She hesitated. “Maybe I will take that coffee.”
“All right.” He went into the kitchen. Scout was in there, eating.
Frankie followed. As he got a cup out for her, she leaned on the counter and tried to find the right words. But there weren’t any that were going to make this easier. “I like you a lot, Lucas.”
“Uh-oh. Sounds like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”
“Not exactly. Not like you think. It’s just that…as much as I want to stay here, as in move here permanently, I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I want to be upfront about that with you. There are a lot of things that need to take place before I can move here. And long-distance relationships don’t usually work.”
He put the coffee on the counter next to her, then got out the sugar and creamer. “What kinds of things need to happen?”
Scout left, going out to the living room.
“Two big things, really.” Frankie fixed her coffee while she talked, happy to do something with her hands. “One, Harper needs to decide to move here, too. It’s her house. I can’t just move in there without her. I wouldn’t feel right about it. I doubt I could afford to live there on my own anyway. Which brings me to the second thing. I have to figure out the financial side of all of this. Moving here means I’d have to resign from my job.”
“Could you look at schools around here? See if any of them are hiring?”
“I could. But I’d think most schools, if they’re hiring, have already done that. It’s the middle of the summer. They’d need to get someone up to date pretty quickly.”
“Right. But you never know until you look.”
“True. And I can.” To be honest, that wasn’t the direction she’d wanted to go in. “But I wasn’t thinking I’d go back into school administration. I’m pretty blessed to be at my current school. It’s a charter and doesn’t have a lot of the problems most public schools do.” She’d heard nightmares at some of the admin conferences she’d been to.
“Schools around here are pretty good. Not all, of course. But there are some private schools. And charter schools. They should be all right.”
“They should be, you’re right. But I was hoping I could make my graphics business a full-time thing.”
He smiled. “That’s a great idea. I bet you could do that no problem. You’re so good, Frankie.”
“Thanks.” She sipped her coffee. “I think I could do it, with some hard work. But it means I wouldn’t have insurance. Unless I paid for it, of course. But that’s pretty pricy, so I’m sure it wouldn’t happen for a while.”
He nodded, crossing his arms over his torso as he stood across from her. “It’s definitely expensive, but I’d be happy to tell everyone I know about you.”
She smiled. “You’ve done that already and I appreciate it more than you know.”
“Frankie, a quick mention on a live broadcast is barely scratching the surface of what I can do. I’ll email all the influencers I know, I’ll post a link on my website to your website, and I can even give you more airtime on my next show. That’s just for starters. We can set you up with some social mediaaccounts and get them active, too. Promote your business that way.”
“Lucas, you are a kind and generous man. But…my divorce was very expensive. I nearly lost everything. My attorney’s fees were astronomical. I’m going to be paying them off for a long time. I need to make a certain amount of money every month just to make that payment.”
His eyes narrowed, but he stayed quiet.
She wished she knew what he was thinking. “I’m just telling you all of this because I want to be open and honest with you. I would love for this to work. Truthfully, I feel like if I don’t make this change in my life, I might never get a second chance.”
That was putting a lot on him. But she wanted to be honest. She picked up her cup again and drank.
Lucas leaned back, putting his hands on the counter behind him. “I want you in my life, Frankie. I don’t care that we’ve only known each other for a short while. I’ve already come to realize that you’re an important person to me. Tell me what I can do to help.”
She smiled at his sweet offer. “Convince Harper to stay?” She laughed without much humor. “That’s something she has to decide for herself. I know that.” She sighed. “I don’t know what you can do to help, but it’s kind of you to offer. I just need you to know what’s going on with me.”
He opened his arms. She set her cup down and walked into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and bent his head against hers. “We’ll figure this out. I don’t think we were brought together just to be pulled apart again. There’s a way to make this all work. I know there is. I believe that.”
She leaned into him, the comfort of his arms something she hadn’t felt in so long. It was good. Better than good. It made her feel safe and wanted. She could not give this man up. “I want to believe that so much.”
His hands slipped to her arms, and he pulled back to look at her. “Will you let me help? Let me send out some emails and give you a shoutout and anything else I can think of?”
She smiled. How could she say no to him? She needed the help. Scout came over and sat near them, looking up at them like she wanted something. Frankie nodded. “Any help would be great.”
“Which reminds me—you still haven’t invoiced me for the logo.”
