To be honest, she was as baffled as Joyce was that Mitch had talked to her. Had her apology meant that much to him? She doubted it.
Which left only one other explanation that she could think of.
There was more in Arlington’s letter than Mitch was letting on.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Frankie used her tablet and stylus to sketch out the first illustration for the children’s book. When she was happy with it, she’d transfer the work to her laptop for finetuning.
She worked on the back deck, enjoying the view and the warm weather and the soft breezes that made it all bearable. Archie had come with her, too. He was lying on the deck, stretched out on his side, sleeping in a narrow strip of sunlight.
What a life this was. If not for all her responsibilities and the need to earn a living, she wouldn’t leave.
Harper might have something to say about that, however. Especially after last night’s discussion.
It hadn’t escaped Frankie’s notice that Harper had left the house pretty early this morning. Before Frankie had even come down. Whether or not Harper was deliberately avoiding talking about their mother, Frankie couldn’t be sure, but it was definitely the first thing that popped into her head.
The slider came open and Harper peeked out. “There you two are. Beautiful day, huh?”
Frankie nodded in agreement. “Very. I love working out here. It’s almost like not working at all.”
Harper laughed. “Archie’s not bothering you then?”
“Archie’s been comatose since about five minutes after we came out here.”
“He knows how to live, doesn’t he?”
“I’ll say. Where did you get off to?”
“I went next door to return Joyce’s container. You want an apple cinnamon muffin? She sent me home with four of them. They smell great.”
“Joyce of the oatmeal bars?”
“The one and only.”
Frankie nodded. “I could take a little break. But no more coffee. I’ve already reached my limit.”
“Oat milk?”
“Not even if I had a mouthful of sand.” Frankie set her stylus aside. “But I could use some water.” She got up. “I’ll get it.”
She went in behind Harper, both of them headed to the kitchen. “You were over there for a while. Joyce must be the chatty type.”
“Joyce wasn’t there until the very end, but Mitch was. We had a much better interaction than I expected. He actually invited me in for coffee and we talked a little.”
Frankie had a hard time believing that. “The same guy who yelled about Archie?”
Harper took the lid off the muffin container. “The same guy. I did apologize and tell him I was sorry we’d gotten off on the wrong foot. Not sure if that’s what changed things, but I suspect it had something to do with the letter Arlington left him.”
“Could be.” Frankie got a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with ice and water from the dispensers on the fridge.
Harper took two muffins out and resealed the container, then got herself a glass of oat milk.
Frankie had no idea how anyone could drink that, although looking at Harper’s figure made her slightly curious. Could oat milk really be the secret to looking that good? She prayed that it wasn’t.
They took their drinks and muffins out to the deck. Archie had changed positions but didn’t seem to be any more awake than he had been before.
They sat on the couch, using the coffee table for their mini-meal.
