I liked what I'd managed to learn about him while we'd video-chatted the couple of times I'd joined him. When I squeezed his hand, he smiled down at me. "I'm good, Baby Girl."
Like Jake's dad, my grandparents being there was also a huge surprise. They'd sent me a card the week before and addressed it to Miss Frankie Curtis—at least it wasn't to Francesca. They'd done that the first couple of times, but Patience really did seem to be trying. The card had included a check with a ridiculous number of zeroes on it.
She'd wanted to buy me a car for graduation, but they'd seen the photos I'd sent them of the car the guys had surprised me with on my birthday. So the card had told me to make one dream come true. The whimsy of that had made me smile. I hadn't decided what to do with the money yet.
The heat slapped at my face as we stepped outside. There was a coolish breeze that made the shade tolerable, but I accepted my sunglasses from Coop. I didn't even know when he'd snagged them. He also had my diploma holder along with Jake's and Rachel's, apparently. He winked at me when I threw him a grin over my shoulder. Rachel had hidden a purse under her robe cause she was clever, but Jake had my wallet and I hadn't bothered with keys since I was with the guys.
They all had keys to the apartment.
I tucked my glasses on, then steeled myself with a breath. We'd all planned to do photos after, talk to our families, and maybe head out for lunch together. There was plenty of stuff we could do. I wanted to introduce Hank to everyone. He and Carly seemed to hit it off all right when she'd insisted he ride with her and Trina. I also wanted to rescue him if he was at all uncomfortable.
However, there was one thing I needed to do before anything else.
We circled the building and even with Archie and Ian ahead of me, I caught sight of the group that made up our families. Well, I spotted Jake's sisters first who were staring at those crowded together with worried expressions.
Jake's hand flexed around mine and he pulled ahead. He had to have spotted them too. When I eased my arm from Rachel's, all she said was, "Do you have this?"
I locked gazes with Maddy. Her eyes were so chilly, even at this distance they cooled off the heat of the day.
"Oh, I have this. Talk to you soon?"
"You know it."
Another hand squeeze and she cut away from us. Her family had gathered away from ours. Probably the smart ones. Coop narrowed the distance between us. Archie cut me a look, but I shook my head. He could deal with his parents. I would deal with mine.
A year ago, the idea of confronting Maddy terrified me. Even when I couldn't admit it to myself. I understood that any showdown with her would include tears, usually hers, and pain, usually mine, as she twisted every conversation around to how I'd done something to her.
Questioning her, or pushing her for answers, was tantamount to declaring war. It was always so much easier to just let it go. Smoothing things over and letting it go had been my modus operandi for years. All that had ever earned me was more pain and neglect. I didn't know why Maddy was the way she was, but her behavior and responses were not my fault. She'd put me—hell, she'd put us in this position.
Her choices had cost her. Who she slept with wasn't my responsibility and whatever happened between her and Edward? Well, they'd made their respective beds. They didn't get to demand the rest of us deal with changing their dirty laundry.
As we closed in on the group, I caught sight of Grandpa Ted standing with my grandparents. He looked almost protective, with his stance putting him firmly between them and Archie's parents. Muriel and Maddy glared pure daggers at each other. Ian's parents stood with Jake’s, while Coop's parents seemed mildly bemused by the drama unfolding.
I didn't spot Hank right away and my heart kind of bottomed out. The last thing I wanted was for Maddy to have chased him off. So, I headed straight for her. No pussyfooting around this particular issue. I didn't know what she hoped to accomplish here, but I wasn't interested in her games.
Not anymore.
You know what? Not ever again.
The breeze pulled at my robes as I marched straight toward Maddy. I could almost feel the anxiety rolling off my grandparents, but I didn't let that distract me. They'd walked away from me because Maddy threatened to kill me. Just what every girl wanted to hear, you know?
Even more, they enabled Maddy's destructive patterns of behavior. Could they have fixed it when she was younger? I had no idea. It might be naïve to even consider that had been an option. All I knew was I didn't have to suffer her anymore.
Someone was right behind me, but then I knew my guys. They weren't letting me wade into any fight alone. It also didn't surprise me when I caught dark hair from the corner of my eye. Archie and I had each other's backs when it came to our parents. He'd had to fight those first battles for me.
Fuck, that stupid country club dinner.
"Maddy," I said, not bothering to disguise the hostility in my voice even if I kept it cool. "I don't recall inviting you to crash this event."
The woman had the temerity to sniff once. "Frankie, I understand that you're angry with me. But could you really expect me to miss my only daughter's graduation?"
I snorted. Legit snorted, and didn't even attempt to disguise my disgust. "Your only daughter.
