Happenstance 2 (Happenstance #2)(14)
Author: Jamie McGuire

“Get a wet rag,” Mrs. Cup said, rushing over. She tried to help, but the paint was only smearing.

“Can I go home and try to get this out?”

Mrs. Cup looked at her watch. “We only have twenty more minutes. Go ahead. Don’t speed.”

Weston nodded and then hugged me and touched his lips to my cheek, letting his mouth linger against my skin for a bit.

“Don’t read anymore, Erin. She’s gone. None of it matters anymore.”

He walked quickly to his truck and started the engine. He pulled into the street, but after a few seconds, I could hear his engine rev.

A frustrated groan emanated from Mrs. Cup’s throat. “Boys.”

After another productive day at the mural, Mrs. Cup let us leave five minutes early. I drove straight to the Dairy Queen, parking next to Frankie’s Taurus.

The door on the BMW had barely swept shut when I heard Frankie’s screeching.

“What in the fricking frack is that?” she asked, pointing to my car.

I walked toward her with a sheepish smile. “My car.”

“Your car? Your car? Sam and Julianne bought you a BMW? Don’t answer that. The answer is obvious, but mother bear, Erin!” she said, following me into the back entrance.

I slipped my apron over my head and tied the back. “I know. Believe me, I know. So…can I talk to you a minute?”

All excitement left Frankie’s face, and she eyed me for a moment. “Yeah?”

“Julianne wants me to…She’s asked me to ask Patty to, uh…work less hours.”

Frankie watched me for a moment. “Are you quitting?”

“No,” I said emphatically and drawn out. “She said something about me enjoying my senior year and summer. She wants me to ask Patty for weekends off and to cut back my summer hours.”

“You’re okay with this?”

I shrugged.

“I mean,” she said, shrugging too, “of course you are. What teenager wouldn’t want more free time? Yeah. I mean, I’ll let Patty know you want to talk to her, but I get it.”

“You look mad.”

She waved me away. “Hell no. Not at all.”

“I know Patty might have to hire someone new. I’ll stay until they get trained.”

“I’ll do it. It’s no biggie.”

“You’re being weird.”

“Am not.”

A little girl with chocolate already all over her face came to the window. When Frankie didn’t acknowledge her, she knocked on it.

Frankie glanced at her and put her hand on the glass to block the sight of her. “Beat it, Milky Way, we’re talking.”

“Frankie!” I said, frowning. I opened my window and took her order. Her mother was waiting in a minivan, eyeing my car.

After handing her the two chocolate dip cones and an M&M Blizzard, I shut the window and crossed my arms. “You’re mad.”

Frankie was busying herself with cleaning already spotless countertops. “I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. Not in you. It’s always been you and me, you know? We’ve always kind of been in the same boat. Stuck here.”

“I like working at the Dairy Queen.”

“I bet you don’t say that when you’re my age.”

“Patty likes it.”

“Patty owns it.”

“Oh wow.”

“What?”

“Patty just pulled up.”

Frankie’s smirk prompted me to toss an empty cup at her. Her mouth fell open, and the site of Frankie made Patty’s initial cheerful grin disappear.

“Afternoon, ladies. Everything okay?”

Frankie bent down to pick up the cup. “Princess Alderman has a request.”

This time my mouth fell open.

Patty didn’t move her head. Instead, her eyes kept shifting back and forth between us. “Seems like it’s a good day for me to stop by. I was just going to let you know that my niece will be helping out this summer.” She turned to me. “I saw Julianne the other day, and she mentioned hoping you’d spend a little more time at home. Did she talk to you about it?”

I nodded.

Patty winked. “We’ve got you covered, sunshine.” She jerked her head to the side. “Beat it.”

My head moved forward, and my eyes bulged. “What? Now?”

“Yep! I have your shift today.”

“Oh no, Patty. Thank you, but I would give you more notice than that.”

She giggled. “No problem, as long as you’re okay with it. I’d already discussed it with Julianne, and we’re prepared. And she’s right. You’ve worked your little tail off. Now go be a kid while you still have a little time left.”

I looked to Frankie, who looked lost. “She’s right,” she said. “Go, kiddo. I’ll text your new hours after Patty and I talk.”

The urge to move didn’t come. I just stood there, dumbfounded.

Patty’s expression turned apologetic. “You don’t have to leave. I’m not kicking you out. Julianne only suggested it, and I assumed since Frankie said you had something to talk to me about, that was it. Was it?”

I nodded.

She grinned. “Okay then. What are you waiting for? Go get a pop at Sonic, or take Weston a dip cone. They’re still practicing, aren’t they?”

“Just a little longer. They have their last game the week after next.”

Patty looked to Frankie. “Make sure we take her off the schedule for that day. Weekends off too.”

Frankie agreed.

“I didn’t know,” I said to Frankie.

“I know,” she said. “It wasn’t fair for me to get all Medusa on you. I told you before that you should ease back on your hours. I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think you actually would. I’m just going to miss you.”

Patty held out her hand. “I need your apron, Erin. Have a good rest of the day!”

I untied the black strings at the small of my back and pulled the strap over my head, handing my apron to Patty.

“You’re still going to keep me on the schedule, right? I’m not fired?”

“Of course not, silly!” she said, playfully swatting me on the backside with the apron.

A car pulled into the parking lot, and Patty turned her back to me, opening the window and greeting the family walking toward her.

Frankie smiled at me. “I’ll see you next week. I’m okay,” she said with a forced smile. “I’m sorry. That was stupid.”