Page 30 of Better Watch Out
“He wouldn’t have let you go if he was the right one.”
Years of teasing from Frannie’s childhood came roaring back. There were too many nights to count when her mom would return home after her second shift at work to find Frannie crying from the mean words of classmates. Her mom would offer her variations of the same platitudes, trying to comfort Frannie, but as Frannie grew older it became clear that her mom wasn’t just saying it for her benefit.
He wouldn’t have left.
He wouldn’t have walked away.
He would know what a treasure you are.
The words were little solace to the pain of rejection and so Frannie vowed she’d do whatever it took to make sure a guy never did to her what her father did to her mom. She became extra picky when it came to dating, which, with a brother in law enforcement, wasn’t too hard to do, but when she got to Anderson, she’d fallen for Calvin.
“Viv says you’re flying to D.C.?”
“I was supposed to, but there was a snowstorm.” Frannie was grateful her mother didn’t push the subject. “I’m waiting for the airline to call me back to reschedule.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come home? I’m sure Lane and Ms. Byrdie would love to have your help at the café.”
Thinking about Dale McGill’s text message made returning to Walton the last thing she wanted to do. “I’m excited to spend time with Vivian and Jisoo. They’ve already made plans for me and I think it’ll be a nice distraction.”A necessary one.
“Okay … but promise me you won’t let this keep you from coming home. Things like this happen and it doesn’t—”
A knock at her door pulled Frannie’s attention from her mom’s words. “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate it but someone’s at the door and I need to get ready to check out.”
“Okay. Please keep me posted on where you’re going to be and all of the flight details. I don’t like the idea of you being there all by yourself.”
And now Celine Dion was singing “All By Myself” in Frannie’s head. She preferred Michael Bublé on all accounts.
“I will, Mom.” She made it to the hotel door. “Talk to you later.”
Ending the call, Frannie peeked through the peephole and then jerked her head back. What?Not again.She looked again, hoping she was hallucinating, but nope. Through the distorted view, on the other side of the door, Star-Lord had returned.
ChapterTwelve
Athump sounded from the other side of the door and Andrew’s pulse spiked. “Frannie? It’s Andrew. Andrew Bishop from Defensemen. Are you okay?”
Most of the night, he and Brayden switched between sleep and making rounds by Frannie’s room. Around midnight, his attention shifted from her safety to the weather. By four, the airports in New York and New Jersey were closed. And any hope he had for Frannie flying safely out of New York had been buried under nearly nine inches of snow.
Frannie wasn’t leaving New York today, which meant he was on duty.
The lock clicked and Frannie opened the door, standing there in pink thermal pajamas. He squinted. Were those reindeer … jumping rope?
“Ahem.”
He yanked his gaze away from her pajamas but his embarrassment kept him from meeting her eyes. He focused on the soft strands of blonde hair that had slipped free from the braid hanging over her shoulder. “Sorry. Reindeer games. I get it.”
She pulled the door to her hotel room closer, affectively hiding most of her body. “You can let my brother know I won’t be needing an escort to the airport today. My flight’s been cancelled.”
The waver in her voice pulled his attention straight to her eyes. They were glassy and rimmed with red like she’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?” There was no good reason for his defenses to go on alert because of tears but that didn’t stop him from placing his palm on the door and taking a step closer. “Are you okay?”
She sniffled, using the hem of her sleeve to wipe at her cheek. “I’m fine.”
Andrew didn’t know what to do. He could see she wasn’t fine but pushing her for answers felt invasive. And he was already walking a fine line after being caught ogling her reindeer pajamas.
Focus, Bishop. After his conversation with Ryan last night, he had practiced what he was going to say to Frannie this morning. He hoped his planned explanation would be enough to keep her from asking questions that would force him to either lie to her or break another promise to Ryan. “Your brother told me you were planning to leave today—”
“I was.” Her tone turned sarcastic. “But in another ironic turn that is my life, the city decided to become a winter wonderland, trapping me here with no place to stay.”
