Frankie swallowed and shook her head. She shouldn’t have read them. They’d only left her more conflicted. Her stomach was sour with nerves and indecision.
Just then, the sliding doors opened, and Archie came trotting out. Harper leaned through the opening. “Did you eat yet?”
“No, I was waiting for you.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
“One of Lucas’s omelets, but since that’s not an option, I won’t be picky.”
Harper rolled her eyes and laughed. “I was thinking some eggs over easy with some toast with cream cheese? We got that seedy bread yesterday. I bet it would be good toasted with a schmear of cream cheese on it.”
Frankie nodded. “All right.”
Harper stepped outside. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem like yourself.”
Frankie made herself smile. “I’m all right. Just…some emails from Shar.”
“Oh.” Harper stretched the word out, indicating she understood exactly why Frankie wasn’t herself. “You okay?”
“Not really, no.” Frankie sighed. “I was supposed to be doing work, but I read those instead.”
“And now you’re in a bad mood?”
“Not a bad mood, but definitely a mood.” She frowned and looked away. “This is my fault. I started this whole thing. I only have myself to blame.”
“Hey,” Harper said as she walked over and sat next to Frankie. “Don’t do that. It’s not your fault that Sharlene isn’t who you wanted her to be. She made choices in her life that had everything to do withherand nothing to do withyou. That much is crystal clear. If she’d been thinking about us, a lot of this wouldn’t have happened.”
Frankie glanced at her sister. “You really think so? She didn’t know our father and his friends were going to rob that bank.”
Harper scoffed. “Right.”
“You think she knew?”
“If you were married to a man who hung out with the kind of guys who thought robbing a bank was a good idea, don’t you think you’d at least be suspicious of them? These guys weren’t pillars of the community. They weren’t church deacons or little league coaches. She might not have known they were going to rob a bank, but she had to have figured something was up.”
“Maybe.” Frankie hadn’t thought about it that way. “But if you believe that, why do you want to meet Buck?”
“I told you, fair is fair.”
“But you also want to know the real dirt on Shar, don’t you?”
Harper shrugged one shoulder. “I want to know the whole story. We got her side, we should get his. No harm in that, is there?”
Frankie just sighed. There’d already been harm. What was a little more?
“Listen,” Harper said. “Why don’t we have something a little more comforting for breakfast?”
“Such as?”
Harper grinned. “Pancakes? We have that whole container of fresh strawberries. We could slice some of those up and with a little whipped cream…”
“Who are you and what have you done with my oat-milk-drinking sister?” Frankie laughed, instantly feeling better. “That sounds like exactly what I need.”
“Great.” She patted Frankie’s leg. “You can work after breakfast. You’re on strawberry-slicing duty.”
Harper got up and headed back inside the house. Frankie set her tablet and pen aside, grabbed her cup and followed.
Archie did the same, not wanting to be left out, undoubtedly.
