The officers agreed to leave things in the hands of the mayor, who assured them he would personally see to it that the boys were placed in care that evening. By the time they left, their radio had sounded several more times. Cameron paced the foyer, his irritation dripping off of him, pooling around all of them.
“Why don’t you boys go back in the living room?” Ryan suggested, pulling Frankie to his side. They said nothing, but shuffled away. Travis looked back before they turned the corner and stared for a moment at Frankie. Her stomach and heart twisted in opposing directions, wringing her out from the inside.
“I don’t want to be here when Leslie shows up. She’s a nice woman but I’m not interested,” Cam said. Ryan made a rude noise and started to step forward. Frankie pressed her palm against his stomach, stopping him.
“Thank you for calling her.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Thanks for calling the cops too. That was fucking genius,” Ryan said, running his free hand through his hair. They faced each other and Frankie couldn’t breathe through the tension.
“That’s the thanks I get for trying to be a good neighbor?”
“Bullshit. What were you doing here anyway?”
Cameron looked down at the floor. “We’ll talk about it another time.”
“Talk about what?” Ryan’s words were clipped and hard and his body was coiled tight.
Cameron looked at Frankie, a trace of regret in his eyes. “I’m sure that Leslie will do whatever she can and, if it means anything, I think that the boys will be okay. Sadly, the system is so overcrowded, they’ll probably keep them for the night and then beg you to take them back.”
He ran his hand through his hair and Frankie noticed for the first time that he looked weary. He started to say something then stopped. He pulled open the door and then turned again. “I’ll check in with you. See how things worked out. And I’ll put in a good word for you in the courts if things go that way and they want you to be their temporary guardian.” With that, he left.
Frankie sagged against Ryan, a small sound of desolation, helplessness, escaping her throat. His arms came around her and he held her tight, rubbed a hand up and down her back.
“Let me make some phone calls,” he said into her hair, still stroking her back. She leaned away from him.
“I need to go talk to them before Leslie gets here. Who will you phone?”
“My lawyer for one. Go talk to them,” he said, kissing her gently. No heat, just comfort, and she had the fleeting thought that it was almost as nice. Before letting her go, he gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “And for the record, that fucker stays away from you.”
She smiled, soothed by the tone in his voice. He hadn’t said the words to her earlier, but she suspected Ryan was falling every bit as much as she was. He walked toward his office when she went into the living room to find the boys curled up on the couch. Miles was sleeping, his head on Travis’s lap. Carter sat at the other end of the couch, his legs and arms crossed over each other. The chip he’d carried was back and bigger than ever. He looked her up and down, like he was painting her with blame.
“Why can’t we just go? Before that lady shows up?” Carter asked her, sitting up but keeping his arms crossed and his mouth in a scowl. Frankie hadn’t actually thought of that option but she knew it wasn’t the right one. Miles stirred and Travis sat him up.
“Because I promised that I would put you into care. It’s what I should have done from the first day I met you boys,” she admitted, sitting on the large ottoman. She pressed her hands together, linked her fingers, and leaned toward them.
“But you didn’t and now we’re stuck. I didn’t promise nobody anything,” Carter replied. He looked at Travis. “I say we go.”
“I don’t wanna go,” Miles whispered, still mostly asleep. He rubbed his eyes and dropped his head against Travis’s shoulder.
She said the words that she wished she’d said sooner. Goddamn her after-sighted clarity. “I don’t want you to go. I want all of you to stay. I was already looking into the process of becoming a foster parent. I will do everything I can to get you three back.”
Her voice didn’t falter but her heart did when Carter made a scoffing sound. Ryan walked back into the room, sliding his phone in his jeans. He looked at the three boys.
“After everything she’s done for you, you have the balls to doubt her?” Ryan said to Carter, frowning deeply. His gorgeous hair was sticking up at odd ends. It seemed impossible to believe that only hours ago she’d had her hands locked in it. Carter shrugged but wouldn’t meet Ryan’s gaze.
“They gonna split us up?” Travis asked, his voice small, his eyes landing on no one.
“I hope not. When my friend gets here, she’ll probably talk to all of you and us as well. I’ll ask her to speed up my paperwork so that you three can come back and stay together. I promise all of you, I’ll do everything I can. I didn’t mean for this to happen, but in hindsight, I should have been more prepared. I’m sorry.”
Travis looked at her but before anyone else could speak, Ryan stepped over to her.
“Don’t you dare apologize,” he told her roughly. He sat beside her on the ottoman, pulling her against his side again where she felt like she fit perfectly. Looking at the three boys, she knew how important it was to fit. Somewhere. With someone. It was the reason she’d left the Hamptons. And the reason she’d stayed in Minnesota.
“Why can’t you, like, pay someone off or something?” Carter asked, turning his glare on Ryan.
“Carter, shut up, man,” Travis said, giving his brother a cold look.
“Regardless of what you think, Carter, I can’t buy you guys out of this. Rules and laws are made for a reason and the best thing that Frankie can do is follow them so that this doesn’t happen again. I will help her do whatever it takes to get you back, but you need to know that if something doesn’t work out like she wants it to, or you want it to, it is not because of her lack of trying. I can’t, and wouldn’t, bribe our way out of this.”
The word “our” stopped everything; for a few seconds, her heart didn’t beat, her lungs didn’t pull in air, and time didn’t pass. Everything was suspended and in those seconds, she was no longer falling for him. She’d catapulted the final steps and crashed straight into Ryan, fully and completely in love.
“Ryan.” She didn’t know what else to say and he kissed the top of her head. The doorbell rang and Miles startled awake. His eyes landed on Frankie. Ryan went to the door, and the four of them remained still, staring in silence, each of them making their own private wishes for things to be different.