chest rising at each strained inhale.

“Some kind of friend he is, huh?” His voice was a chill against my bones. His clouded gaze flicked over to me.

Wave after wave of angst flowed through the room. I felt it wrapping around my neck like a rope, squeezing me, cutting off the air.

“Frank,” I squealed, trying to breathe through yet another episode of brain freeze. “You don’t have to do anything about it today.”

“Sure, I don’t.” He scowled. “Then they can all get a head start on stealing what’s mine.”

I wasn’t prepared for what came next. Frank hurled the glass and it shattered when it hit the window. My body shook with awareness. He hurried out of the office without looking at me, and I followed him on a whim. We didn’t speak. It was a silent run through the house as he marched past the paintings lining the walls of the hallway, leading us to the east wing, where his studio was.

I didn’t have the right words, but I was too scared to leave him alone. Hannah wasn’t around and Janet and Billy had gone back to Arizona for a few days to give us space. If Frank planned on acting stupid, I needed to be near to at least try to stop him.

“I want to be alone for a while,” he said when we reached the studio.

I halted. My heart unhinged at the sound of his words.

Tilting my chin up, I asked, “Should I pack?”

Frank looked at me and confusion came into his eyes. They roamed my face in search of something, but I had no idea what. “No.” Then came a slight shake of his head. He pulled the studio door open and disappeared inside.

I was left standing there by myself. No explanations. No apologies.

A small fraction of me resented Frank Wallace at that moment because my gut told me that this was the beginning of the end. Our end. I just didn’t want to believe my gut. For once, I wanted my instincts to be wrong.

Chapter Four

He crawled into bed at sunrise. The mattress dipped under the weight of his body as he settled against the pillow. Soft fingers reached for my hair.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, doll,” his voice, low and flat, came from above.

My chest felt heavy and my stomach squeezed. I hated everything about Frank’s tantrum, but at the same time, I worried for him like crazy. My emotions had been at war the entire night. My pride told me to leave and let him stew in his anger. My heart had a different opinion.

“You didn’t deserve it,” Frank whispered as if he’d just read my mind. His knuckles brushed my cheek.

I rolled over to my back and stared up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me about the surgery?”

“I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“Really? That’s your excuse?”

“You have your hands full.”

“That doesn’t mean you should hide things from me. That’s not how it works.”

Frank was silent. His gaze wandered around the bedroom aimlessly. I’d left the shades up when I went to sleep and daylight was slowly creeping inside through the massive window. The ocean rumbled softly as the clouds of morning fog floated lazily across the sky.

Sensing his tension, I sat up and studied his face. “You wanted me near, so here I am. Talk to me.”

His features remained hard, his eyes dark and stormy. “The doctor said there’s a risk the plate fragments could reach the artery.”

Dread prickled my spine. I needed a moment to process. “What does that mean?”

He dismissed my question. “It’ll be fine. It’s only a temporary setback, doll. The surgery should take care of the problem.”

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