Hold Me Close & Don't Let Me Fall ✓

Chapter 11

"So are you teaching?" Evelyn asks Frank the next day when we meet her for lunch, or as I like to call it, dooms day prepping.

"I repair boats." Frank says.

"Please."

"I'm not bad at it either."

"Well then, that explains... this." She gestures to how he looks. "They don't sell sunscreen here?"

"I wear sunscreen."

"Not enough. And you need a hat. A big one that shades your face and neck. You're playing Russian Roulette with your skin. You look like a porn producer."

"How did she find out about our side business?" I ask Frank in a mock whisper.

"I see you're still as quick-witted as ever. Are you still seeing patients?" She asks, turning to me.

"No. I bartend now."

She scoffs. "Both of you, for all your potential..."

"Look. I appreciate your advice. I really do. But you didn't come here to talk about sunscreen, did you?" Frank asks.

"Oh, so no more small talk? That's a shame. Ok. The environment you both have created for that child, where she lives, the school she attends, it's substandard, every bit of it."

"We disagree." Frank states plainly.

"We're going nowhere if we're not going to be honest with each other."

"We are being honest." I say.

"I see. Well, fine. I'm not leaving without her." Evelyn says, settling back in her chair.

"Well, welcome to Florida." Frank says, a smirk on his face.

"Frank, Georgia, please, listen to reason."

I cut her off. "Like you did 7 years ago?" I ask, dangerously calm.

She glares at me. "At some point, either you're going to come to the conclusion, or someone in authority is going to spell it out for you, that the child's best interest is all that matters."

"You're gonna make me pull rank, I will. Diane didn't want you to have her. Georgia was named godmother for that very reason." Frank says, placing his hand on mine.

"Diane... Diane didn't always think things through."

"Arguably one of the brightest minds on the planet. Good luck going down that road." Frank spits back.

"And what do you think she'd say if she say hot her child is living now?"

"I'd think she'd be happy. I knew Diane better than either of you. She'd want Mary to get the experience of a somewhat normal childhood, seeing as how you had Diane in think tanks and loaned out to different scientists from the moment she could talk." I say.

"She's not normal, and treating her as such is negligence on a grand scale." Evelyn states.

I firmly shut my mouth and place my left hand over it. This wasn't the time or place to get out my grievances.

"I know your hearts are in the right place on this. But you're denying the girl her potential, you are. I can provide for her. I can enrich her life."

"Come on, Evelyn. You're gonna take that girl, you're gonna bury her in tutors, then you're gonna loan her out to some think tank where she can talk non-trivial zeros with a bunch of old Russian guys for the rest of her life." Frank says.

"And then you'll be shocked when history repeats itself and Mary starts resenting you, just like Diane did." I add.

Her face hardens at my comment but she ignores it. "And you'd bury her under a rock. Look, I don't expect you to understand the price you have to pay for greatness."

"Oh I do! That's why we have Mary in the first place." Frank says. I can tell he's starting to lose his temper.

"That's uncalled for. Your sister had a laundry list of problems. She could've solved Navier-Stokes and gone down in history as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. But she didn't because she could finish." Evelyn is so focused on bringing down Frank that she didn't notice the look I sent him. "She was weak. Weak like her father and weak like..." she stops short.

"Finish that sentence. I dare you." My eyes flash dangerously. "The only weak one I see here is you. You made everyone around you miserable. He," I say, pointing at Frank, "got out from under your thumb the first chance he got. You drove Diane away with your unrealistic expectations and zero-tolerance for alternating from the course you so graciously laid at her feet. And if the rumors I've heard from the friends I still have in Boston are to be believed, your second husband has left you too." I finish, chest heaving.

"Honey, I think you've made your point." Frank says, placing a hand on my arm to calm me.

"One more thing and then I will have. I will not give you the opportunity to hurt Mary, the way you hurt both Frank and Diane." I say before the waitress comes up.

"You guys ready to order?" She asks.

"No thank you. We were just leaving." I say, giving Evelyn one last look before getting up and walking out, Frank jumping up to follow me.

...

We're sitting in the truck in the carpool line at Mary's school, later that day. The windows are open to let in the afternoon breeze and I'm holding my head, elbow resting on the open window.

"Why'd I go off on her?" I mumble.

"Because she went after what is yours? Me, Mary, Diane, we're your family. And given what you went through when you were a kid, I can't exactly blame you for being fiercely protective. That's why you jumped down Bonnie's throat when she told the principal."

"How do you know I did that? You were supposed to be in the truck. But another thing is now she has more ammo to use against us."

"We might want to consider calling..." Frank starts.

"No!"

"I'm just saying we might not have a choice."

"You're just saying that cause they like you. After everything that happened, you'd actually consider going to them for help?" I ask him.

"I don't want to but if it means we get to keep Mary, then I'd walk to hell and barter with Satan myself. This just happens to be a close second."

"I thought we did that today with lunch." I say. He smirks.

"Ha ha. You're hilarious. But seriously, we might not have a choice."

"And what if they don't agree? Or worse, they agree with Evelyn?" I ask.

"Then you can tell them to fuck off again and we go back to pretending we're orphans. Or mostly orphans."

I think about it for a bit. "Not yet. If it becomes necessary..."

He nods and the conversation is put on hold as Mary runs up to the truck.