Make It Home For Christmas [COMPLETE]

Chapter Five

Frankie opened her eyes and found regret staring her right in the face. She had yelled at her boss's son. What had she been thinking? Frankie slapped her hand over her eyes and groaned, as if that would take away the gnawing sensation in her stomach.

She held her breath when Dan entered the kitchen that morning, her coffee mug suspended right in front of her face as she watched his every move, his every expression. But all he did was take a long sip, sigh, then look her straight in the eye and ask, "Ready, Frank?"

Frankie could breathe again. And just in time, too. She tried meeting Johnny's eye, to nod a silent thank you, as she followed Dan out the front door and passed Johnny as he headed for the kitchen. But Johnny kept his eyes firmly on the ground.

Frankie found she could somehow spend even less time in the main house over the next few days. Now, not only did she have a family reunion to avoid but also one of its members. Work offered the perfect distraction and Frankie found she didn't have to say a word to anyone about anything other than the job at hand for the rest of the week.

Consecutive nights alone in her apartment grew lonely quicker than she expected and Frankie turned to working at the woodworking station Dan had set up for her the year before just to get out of her apartment. It was the first time since the springtime, and Dan's accident, that Frankie could stand in front of her drafting table, with all her supplies laid out in front of her, and know that no one needed her.

Working on the small wooden medallions with the farm logo and name was a welcomed distraction from her mind's tendency to run back over everything she had said to Johnny and everything he had said right back. However, the work brought up memories of Frankie's father and all the things he had taught her growing up, woodworking being one of them. Frankie took her punishment of the bittersweet memories and settled on enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the barn.

By Sunday evening, Frankie decided she had spent enough time away from the house that it was safe to approach but froze in her tracks, her hand hovering over the door handle at the sight before her.

Through the kitchen window, she could see Johnny sitting at the kitchen table with Dan and Hannah. Hannah was crying. Frankie could see she had been for a while by the number of crumpled tissues on the table. Dan was frowning so hard Frankie knew he was trying hard not to cry as well. And Johnny was sitting between them, his face in his hands, his expression invisible to Frankie but she could guess what he was feeling by the posture of his sunken shoulders.

Frankie let them be and retreated, once again, to her work table.

The next morning, arriving bright and early at the farm store to open up for the day, Frankie's heart stopped when she found the big red sliding doors already unlocked. She ran through that week's work schedule and the list of people who had access to a set of keys for the store. If this really were a robbery, as Frankie feared, it'd be Hummel's first in two years.

Pulling open the doors, Frankie found a maze of boxes filling the main floor. She followed its path to a ladder set up in the middle of the room and followed the ladder to the person standing at the top. She almost didn't recognize him if hadn't been for his skinny jeans as his expensive shirts had been replaced with one of Aaron's old flannels and a down vest that was a continual piece for anyone that needed it.

Johnny turned back over his shoulder, his hands over his head, at the sound of squeaking wheels against metal as the store doors opened. He met Frankie's wide-eyed gaze and nodded, his only explanation for why he was surrounded by Christmas decorations and currently focused on placing a large garland wreath from the center of the rafters overhead.

Frankie didn't have time to ask as her two new employees showed up just then. The two local teenagers carefully stepped around the storage boxes as Frankie had. Frankie approached and grabbed their attention before they could ask why Hummel's local superstar was standing at the top of a ladder, hanging Christmas decorations because Frankie didn't know how to answer that.