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Echoes of the Heart

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I remembered that it took a lot to get Frankie angry but when she reached that point, she was a force to be reckoned with.

I exhaled a breath, shut off the engine and climbed out. I locked the car up behind me and walked up the pathway that led to the cottage. I hoped she lived here still, it would be really awkward if I knock on a stranger’s door and they recognised me. Before I lost my nerve and chickened out like a little bitch, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door of the cottage where I once lived.

Relief flooded me when I heard a familiar voice after a few seconds say, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Frankie.” I said. “Risk.”

When silence stretched, I closed my eyes and sighed. I didn’t think she would leave me outside in the cold, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. I hurt her . . . I really fucking hurt her. I knew I did, I saw it on her face and in her eyes.

“Get lost, Keller.”

I winced, she had only ever called me by my surname when she was pissed.

“Please, Frankie. I’ve come to apologise.” I placed my hands on the frame of the door. “How I treated you last night was horrible. I was wrong and I’m so sorry. I’d take it back in a second if I could, Cherry.”

The door was yanked open and I stumbled back a step in surprise.

“Don’t call me Cherry,” she snapped at me, pushing her curly auburn hair from her face. “You don’t get to call me that when you hurt me like you did last night. What you did was horrible! Sorry isn’t good enough, Risk!” She glared. “You hurt me and you did it on purpose so don’t you dare act like—”

“Frankie, what the fuck happened to your face?”

CHAPTER NINE

FRANKIE

“Frankie?”

I looked up when Michael said my name. He was sitting right across from me on the other side of Mum’s hospital bed, but when he spoke it sounded like he was a great distance away. I didn’t think I had heard a word the man had said since I stopped by after my shift at work ended two hours ago.

“Huh?”

“Kid,” he smiled. “You’re miles away today.”

He didn’t know the half of it.

“Sorry,” I said, shifting in my seat as I felt a little stiff. “I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night.”

As soon as I clocked out of work after my run-in with Risk, I drove home, had a shower then I cried for most of the night. I kept replaying over and over in my mind how Risk looked at me like I was nothing and spoke to me like I was a random person on the street. How dismissive and cruel he was hurt me more than I ever could have imagined. Of all the times I imagined meeting him again, him being a mean-hearted person was never ever a consideration. I had never known him to have a cruel side, because of who he was raised by, but I guess he had forgotten about his upbringing over the years.

“Are ye okay?” Michael asked. “Wanna talk about it?”

I exhaled a breath. “Well, it’s just . . . Risk is home.”

“Is he?” Michael’s jaw dropped. “I had no clue.”

“He and the lads came home to attend the retirement ceremony for Mr Jones.” I explained, crossing my leg over my lap. “He stopped in at the diner for dinner last night and he was just . . . he said some things that just hurt my feelings. He’s . . . he’s different than the person I remember and I guess I’m just having a hard time with that.”

Michael’s frown deepened. “What’d he say to ye?”

“Nothing major,” I lied. “Just spoke down to me a little.”

I didn’t want to tell Michael the truth because since the night Risk and I broke up, he had been there for me through thick and thin. He and I had formed a strong bond and he was very protective of me. If he knew how Risk had treated me, Michael would probably go looking for him. He wasn’t a violent man, but I knew there was nothing Michael wouldn’t do for my mum and I so I kept the details to myself.

“Well,” Michael adjusted his glasses. “Maybe being in America for too long has swelled his ugly noggin’.”

Everyone blessed with eyesight knew Risk wasn’t ugly, far from it, but Michael’s jab at his looks to show he was very much on my side amused me.

I tittered. “Maybe you’re right.”

“If he comes ’round again, tell him to feck off. We don’t need the likes of that in Southwold.”

“Already ticked that box.” I bobbed my head. “I doubt he’d come back around, I told him exactly what I thought of him. I got the last word in too before I stormed off so I’m happy I didn’t just take it lying down.”



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