Page 78

Jack

A clatter.

That’s all it took for me to wake, my body crumpled up on the shitty plastic hospital chair. Willow was fast asleep in her bed to my left, her arm outstretched and hand in mine. How we’d fallen asleep like that, I wasn’t sure.

Shifting, I glanced to my right to find Frannie, sheathed in darkness, wrestling with her pillow and her top half hanging out the bed, her long ponytail grazing the floor and hunting for something on the floor.

Clearly unaware she’d caused a disturbance, she jolted when I crouched alongside her.

Her upside-down head snapped to mine as I focused under the bed.

“What are you looking for?” I muttered, keeping my voice low. Regardless, she still jumped at the sound.

“My Kindle. I dropped it when I was sorting my pillows,” she whispered. I pulled out my phone, illuminating the space beneath the hospital bed with the screen. Finding it on the other side of the bed, I stood.

“Back into bed, spider monkey. I’ll grab it.”

Holding my hand out, I eased her back into bed, before collecting her Kindle from the floor.

“Can’t sleep either?” I asked as I tucked her feet back into bed.

“I can’t sleep in my own bed, never mind this contraption.” I frowned. I wasn’t aware of that. She huffed. “I can’t get comfortable.”

“You’re telling me.” I returned to my chair. “If I’m not careful, I’ll get stuck in the shape of this fucking thing.”

“You are very old.”

Finally finding a comfortable position, she faced me, her legs curling under the blanket.

I glared at her, though the darkness numbed the harshness. “Tonight hasn’t dulled your sass, I see.”

After a mutual chuckle, I let my head flop back against the uneven excuse for a headrest and looked at my daughter properly .

I’d rushed them both into ambulances and insisted they were checked over.

No care was too much for my girls. They’d both been so brave, they still were.

Far braver than I was. But right now, lying in an enormous metal bed frame, Frannie looked tiny.

Like the tiny six-ounce baby I held to my bare chest in the first few hours of her life, or the five-year-old who wore her mother’s too-big high heels and broke her ankle falling out the back door trying to show us her dress-up outfit.

With the thin bedding pulled up to her waist, she wore one of my zip hoodies with a set of thin pyjamas underneath. She’d inherited the overheating trait from me, but doctors requested access to her injuries, preventing her from covering up further.

Her cuts had all been cleaned and would heal on their own, but he’d cut too deeply over the flesh of her chest, requiring stitches. Willow held her hand through every suture, where I kept my back turned. I couldn’t handle the idea of her hurting further but wanted to be there for my little girl.

She was only twenty-two. Losing her mother at a young age, she had enough emotional scars, she didn’t deserve physical ones too.

“Stop that.” Her soft voice broke through my reeling thoughts. I returned my eyes to hers, not realising I’d been staring at her covered shoulder. “Stop looking at me like I’m a fragile victim. I’m not, and neither is she.” She nodded to Willow behind me. She’d caught me out.

“I know you’re not. But tonight was terrifying.

Being unable to prevent any of it was up there with one of the worst nights of my life.

” Silence lingered between us as we acknowledged other occasions that took that unfortunate award.

Frannie’s hand with her pink painted nails reached out for mine, and I took it.

“It’s over. Time to live, laugh and love.”

I breathed out a laugh, brushing her fingers with my thumb. She really was special.

“I wanted to talk to you, actually.” She lifted her head from her pillow, curiosity peaked.

“Before… everything,” I gesticulated, swiping the air in front of me.

“I was talking with Mike. I know you’re panicking about what to do after you graduate, it’s hard to be a creative in this economy.

We need to stage our properties better, reel buyers in.

I know you’ll feel uncomfortable taking the opportunity from your dad, but in reality, you’ll be helping me more than I’m helping you, you’ll be an asset to the business. ”

Frannie sat in silence as she took my offer in, like I would retract it as quickly as I offered it. The centre of her eyebrows lifted, revealing her nerves and vulnerability. She gulped before speaking.

“You want me to work… for you?”

“Yes. Well, with me. Us.”

She regarded me hesitantly. “Won’t that be weird? ”

“What’s weird about it? It’s a family business. It’s almost a rite of passage at this point. Jacob did his work experience back in the day, and our HR manager brought her niece in as our in-house solicitor. Mike’s talki—”

“Okay.”

I blinked at her, surprised.

“Okay?”

“I’ll do it. Hardly like I have any other options lined up.”

“Wow. I’m so glad I offered you a full-time job with a competitive salary. Truly, your gratitude is overwhelming—”

I stopped when a flat pillow tumbled over me and onto Willow’s sleeping form.

Silenced, we both sat wide-eyed and unbreathing afraid of disturbing her.

Instead, she wriggled, tugging the pillow into her arms as though it was Angus, nestling her nose into it and sighing contentedly.

I stared at the woman who had unknowingly taken my old, crumpled heart and filled it with life.

I hoped now the dramatics were over, the blissful expression on her face would seep into daytime too.

“I don’t think you’re getting that back,” I mused.

“Wasn’t sleeping anyway.” I turned to her with a sympathetic smile. “I am grateful, I’m just nervous. I don’t want to be considered a nepo baby, have handouts from you. Can we make a deal?”

I frowned, confused. “What kind of deal?”

“My salary should be reasonable, not excessively high just because I’m your daughter. I don’t want to be management as soon as I start just because I’m your daughter, I want to be on the ground and in the mess. I want to get sweaty and put into practise everything I’ve learned so far.”

I hummed, thinking. “Why don’t we start with a one year contract? We’ll have a proper meeting when everything is settled. Me, you and Mike. Setting out everything you expect and want from the job. Does that sound okay?”

Frannie eyed me unsure. “You’re sure you want this?”

I stood and sat on the edge of her bed, brushing wisps of dark hair from her face.

“Francesca Lambert, I can’t speak for the other businesses, the ones who couldn’t see the woods for trees and didn’t pick you.

But it would be an honour for you to work at Lambert and Johnson.

For however long you want to, in whatever capacity.

You’re my daughter, but you’re so much more and I just want to help you realise that. ”

“Thank you, Dad. I appreciate your help.” She yawned through her words.

Leaning forward I kissed her temple. “Sleep, love. It’s been a long day.”