Trials and Tiaras (Untouchable #7) - Heather Long Page 0,50

worried. I can’t answer every single possible scenario with anything other than—we’ll work it out. Together. I’m not planning for failure, though. We’re a team, the five of us. That means sometimes one of us will sacrifice something for the others. But that doesn’t mean the end of the line, it just means getting creative so that once they get what they need, the others get it too.”

Dad had gone curiously quiet, so I looked at him after I squeezed Mom’s hand and sat back in the seat.

“Sir?”

“The axe forgets, but the tree remembers.”

I frowned, and even Mom gave him a look.

He shook his head. “Why you won’t bring Frankie here—the axe forgets, but the tree remembers. Our choices bothered her before. You don’t want them to bother her now because she has enough cuts to heal over.”

I nodded once.

“We’ll put the axes away.”

“Joe…”

“We’ll put the axes away, and we’re going to respect your choices.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he advised. “We’ll respect your choices, but you’re going to respect ours, as well. We love that girl. Maddy’s never done right by her, my worries about her mental health and emotional stability are honestly earned.”

I couldn’t argue that, except…

“But I’m not her psychologist. You said she is seeing one.”

One nod.

“Then I’m going to work on putting that hat away and just try to be her friend.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I told him honestly. “I think she would, too.”

“Good. If she needs any help at that emancipation hearing, I’ll be glad to lend my expertise.”

I grinned. “I really appreciate that. I think we have it covered, but if it becomes an issue, I’ll let you know.”

“Excellent. Now, family dinner nights, we’ll set one aside, and you can bring Frankie and the boys over. We should all get used to that. I think a couple of times at least before graduation. But I would like you to bring Frankie weekly if she’s free.”

“I’ll work on that.”

After that, the air at the table relaxed some as talk shifted to their work and some things they wanted to do around the house. A couple of the projects would eat up a few weekends, but we could probably get it done and still leave me time on other stuff.

“You should draft your brother boyfriends in to help, that will make everything go much faster,” Mom suggested as Dad and I cleared the table. I wasn’t the only one who paused to stare at her, and she gave us a look. “What? They aren’t your boyfriends, but you’re all dating the same girl, and if they want to call it sister wives when it’s the other way, I think brother boyfriends fits.”

I wanted to argue that so bad, and at the same time, I wanted her to never ever mention that around the guys.

Coop would have a field day.

“We’ll work on it,” Dad promised me. “The terminology. Just…understand the feeling is there.”

I laughed. “Thanks.”

“Anyway,” Mom continued as she rinsed the plates we stacked up. “If we draft your brother boyfriends into helping, you could fix the siding in no time and then get that new workbench finished up. Archie is good with tools, right? Maybe he could look at the lawn mower.”

By the time I was able to excuse myself to go to my room, I’d begun to regret ever mentioning this to my parents. They’d gone to the den to do research on poly-family dynamics. In my room, I checked my phone for the first time in hours.

Archie was back at the apartment. Frankie and he were tucked in for the night. Coop had gone home, much to his chagrin and complaints. Jake was giving him shit, and Frankie had flipped them off twice in the group chat before she’d stopped answering all together.

I sent her a quiet, private message. I wasn’t too worried about her not seeing it tonight. Like I’d told Coop the other day, she really needed him right now. She also needed Archie. That was how this was going to work. We all had our needs, and some of us would need more than others at different points.

My phone buzzed with her response, and I chuckled.

Frankie: How did dinner go? It ran late.

Me: We talked, a lot. You up for a family dinner here next week?

Frankie: For real?

Me: Yes, for real, Angel. Though, forgive Mom. She’s working on understanding terms to address our relationship.

Frankie: Um…do I want to know what that means?

So I told her. The laughing and crying emojis made me

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