Page 65 of Gravity of Love
He considered giving her a hard time and claiming not to speak emoji, but he knew that she knew he had it.
“With a side of wisdom in the form of a warning about the dangers of excessive caffeine and sugar,” he replied, dropping her preferred bottle of cold brew that was exclusively stocked in the ER staff vending machines onto the counter beside her. “You’re welcome.”
She swiveled, popped the lid off, took a swig, and then stared up at him with a smile from ear to ear. “I see you’re still in the business of saving lives.”
“What was the emergency?” he asked, referring to her 911 text.
“We need to debrief.” She patted the stool beside her.
He remained standing. “Debrief?”
“Yes, debrief.”
He wondered if she’d heard that his brother and father were in town. He didn’t know how she would have. No one in the hospital knew anything about his life. Especially his life as Liam Sterling. They knew Liam Davies. Dr. Liam Davies.
Instead of responding, he remained silent. He wasn’t about to offer up any information until he knew what she was referring to. That was a mistake people who had a problem with awkward silences made, he was not one of those people.
“The party?Frankie. First of all, everyone loved her. Like, loved her, loved her. She was a hit! It was unanimous. EvenAunt Jackie,and she doesn’t likeanyone.I’msupposed to have theinside scoop. I work with you. I knew Frankie before you did, or IthoughtI knew Frankie before you did, and I don’t know any more than Phoebe, Pippa, or Lina. That is a travesty. So, spill.”
Interesting, his brothers-in-law must not have reported back to their wives if Poppy was fishing for information. That was surprising. Liam assumed that would have been the first thing they did. It made him feel an unexpected inclusion that he hadn’t realized he was missing.
“There’s nothing to know. She’s my friend.”
Poppy blew a large bubble as her eyes narrowed. She popped it, chewed it, tilted her head back, and spit it with Olympic-level accuracy. It flew through the air in a perfect arch and landed with a thud into the garbage bin in the corner of the room, which sat at least ten feet from where she sat.
“Why weren’t you at the party?” Liam asked, since she’d never returned his call, which was not like her, he still hadn’t had a chance to speak to her about it.
“I was sick,” she responded almost before he got the question out.
“With what?”
“A bug?”
“What bug?”
“Twenty-four hour. Back to Frankie.” She immediately shifted the conversation away from herself, in another un-Poppy-like chess move.
What game was she playing? He knew she was lying, but he didn’t know why she was lying. When she came down with the common cold two years ago, and it turned into pneumonia, she texted him at least ten times every day asking if her symptoms were normal or if she was dying from “the black lung.” Every year when her seasonal allergies started to kick in, he got a call asking if a runny nose and itchy eyes were warning signs of cancer, or an autoimmune disease, or some other catastrophiccondition. His responses varied but typically ended with him diagnosing her with hypochondria. The fact that she hadn’t messaged him at all told him she was not sick. At least not physically.
After a minute or so of him remaining silent, her eyes widened. “Are you going to make me come out and ask it?”
“That depends.”
“Onwhat?”
“On if you want an answer.”
“Has anyone ever told you howirritatingyou are?” Poppy asked as she spun herself around on the stool, then stopped herself when she was facing him once again. ”Fine, is there anything going on between you and Frankie?Romantically? Ihaveto give the legitimates something.”
The “legitimates” were a name he and Poppy called his sisters, they also called themselves the illegitimates, which no one else in the family appreciated, but he and Poppy found hilarious and bonded over.
Knowing that his BILs hadn’t shared the information he’d told them made him feel more willing to open up and more trusting, which were not emotions he experienced often.
“Frankie and I grew up together. When she was four and her brothers were six her dad died, and her mom was hired to be a housekeeper and cook for our family. Frankie, her mom and the twins moved into the caretaker’s cottage on our property. I hadn’t seen her in over ten years until you showed up with her at my office. The next time I saw her was when I went to the bar. I brought her to Finley’s party because I wanted her to meet everyone. The next day my dad, or the man who I believed was my dad, who I also haven’t seen in over ten years showed up in Hope Falls. He came with Frankie’s mom. They are engaged and getting married on Saturday. Oh, and my brother Tristan is here too, who, up until a month ago, Frankie was engaged to.”
"Wait!He’sthe cheater? Tristan, your brother, isFrankie’scheater?”
It seemed Frankie had shared that she’d been cheated on.
