Defiance and Dedication (Untouchable Book 9) by Heather Long

Author:Heather Long [Long, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

This One's for the Girls

Coop

For the rest of my life, this was a moment I would treasure. The moment when the hesitation and fear in her expression gave way to marvel and joy that Hank was striding down the sidewalk to greet her. He didn't wait at the door, and I swore the man was there before Frankie even made it out of the car.

I gave them a minute as he picked her up into a warm hug, then he was there offering to help me with the bags. Of course, the minute he saw all the presents he gave Frankie an affectionately scolding look. "You're going to spoil them."

"Maybe," Frankie declared. "But they just turned eight, so I have seven other birthdays to make up for."

Hank chuckled then gave her a sideways hug. A woman, most likely Kelly, waited for us on the porch. Like me, she was giving Hank and Frankie time to catch up. "Come on kids, you made good time coming up from the city."

"Well, we'd have been here earlier," she told him. "But I wanted to stop in Connecticut and look at a town."

"Just a random town?" Hank asked as he reached the steps. "Also, Frankie, this is Kelly." Hank grinned even wider. "Kelly, this is Frankie. I've been looking forward to introducing the two of you."

With her dark hair and dark eyes, she couldn't be more Maddy's polar opposite right down to the comfortable jeans, light colored shirt with a second, larger shirt layered over it. "I'm so glad you could make it," Kelly said in a warm tone with just a hint of a Bostonian accent. She held out her hands to Frankie. "And yes, I promised no hugs but ever since Hank found out about you, we've wanted to meet you and get to know you better."

My girl wasn't quite up to the hug, but she did take Kelly's hands and squeezed them. "I've been excited about meeting all of you, and well..."

"A little nervous?" Kelly suggested. "Come on inside. Don't mind the mess. The twins were in a tizzy this morning getting off to school and Chloe wanted to have the perfect outfit to be in for when she met you. I swear she had a fashion show."

"I'm sorry," Frankie apologized immediately. The living room didn't look that bad. The front door opened right up into it and it had a huge multi-sectional sofa and two recliners. The room seemed centered around the fireplace and the television mounted over it.

There was some home redecorating show on, but it was muted. Clothes were stacked somewhat haphazardly on one end of the sofa with at least four different pairs of shoes on the floor.

"Don't be," Kelly assured her. "Chloe's just been excited for so long. She loves to send you messages and that you answer her. Thank you for that, I know she can be a bit much."

"I think she's wonderful." The complete sincerity in Frankie's voice won Kelly over and the two shared a grin.

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