I loved the way they all loved each other, it was equal all the way around, and that was how it was for Mekhi, Jett and I. I used to dream of moving here with them and starting our family. I wanted Linda and the guys to all be involved with their grandkids. They had a huge house.
Linda and Henry didn’t disappoint, and the homemade pasta went down so well I was in a food coma after the third bowl. I was hungry and missed this.
“Stay the night, Mekhi will stay with Jett, and you can use your old room. It’s still there, I’ll run up and give it a little dust. But we never touched it.”
That was the one thing they had for me here, my own room. Linda, Michael and Henry all had their own as well. They had told me it helped to have space sometimes when you have so many in a relationship. They usually all slept in Linda’s room, it had the biggest bed.
But if one of them were working early or guess if one wasn’t in the mood, they would stay in their own rooms. I only saw Linda kick them both out once. I was worried, I didn’t want them getting a divorce or separating. I loved them so much, I was upset. But Henry told me it was okay, she just needed space for a night. And they were right. The next day it was the same as always, and that night they all went to bed together.
I just couldn’t believe they kept my room, after a whole year. Henry patted my hand.
“We knew you’d be back. You’re our daughter, Clare. With or without Mekhi. You are always welcome here. We love you.”
And with that, I burst into tears.
My own parents never told me they loved me, they never loved me the way the Edwards family loved me. I wish that Frankie could move back here with me, he would love it here. This would be the best place for Alex to be raised.
“Let it all out, love. I’ll run you a bath and get you a change of clothes ready. Don’t worry, you’re safe here, we’ve turned on the listening devices so no one can eavesdrop on you. All the words spoken here will be confidential. Only for us.”
I hugged Linda so tight, I didn’t want to let her go.
Michael ran me the bath, Henry found some bath bombs and Linda rubbed my back and told me that everything would be okay. They would take care of me now.
But now I cried for a different reason. I didn’t want to go back to Colorado. I wanted Frankie to come here, and I knew that wasn’t possible and I cried even harder.
Chapter38
Mekhi
Dad and pa had told me to stay away, but it was hard. I wanted to crawl into bed with Clare and snuggle with her like old times. But I knew the best thing we could do was let my parents take care of her. She needed it and…
“Let’s call Frankie.”
Jett jumped up off the bed and grabbed my shoulders. I laughed; he hadn’t been like this in so long. I missed this, him happy and bubbly.
“Yes, maybe we should talk to him. Let him know what’s happened today, that your parents are taking care of her. He’ll want to know that. We have to make this work with him.”
I texted Jade, she didn’t want to give out her sister's number but when we finally got through to Vicki, she told us we better be treating Clare nice or she was gonna come down and zap our asses.
I wasn’t sure what that meant, and she said, “ask Frankie, he knows.”
It took two turns of ringing Frankie before he would answer.
“Hello?” his voice was deep with sleep. Fuck, we woke him up.
“Hey, Frankie?” He cleared his throat. “Yes?”
“It’s Jett and Mekhi, we have you on speaker phone.”
There was a pause then, “is Clare, okay?” You could hear the worry in his voice.
“Yeah, she’s fine. With my parents tonight. They missed her, and she missed them. They’re taking care of her, I promise. She has her own room there, so she’ll be safe. I’m staying with Jett tonight.”
I could hear him shuffling and then a woman’s voice called out.
“Mom, go to bed.” They exchanged a few more words than we heard a door close.
“Sorry, I share a room with my little brother, and I didn’t want to wake him.”
