“Thanks,” he grunted. “And thank you for persuading him to come see me.”
“I didn’t do anything of the sort.”
Frank gave me a look that told me to cut the bullshit. “Please. We both know there’s no way he would’ve given me the time of day if you hadn’t intervened.”
I shifted in my seat. “You’ve only got yourself to blame for his stubbornness. It’s your DNA that caused it.”
“True.” Frank chuckled. “Poor kid’s more like me than he’ll ever admit.”
We fell into easy conversation for the next hour. It had been a few weeks since we’d last met up, so I filled him in on Xander and how his last deployment had been. He talked about work and a car he had his eye on. The last few years had seen him revisiting a hobby from his youth—buying old bangers and fixing them up.
Neither of us spoke about Dominic again, which was a relief.
“Mind if we stop?” Frank said as we passed a sign for the next services. “I skipped breakfast and I’m starving.”
“Sure.” I shrugged. It was a bit early given we had another five hours ahead of us, but Frank was driving, so I didn’t mind.
He pulled into a space and turned the engine off. “You mean a lot to me, you know that?”
I frowned at him. “Frank, are you sure you’re okay? You’re being weird.”
“Sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just… I want you to know that, okay? I know you’re not my kid, but I think of you like that. I hope you don’t mind.”
My throat thickened. “I know, Frank. I love you too, you big lummox. Now can we leave this mushy stuff behind? It’s fishing time.”
He gave me an intense smile. “I just want you to be happy. Okay?”
“Okaaay…” My frown deepened. “You’re starting to freak me out, Frank. Are you dying?”
“Ignore me,” he sighed. “Just getting sentimental in my old age. Did you want anything from inside?”
“I’ll come with you.” I reached down to unbuckle my seat belt. “Stretch my legs.”
“No,” Frank practically shouted before clearing his throat and smiling weirdly again. “You stay here and choose us something to listen to. I can get you whatever you need.”
Okay, I had zero idea what was going on with Frank, but whatever it was, he obviously wasn’t about to tell me.
After giving him my coffee order, I settled back in the seat and took out my phone. I ignored the temptation to pull up my message thread with Dominic, instead putting together a playlist for us to listen to.
“Took your time,” I said when the car door finallyopened, not looking up from my phone. “Was starting to wonder if you were picking the coffee beans to be ground instead of just ordering it.”
Frank didn’t say anything, just started the car. We pulled out of the space so swiftly that I knocked my shoulder against the window. “Frank, what?—”
The words died on my lips. Frank wasn’t beside me.
Dominic was.
“Surprise?” he said, having the grace to look sheepish as he joined the motorway.
I gaped at him, my brain not having had sufficient enough caffeine to keep up. “What the fuck?”
“Figured we could use some quality time together,” Dom said breezily, his eyes on the road. “You’re on a deadline, after all.”
I whipped my head around to look at the disappearing services.“Where’s your dad? Did you just abandon him there?”
“Course not,” Dom said. “He’s in Max’s car being taken home.”
The realisation that I’d been had swept over me. I slunk down in my seat. “Oh my fucking god. You two set this up.”
