Chapter 3

"Hey Daddy" Frankie said quietly.

It had been a couple of days since she had spoken to her father and she missed him terribly.

She sat down on the cold icy grass, the waning autumn sun offering little warmth now. It was a month since that fateful night of which Frankie had very little memory. The night two police officers arrived on her doorstep to inform her and her mother that her father had been killed in a motor vehicle accident. That was the precise moment that her memory faltered. Fortunately for Frankie, her already over taxed brain had shut down on hearing that awful word, she was already under so much stress that apparently her mind had decided she was incapable of dealing with more.

Frankie had regained 'consciousness' a week later in the midst of her father's funeral. At the gravesite, just as the coffin was to be lowered into the earth, she shocked all present when she moved to its side, laid a kiss where her father's head would be and whispered "I'm sorry Daddy. I love you."

The weeks since had been agonizing. Frankie could not bear to look at her mother, how could she? She had killed her soul mate just as sure as if she had been driving the offending vehicle herself. Every time she looked into her mother's sorrowful eyes, she could see the hurt and the pain, and knew that she put it there.

Frankie learnt that in that first week she had been almost catatonic. She wouldn't accept food. She wouldn't talk. She wouldn't leave her room. Sophie came to the house and dressed her for her father's funeral, her uncle Peter had practically carried her to the mourning car, then into the church and later to the gravesite, supporting her with a strong arm around her waist. Beth was as strong as she could be for her daughter, but she was fighting her own demons, and didn't have the strength required to pull Frankie out of the depression she had fallen into.

"Sorry I didn't get here yesterday..I had to meet with the lawyers." She said almost inaudibly. "Why Daddy? Why would you leave the Gallery in my care? You know I'm not ready for that."

"Yes you are baby....do you think I made that decision lightly?" Came her father's response in her mind

"I just don't know what to do. Mom is a mess Daddy. She puts on a brave face for me during the day but every night I hear her cry herself to sleep. I don't know how to help her. I can't help feeling that she blames me for what happened...she insists she doesn't but....but how could she not..." Tears ran freely down her cheeks now.

"No one blames you baby...least of all Mom" his voice came again.

"But it was my fault daddy. If only I didn't ask you to come home....if only...." She trailed off lost in thought for a moment.

Frankie felt she was losing her grip on reality but she didn't care. Sitting here by his grave she felt closer to him than anywhere else, and as long as she could hear his voice, she would continue to visit as often as she could. She had been every day since the funeral and each of them was much the same. She would sit on the grass beside the fresh gravesite and pour her heart out to her father. He had always been the one to listen when he was alive....she felt a dull ache when she thought of him. It was like there was a hole where her heart had been.

"It was an accident baby...nobody's fault...it was just my time" the voice said gently.

"No Daddy NO" She said just a little too loudly...people visiting a grave a hundred or so yards away looked to her with concern.

She lowered her voice again. "It wasn't your time! Mom needs you....I need you. I don't think I can survive without you. We are lost without you. And the gallery Daddy...who's is going to take care of the Gallery. I know you think I'm ready Daddy...but I'm not...I don't want to be."

"If it wasn't for that stupid letter...." She started.

"I'm angry Daddy" She said through gritted teeth "If it wasn't for HIM you would still be here. I guess can't really blame the letter....or her. She was just reaching out. But I can blame him. If he hadn't left her...." She trailed off.

"Honey don't judge what you don't understand...I'm sure there were reasons...."

"What could make you abandon your child? I haven't looked at that box since that day Daddy... I can't. It hurts too much. Not because of what she said. I think I can understand why Gina did what she thought was best...but how could she defend him Daddy? What kind of man could do that? I just can't understand it. I can't believe that he didn't know of my existence...or at the very least, that he doesn't know now. He must...surely he found out when she died. Someone would have contacted him...wouldn't they?" Frankie brushed the tears from her cheeks. "I guess that means that he just never wanted me. I bet I was just an inconvenience to him...well he is nothing to me and he never will be"

"Besides all that if I hadn't opened the box then...I wouldn't be sitting here now...we'd be on our way to dinner as usual"

She sat silent for a long time as she composed her emotions.

"Uncle Peter came past today" She said, her voice still a little shaky. "He's been great. Did I tell you that he has been there every couple of days since you di.... left us. He brings food.... that Aunt Edie cooks of course...and he fixed that leaky tap. You know... the one Mom asked you to fix ages ago. The cable went out and he organised for that to be fixed too. He has been really wonderful!"

"I'll reopen the Gallery on the weekend. I promise. I know it's time. Sophie has been taking care of things...but it's been easy since it's been closed. Some charity called her today...said you pledged an item for an auction next year...she had no idea what they were talking about, and neither did I, but I guess that really wasn't an unusual thing for you to do. You were always working for one charity or another. I just hope there is still a Gallery next year to make good on the donation."

"I'm going to do my best to make you proud Daddy" the lump caught in her throat again "I'm going to do my best to be the person you always wanted me to be. I'm going to work really hard and make every day count...just like you told me at Graduation."

Frankie sat silent again for long moments while memories of her time with her father flooded back to her.

"Oh Daddy.... I know you always said 'Sometimes we don't understand why things happen the way they do, but there's always a reason. It just takes time to figure out what it is'. I know you always said that Daddy but it's just not true this time...nothing good can come of this" The tears that had settled flowed fast again, choking the words in her throat. "How are we supposed to go on without you? What do we do now?"

"Just live baby...Just live...One day at a time!"

Frankie rose from her father's grave side, kissing her fingertips and touching them to the cold hard stone that marked his resting place. But instead of returning to her car she walked a little further into the cemetery. She was in an older section now, it was a little care worn and neglected...the people resting here had largely been forgotten long ago. She placed a single yellow rose at the feet of the marble angel that watched over her mother. It had been a long time since she had been here, and she was worried that she may not find it again...but the beautiful stone angel showed her the way. It always had.

As a child she had visited this place often with Branson and Beth. They wanted to ensure that Frankie knew and understood her heritage, that she understood the sacrifice that had been made in order to give her life. By the time her teen years had hit, Frankie was less than enthusiastic about her weekend visits to Gina. It was hard enough coping with one mother let alone two and she had refused to come. Today was her first time back in over five years.

Frankie stood awkwardly by the grave, unsure how to behave. She really only had one thing to do here, and she knew it was silly...irrational even but she felt uncomfortable asking something of this woman she never really knew and had neglected for far too long...this woman who had given her life.

"Hi Gina. I know I don't come here near enough. And I don't know if it makes a difference if I do or don't. I'd like to think you can hear me though..." Frankie began. "I wanted to say thank you for the letter. I'm sorry we never got to meet. I really would have liked that...getting to know you at last." She paused "But I really came here today to ask a favour...can you please take care of Daddy for me. He shouldn't even be there yet...but then again neither should you. Life so unfair...."