Crazy For You (16 page)

He hadn’t figured out the particulars yet, but the
details would come to him. Just like everything else had.

Early the next morning, Candy found little Frankie
downstairs watching television. He loved music videos as much as
she did, and the two of them often tuned in to MTV together.

She dropped onto the couch beside him and gave him a
big kiss on the cheek. “Started without me this morning, huh?” she
asked playfully.

Frankie wiped his cheek and looked at Candy, his
blue eyes heated with his annoyance over the kiss. The displeasure
shooting out from his eyes was so hauntingly familiar. It hit Candy
a surge of anxiety.

“They’re going to play Garrett-Hollander,” Frankie
said knowingly.

“Well of course they are.” Candy never got tired of
the irony over Frankie’s favorite band turning out to be
Garrett-Hollander. And she wasn’t surprised when the music to “Wild
She-Cat” filtered out from the television’s speakers. “See. There
they are now.”

Frankie zeroed in on the TV as Frank started to
sing.

She does her best work

Under the cover of night

And no matter what she tells you

She just wants to avoid the fight

You’re looking at her

But she’s looking away

And I can tell you it's going to cost you

Nothing is free here today

F
rank parked his Ferrari in
front of Roxanne’s house. In the highest of spirits, he grabbed the
brown teddy bear as he got out of the car. Jubilantly, he sauntered
up to the door and rang the bell. Feeling totally entitled, he
waited for someone to open up and let him in.

The door opened, and some guy stared blankly at
Frank. “May I help you, sir?”

“Yeah, I’m here to see Roxanne,” Frank said
insolently.

“Ms. Roxanne is still sleeping.” The guy made no
move to extend an invitation inside.

“I’d like to see Frankie then.” Frank wanted very
much to push his way inside.

“Frank...” Candy appeared from around the corner.
“It’s all right, Jameson.” She called him off.

“I want to see him,” Frank said to her. “I want to
see for myself.” He knew when he laid eyes on the boy, he’d know if
he was his. If it turned out to be true, Frank planned on telling
him.

Candy had to know it was useless to fight with Frank
or try to talk him out of it. With a bit of reluctance, she pointed
to the living room.

To his surprise, Frank found his son watching a
Garrett-Hollander video. He strolled to the couch and sat down
beside the boy.

Frankie’s eyes never left the TV. “Shhh...” He
gestured with a finger over his mouth. “This is my favorite band,”
he whispered a fair warning to be quiet while he watched the rest
of the video.

She’s a wild she-cat

And her heart is cruel

She’s a wild she-cat

You better watch your back boy

With the video just about over, Frankie cut his eyes
toward Frank. His eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open.
Frankie looked back at the TV and then back at Frank again.

“Do you know who I am?” Frank asked.

“Yeah.” Frankie nodded. “You’re my favorite
singer.”

Frank took off his shades and smiled. “Hi, I’m Frank
Garrett.” He offered his hand to Frankie.

“Wow!” Frankie exclaimed as they shook hands. “Your
name is like mine.”

“That’s true. Do you know why that is?”

Frankie shook his head.

“Because your mother named you after me,” Frank
said.

That statement confused Frankie. As far as he knew,
he’d been named after his father and his grandfather. But Frankie
was distracted by the bear Frank had and didn’t say anything more
about his name.

“Here,” Frank said, offering the toy to him. “This
is for you.”

Frankie reached out but he stopped short as a wry
look crossed his face, and he slumped back against the couch.

“What’s wrong?” Frank asked.

“My mommy says not to take gifts from strangers.”
His distressed expression showed his disappointment.

“I think it’ll be okay,” Frank said. “But just in
case, we’ll ask your mom.”

Frankie’s face lit up.

“Has your mom ever told you about your father?”
Frank asked, realizing Frankie did have his eyes. But he’d known
the truth the moment he walked into the room.

“My Daddy can’t be with us,” he told Frank. “But
Mommy says he loves me.”

“Have you ever met your father?” Frank wanted to
know if Roxanne had taught him that Kirk Bronson was his father.
“Do you know who he is?”

“I never met him…but his name is Frank.” His face
tightened. “He loves me. My Mommy said so.”

“She’s right, Frankie…I do love you.” A sad and
distant smile curved on Frank’s mouth. “I’m your father.”

“Frank Garrett!” Candy entered the living room.

“Don’t start, Candy,” Frank said calmly, putting his
Vaurnets back on. “Frankie—” He turned to the boy. “—Why don’t you
go upstairs and tell your mom I’m here, okay.”

“Okay.” Frankie nodded. “You’re not going to leave,
are you?”

“No, I won’t leave without saying goodbye
first.”

Candy watched Frankie run out of the room and then
she turned to the uninvited guest. “Frank...” she scolded him. “How
could you tell him that without talking to Roxanne first?”

“You know what Candy...?” Frank said in a less than
friendly manner. “He shouldn’t have to be told who I am.”

Frank had a point, but Candy remained forever the
optimist and eternally on Roxanne’s side. “You should have given
Roxanne the opportunity to tell him.”

“She’s had four years to tell him.”

“Do not use my nephew as a weapon in your vendetta
against Roxanne.” Candy glared at him. She was serious. It was
almost amusing.

“I have no intentions of hurting
my
son.” Not
that Frank needed to justify his actions. He hadn’t placed Candy on
his list of favorite people any more than Roxanne. He hadn’t
forgotten that Candy had gone to great lengths to help Roxanne keep
Frankie hidden from him. “What do you think? I’m some kind of
monster or something?” he asked as if she’d actually hurt his
feelings.

“Frank, he’s a wonderful child. Don’t take advantage
of that, okay?”

Candy seemed to be pleading for something, but what
exactly Frank couldn’t be sure. “Candy, I just want the chance to
be what I am to him—his father.” He stared at her through his
sunglasses.

Those few words overwhelmed Candy. She felt sorry
for Frank. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him right
now. Father and son had been deprived of each other, but Candy
didn’t blame Roxanne. It wasn’t her fault. More than anything else,
Roxanne was as much a victim as Frank or Frankie.

But Frank refused to cut Roxanne that much slack.
Not in this lifetime. As far as he could see, this was all her
fault. She alone would carry the burden and ultimately pay the
price.

Although he still didn’t know how to make that
happen, but with a little time he would find a way.

***

Chapter 15

R
oxanne stumbled out of her
bathroom, and crawled back in bed. She didn’t want to get up. Not
yet. She wasn’t ready to go out there and face the world.

She’d better talk to Frankie soon though.
Considering last night’s events, it wouldn’t take Frank long to
show up. And when he did, he’d be demanding an introduction to his
son.

Frankie burst into her bedroom. “Mommy...” He
bounced onto her bed, excited. “You’ll never guess who’s here.”

“Who?” she asked, sharing his enthusiasm.

“My daddy.”

“Your daddy?” Roxanne’s tone went weak. That thought
wiped the smile off her face. “Your daddy’s here?” she asked again,
trying not to show any fear. “Now?”

“Yes.” Frankie nodded. “And you know who he is?” he
added, as if the man’s identity would be news to Roxanne.

“Yes, Frankie, I know who he is.”

“You were right, Mom.” Frankie paused, deep in
thought. “He says he does love me.”

“Well of course he loves you. He would have been
here with you if he could.” She found herself wanting to, but not
fully capable of explaining why things were the way they were.

“I know, but he’s here now. And he wants to talk to
you.”

“He does?”

Frankie was silent for a moment, and then, as if a
memory struck him, he said, “Mommy...? What’s a wild she-cat?”

“A wild she-cat?” she repeated his words
delicately.

“It’s one of my Daddy’s songs.” Frankie proceeded to
sing it for her. “
She’s a wild she-cat and I’ve been a fool.
She’s a wild she-cat and you’re nothing but her toy.
”

Roxanne stuck her hand out to stop him. “I know the
song, Frankie.” He stopped singing and waited for an answer to his
question. “A she-cat…” her voice trailed off as she tried to figure
out how to answer that one.

“A wild she-cat,” Frankie corrected her.

“A
wild
she-cat.” She added extra emphasis to
the word
wild
. “Well...that’s just someone who isn’t very
nice.”

Frankie nodded slowly. After a moment of deep
thought, as typical of a small child’s mind wandering from one
topic to the next, Frank looked at Roxanne and smiled. “I’m glad my
Daddy’s back. Are you glad, too?”

What was she supposed to say to that? Roxanne could
feel herself easily losing this battle with Frank, and rather
quickly.

“Frankie...go back downstairs and tell your
daddy
—” She used the term loosely. “—to come up to my study
in fifteen minutes.”

As soon as the door closed behind Frankie, Roxanne
jumped up and ran to the bathroom for a quick shower. Once dressed,
she headed for her study.

The beach and her study, the two most peaceful
places on Earth for her. Even in her study though, she couldn’t
shake the feeling that Frank was up to no good. She declined the
notion of deluding herself that he would forgive her just like
that. This story didn’t have a happy ending. Of that, she was
certain.

Frank and Candy’s conversation had gotten a little
tense and he was thankful when Frankie returned. But without
Roxanne. That didn’t please Frank.

“My mommy says to come to her study in the fifteen,”
Frankie said to him.

“In the fifteen?” That confused Frank. He looked at
Candy for clarification.

“She probably wants fifteen minutes to get dressed,”
Candy translated.

Moments later, Frankie opened the door to Roxanne’s
study and led Frank inside. “Mommy, look who’s here.”

Roxanne smiled at her son, but when her eyes met
Frank’s steady gaze she lost all hope of this turning out well.

“Hello, Roxanne.” Frank’s greeting was a little too
polite.

“Hello, Frank.” Quickly, she looked back to little
Frankie. She didn’t want him to hear what she had to say to his
father. “Frankie…why don’t you go to your playroom and gather up
all your hot wheels, and maybe Frank will come in and play with
you.”

“Will you play?” Frankie asked excitedly.

“Of course, I will,” Frank said.

Frankie ran out of the room, filled with
anticipation. This was great. His mother and Aunt Candy played with
him all the time, but this was different because this was his
father. The one thing he’d always wanted, but the one thing he
never had.

Inside her study, Roxanne glared at Frank. “Close
the door, please.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Roxie” He did as she
asked.

Roxanne was overcome by sadness. She smiled but
couldn’t shake it. It’d been a long time since anyone had called
her
Roxie
. But she couldn’t let her incessant reminiscing
get in the way. “You might have discussed it with me before you
decided to share this revealing news with my son.”

“He’s my son too.” Frank refused to apologize for
telling Frankie what he should already know. He turned away from
her and scanned the books on the shelf. Without really looking, the
book still caught his eye. He pulled the thesaurus out from the
line of books and turned to her. “You still have this?” Was this
the book he’d given her such a long time ago? The fact that she’d
kept it stunned him. “I’m surprised you didn’t burn it!”

“Frankie,” she said, “I don’t deserve that.”

He gave her a blank glare before opening the book
and reading the inscription he’d written inside all those years
ago.

Dear Roxanne,

I just want you to know how much you mean to me. And
if writing is your heart’s desire, then consider me standing beside
you all the way. I love you with all my heart!

Forever, Frank….

Frank snapped the book shut. He couldn’t allow his
feelings to get in the way. Not now. Not when it was going to be so
easy to attain the goal he’d been coveting for five long years. He
had to keep in mind that he had only one objective. To torture
Roxanne. Nothing mattered but making her pay. Nothing else. Not
even his true feelings.

“When were you going to tell him? In your own good
time?” he questioned her bitterly.

“I just thought we should tell him together.” For
the first time, she saw a real possibility that he could turn
Frankie against her.

He put the book back in its place on the shelf, and
turned toward her. “Well—” He laughed at the irony. “I’ve learned
from experience not to believe anything you say. Or anything you
let other people say for you.” Frank’s anger chased away what
little amusement he was feeling, and his fury thundered out in his
overpowering voice. “So why in the hell should I believe you
now?”

“Please don’t turn him against me.”

“Roxie,” he said in a much calmer voice, “I just
want the chance to be his father.”

Roxanne clasped her hands together in front of her
face in a prayer-like stance. “He’s all I have in this world.” She
looked at Frank, wanting to see his eyes but those damned
sunglasses were in the way.