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I frowned. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” Then, of course, the penny dropped. “Oh, you mean Tilly.” I laughed, but I soon stopped when I saw the look on Frankie’s face. Was he jealous?
“Yeah, Tilly.” He looked down at his mug.
“Tilly is my younger sister. We met for lunch while she’s home from uni. I don’t get to see her often, but she wanted to talk about our dad.”
“I didn’t know. Thought you’d got a girl on the side.” His ears turned pink, and a gentle blush spread to his cheeks. He looked adorable.
“I don’t, just me.” I told him, but then an idea formed. This was either going to be great or a complete disaster. “You can say no if you want to, but Dad’s having his end-of-season barbecue on Saturday. Would you like to come along? You can meet the whole gang”
What was I doing inviting him and subjecting him to my brothers and sisters? It’d be a baptism of fire, but he’d told me last night he had no friends. I could be that person, if he would let me. Isn’t this what friends did?
“I, erm, wouldn’t want to intrude, and we barely know each other.” He looked at his gran for support, but the smile on her face and the subtle nod told me she thought it was a good idea.
“What better way than at a family gathering? You would hit it off famously with Tilly. I would say Freya, too, as she’s a similar age to you, but she’s in Cyprus with her boyfriend. Sorry, it’s probably too soon? And now I’m rambling.”
I hadn’t asked anyone to meet the family for such a long time and now it was my turn to redden. I’d more or less ambushed him into meeting my family.
“When is it again?” He twisted his hands in his lap, and my heart sank. I shouldn’t have said anything.
“No pressure. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I just thought it might get you out of the house. Meet some new people.”
“Frankie,” his gran said, “it’s about time you got out of that house and from under their rule. This lovely young man here is offering a day out, and one I think you should go to.”
“Can I come?” Logan swivelled on his bottom to face us. “I like barbecues. Will there be burgers and sausages?”
“I guess if it’s okay with Mac, you can come. Would it be okay?” Frankie looked at me, but I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
“Absolutely. The more the merrier, and there’ll be other kids there to play with. I can pick you up around midday.”
“From here, though. Not home.” Panic laced his voice.
“If you’d prefer. Now that’s settled, what are we going to do about Brian and your mum?” I sat back and listened to him and his gran talk about what they thought was best before they finally agreed to say nothing to his mum.
“What about Brian?” he asked, and there it was again, that glint of fear in his eyes. What was it about Brian that scared him?
“You let me deal with him,” his gran said. “I know just how to handle men like him.”
Talk turned to other things. His gran filled Frankie in on what was going on in the street. I missed this. My grandparents had long since passed, not long after Mum died. When that happened, the world stopped for a while. How I’d have loved to gossip with her and them too, but I never got that chance.
Tired from sleeping in my car the night before, I yawned. I needed more sleep, so I made my excuses with a promise to see both Frankie and Logan the day after tomorrow.
“You don’t need to bring anything with you. Just yourself,” I said as we stood on the front step.
“And Logan.” He gestured back into the house where Logan was still sitting in the front room. “Look, you didn’t have to say yes. I know he’s a handful.”
“I think it’ll do you both good, and I’m glad you said yes.”
“Really? You weren’t just feeling sorry for me?”
“No. Why would you think that? I’d like to spend more time with you. Get to know you. What makes Frankie Dodds tick. Oh, and Dad has a piano.”
His eyes lit up. “Then count me in.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
FRANKIE
Logan and I stayed with Gran for the rest of the day. We ate fish and chips, played games, and for once, I could relax without the fear of what Brian would do.
