I felt like my brain was going to explode. Literally. Everything that I thought I knew was wrong and I just felt horrible about it. I had been so mean to Frank, and here he was, just as sweet as I knew he was going to be. He had always been a good person. Always helped people. Why had it been so easy to think so ill of him?
I felt like there was a life lesson in there somewhere.
“So, that's not even his daughter? What about that woman?”
“No, he's not even related to her. He was just friends with the mom and dad. I'm not really sure what happened to the dad. Matt was from here, maybe you remember him, but as soon as Frank took Caroline, Matt just took off, and we haven't seen him since.”
“And the woman?”
“I think she's the maid or something like that. Maybe she's the nanny. I don't know. Frank's got way too much money, so he probably has one of each. She's just the woman that takes care of her and takes her to school while Frank is at work. Sometimes she watches Caroline overnight, but not that often. He's been single for years. Everyone thinks that he's been single since he took on that little girl. Nobody would blame him. It sure looks like he has his hands full.”
I was literally speechless. That's not exactly something that I'm known for, being quiet and all, but what was I supposed to say to that? The waitress didn't expect me to say anything. She didn't know the inner turmoil that was going through me at the moment. All she knew was that I needed some more coffee and she brought me some. How could a complete stranger named Gail completely change everything in my life with just a few words?
As I was leaving now, I was debating if I should call Gemma back and tell her that I didn't need the plane ticket. I needed to go speak to Frank, that was a given. How long it was going to take and what was going to come out of that conversation, was still up in the air. It wasn't something that I could just rush over there and do in ten minutes and then leave again for ten years. Because it was Frank and because we had this history together, and because I had been such an asshole, I knew that I was going to have to come up with a good plan. A really good plan.
I was sitting at my grandfather’s house, trying to come up with a plan, when I heard a knock at the door. First, I jumped up because I thought that it was Frank. He was the one person I needed to talk to. I needed to explain to him how I could have been so wrong and then apologize profusely and hope that he forgave me. It wasn't exactly something that I wanted to do, but I knew it was something that I needed to do.
It wasn't him, though. It was my grandfather’s lawyer bringing me the last of the paperwork. I had talked to him about putting the house on the market, but now, once again, I didn't know what to do. Everything hinged on a conversation that I needed to have with Frank. Everything had been fixed with one conversation with the waitress. It didn't seem that hard to comprehend that one more conversation would change it again. Which way, though, I had no idea. Nothing was making any sense, now. Everything that I thought I knew, twice I'd been wrong. I didn't know if I was able to do it a third time.
After the lawyer left, I was still trying to figure out what to do. I almost hoped that it was Frank that had come over earlier. It would have been easier. I would have been forced to say something to him, especially now that I knew the truth. I also had to call Gemma and tell her that I would take care of my own plane ticket. I didn't know when I was coming back. I wasn’t ever this wishy-washy, but I had no idea what to do next. No plan.
Gemma was worried about the new deal that was just struck, but I wasn't. If I was going to stay in Hampton, I had more than enough room to set up shop. It would not be the idea that I was looking for, the great fashion house in Paris, but maybe...
That was the problem. All of it hinged on a man and I didn't like that. Leaving Frank, though, was just as bad of an option. It really did feel like there was nothing good that I could choose. Either way, I was going to mess it up somewhere.
So, instead of worrying about what was going to happen next, I needed to focus on the one thing that everything was depending on. Whether I wanted it to be hinged on a man or not, really didn't matter. If there was a way that Frank and I could be together, I wanted it to happen. I had wanted it to happen for ten years, and I felt like walking away again would have been a huge mistake. I almost had because I didn't understand, but now that I did, how could I just pretend like all of these feelings I had would just go away? Or like they already had? They certainly hadn’t for me, and if he could forgive me, I really hoped that his feelings for me hadn't gone away for him, either.
When I finally did get up the courage to call him, it was rather late and he didn't answer. I didn't know if he was sleeping or if it was because he didn’t want to talk to me. I can't say that
