Chapter 6

“Mom!” Frankie burst through their apartment door, screaming. “Mom! Where are you?” panic filled her voice as she frantically called to her mom.

“Frankie! What’s wrong?” Rachel emerged from the hallway bathroom, zipping up her jeans in a hurry. “Is it your ankle?”

“Mom, no!” Frankie shouted as she hobbled on her crutches, maneuvering their living room’s obstacle course. “You have to keep looking! Mom!” tears were threatening to spill down her face. Unable to stop her momentum, she crashed into her mom, spilling her unceremoniously onto the sofa.

“Honey, what on earth are you talking about?” Rachel scrunched her brows and set herself upright on the overstuffed beige cushions and smoothing the wrinkles that didn’t exist on the front of her purple t-shirt that read “I drink coffee for your protection” across the front.

“The sign!” Frankie pointed at the door like that explained everything. “I saw the sign!”

“What sign?” she asked incredulously. “Do you mean the song “The Sign” by Ace of Base?” Rachel started humming the chorus to the 80s tune.

“No! Gosh, Mom! The SIGN out front!” she demanded, stomping her foot, the one with the injured ankle, and grimacing.

“Again, I ask, what sign?” she asked sharply.

“The For Rent sign,” her expression had duh written all over it. “Please, Mom, don’t give up on finding a job yet.”

“Oh, Honey, it’s okay.” Rachel smiled sweetly, relief washing over her face. “Relax, and sit down” she patted the seat next to her and rearranged a few throw pillows to make room for her daughter.

“How can you tell me to relax?”

“Because you are overreacting.”

“But you put the apartment up for rent already!” Frankie’s world was crashing around her; all her mother could do was placate her.

“Honey, that sign isn’t for our apartment. The apartment for rent is Mrs. Zimmer’s apartment across the hall.”

“What? It isn’t….”

“No, I would do that without telling you first.” Rachel smoothed her hand along Frankie’s back. “Mrs. Zimmer is moving to Arizona with her daughter. She is moving, not us.”

“Oh, wow. Okay.” Frankie fanned her face in relief. The adrenaline rush began to subside. “That was close!”

“I do have something to tell you, but I was going to wait until dinner tonight. I thought we could go to Firetti’s?” Rachel questioned her daughter.

Frankie raised an eyebrow, “We only go to Firetti’s for celebrations or bad news.” The knot that had been relieved in her stomach returned. She felt the news wasn’t what she wanted.

“I might as well tell you now since you have already gotten yourself worked up over the sign.”

“What is it, Mom?”

“Well,” Rachel began slowly, “You know I have been looking very hard to find a job here in Holly Springs.”

“Yeah,” beads of sweat began to form on Frankie’s forehead. Her palms got clammy, and she rubbed them up and down on her pant legs.

“It hasn’t been easy, as you know,”

“Yeah,” Frankie’s voice fell an octave.

“Well…” Rachel tilted her head to the side, considering how she should break the news to her daughter. “I accepted a position as Accounting Supervisor over the entire hospital at Valley Medical Center.” She exclaimed in one big breath.

“Wait! What?” shock washed over Frankie. “What does that mean?”

“That means we aren’t moving, Kiddo!”

“Oh my goodness! Really?” she grabbed her mom in a tight embrace.

“Yes, really!” Rachel sputtered, “But I can’t breathe, Frankie! Loosen the bear hug!”

“Can we still go to Firetti’s? Can Faith come?” Frankie let loose of her mom’s shoulders and bounced in her seat. “Oh, can I invite Steve too? Please?”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Sure, Honey, it’s a celebration! Let’s go pig out on Italian food!”

Frankie grabbed her cellphone and crutches and trotted her way down the hall to her bedroom. She quickly dialed Faith’s number and fell back on her bed, thinking how her life had taken such a turn in a few short minutes. She didn’t have to move! She didn’t have to give up her best friend or her boyfriend. Life couldn’t get any better.

☙☙☙

Thank you for inviting me to the celebration. He was perfect.

“You’re welcome, Steve. It wouldn’t be a celebration without Frankie’s two favorite people here tonight.” Steve chuckled under his breath, and Faith beamed a wide smile.

“Mom…” Frankie blushed. Leave it to her mom to embarrass her. She blushed a lot around Steve. She was thankful for the dimness of the restaurant to hide her flaming cheeks.

Their waiter, Antonio, took their order and filled their water goblets, and Frankie sat back in the tall, velvet-cushioned seat to soak in the surrealness of the day. She went from thinking her life was over in one minute to sitting in the most romantic restaurant in town with mom, boyfriend, and best friend, celebrating that she wasn’t moving across the state just a few hours later. Life was good.

She loved this place; the atmosphere of Firetto’s made her feel like she had stepped off a plane and landed on the streets of Italy. Twinkle lights sparkled overhead, replica MichaelAngelo marble statues filled dark voids in the corners of the room, and every table was adorned with beautifully lit candle centerpieces. A fountain in the center of the room tinkled quietly while an Italian opera played softly from hidden speakers to complete the desired effect. Once you toss in the fantastic aromas wafting from the kitchen, a magical experience is created.

“Uhm, Faith, what are you doing?” Frankie stared at her best friend as she sliced her meatballs into tiny little pieces, meticulously placing them in a pattern atop the mound of spaghetti on her plate.

Faith beamed a wide smile at Frankie and her mom. “Celebrating!” she exclaimed as she turned her plate to face them. She had arranged the morsels to spell Yippee in meat.

“Faith, you are such a meatball!” Frankie teased but secretly was ecstatic too.

Frankie mused it was a perfect night as a smile crept across her face.

“What are you thinking, Sweetie?” Rachel inquired. “You have a twinkle in your eye that I haven’t seen for quite a while.”

“Just how perfect tonight is. You found a great job here, so we don’t have to move. I don’t have to give up my best friend and boyfr-“

“Faith? Frankie?” a male voice interrupted Frankie’s recounting of the goodness in life.

“Mr. Winters?” Frankie slowly turned toward the voice behind her. Her teacher crashing her night was not fitting into her plan of life being perfect. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard this place has the best Italian food in town, so I wanted to check it out.” His voice was velvety smooth, but she still didn’t like him.

“That’s him!” Faith squealed in a hushed tone that everyone could still hear, leaning toward Rachel, who was utterly ignoring Faith. Rachel stared at their teacher, unable to speak for a moment.

“Oh, yeah, Mom, I forgot to tell you in all the excitement since school let out.” Frankie’s stated in a droll voice. “This is our new English teacher, Michael Winters.” She turned back to her teacher. “Mr. Winters, this is my mom Ra-“

“Rachel Templeton, I can’t believe it. After all these years,” he said in astonishment. “Is that really you?” his face turned as white as the linen tablecloth, but his smile was toothy, and his eyes danced in the candlelight.

“Rachel Montgomery,” she emphasized Montgomery a little too sharply as she extended her hand in greeting. Noticeably, she gave him the stink-eye insinuating, “now is not the place.” Frankie knew that look well and was glad she wasn’t on the receiving end of it for once.

“Uhm, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he released her hand and straightened his tie nervously. “I hope to see you again at the school. Uhm, Parent Night, perhaps?”

“Yes, perhaps,” Rachel replied curtly.

“Enjoy your evening,” He bid them farewell and disappeared into the dimness of the restaurant.

“What in the crap was that all about?” Faith blurted out. The girl had no filter whatsoever.

“Yeah, Mom,” Frankie chimed in. “What was that all about? How does he know you? How does he know your name was Templeton?” she couldn’t stop the questions. Mr. Winters knowing her Mom’s last name from years ago unnerved her, but her mom’s reaction to him freaked her out.

Rachel shot her the stink-eye now, and Frankie knew she wouldn’t get answers publicly. She stared at her mom for a long moment, wishing she could read minds. The silence was awkward, at best.

Regaining her composure, she merely said, “Let’s order, shall we?” as she refolded the linen napkin in her lap. Rachel pursed her lips tightly, and that made Frankie nervous as hell.

☙☙☙

The ride home from Firetti’s was tense. Neither Frankie nor Rachel spoke. Frankie was allowing her mom to broach the subject of Mr. Michael Winters and her curious reaction to him.

Frankie could not recall her mom ever mentioning anyone from her past named Michael, but that didn’t mean anything. Frankie realized her mom had a life before she was born; she wasn’t that nieve, but the look she gave Mr. Winters told Frankie there was more there than a casual acquaintance. Clearly, they knew each other, but how?

Rachel pulled her Honda Civic into their apartment’s designated parking spot and cut off the engine. She sat quietly, breathing slow deep breaths with her eyes closed.

“Mom?” Frankie questioned. “What’s going on?” concern filled her voice.

She turned in her seat to face her daughter and took another cleansing breath. “Honey,” she began slowly, “I guess the best way to tell you this is just to tell you straight out.”

“Tell me what?”

“Your teacher, Michael Winters is your father,” she stated flatly. She did not elaborate; she gave no details. That was all she offered on the subject.

Suddenly, all the air in the car evaporated. Frankie dropped the To-Go cup of soda from the restaurant into the floorboard but could not make a move to pick it up. Stunned did little to describe how she felt at that moment.