The Family Firm

Chapter 66

Frankie smiled to herself as she smoothed the quilt over her son's bed. She might have had a career with her brother now which kept her busy, but nothing gave her joy like having someone to mother and take care of. She loved the feeling of being needed, craved it really, and now that her little Freddie was living with her and she didn't fear him leaving any time soon, she felt as if she could finally relax.

When he had planned to move away with Niamh, Franks had been beside herself, but ever since the incident, well . . . it was as if an unspoken rule was made that she would take care of him and he would allow her to. With Katie in the picture, she wasn't quite certain what would happen in the future, but she had nursed her boy back to health and now she was just going to enjoy having him there as long as she could.

She didn't mind the little things, like tidying up his room or cooking for him. In fact, the truth was she loved it. Back in the old days, when Donny had left her and Freddie had been banged up, it had just been her and Junior, on their tod, with hardly a pot to piss in. Things were simpler then. But to think of how far they had come . . . It was a marvel, really.

Now that Donny was back, things were a bit strange. She didn't get the same enjoyment from taking care of him. In fact, as far as she was concerned he was a lazy sod who could have done it all himself. But, because she was such a bloody good wife, she would tidy his things without complaint like she always did, and hope to God no argument would come out of it. That was the state of their marriage.

It was sad, really, to see how quickly their relationship had diminished. But after she had fought with Freddie, well, she supposed she had just been lonely. Junior had been planning on moving away, and everything was happening so fast . . . There had never really been anything between her and Donny, not back in the old days and certainly not now, but he had been someone to lean on when her world started crumbling apart.

Fortunately, that was all in the past now, but she still had her ageing husband pissing away her money and complaining all the way through it. He was like a scar, always there to remind her of the past, and while she could remember the pain well, he was mainly just a nuisance. Her bothersome Donny.

Closing her son's bedroom door, she padded down the hall, passing Donny's home office on the way. Noting the state of it, she sighed and stepped inside. She might as well tidy up while he was out, because the Lord Himself knew he wouldn't give her any other chance.

The mess was embarrassing. Donny had always been that way, leaving glasses and papers about, and Frankie had half a mind to leave it as it was, let him sort it out. But, she was already in the cleaning mood, she supposed, and if she didn't take care of it now it would just linger in the back of her mind, so she sighed audibly and got to sorting things out.

As she pulled a number of papers together atop his desk, she accidentally bumped a series of pens onto the carpet and groaned. Just what she needed! Slightly annoyed, she bent over to retrieve them when she noticed the bottom drawer of his desk was slightly ajar. Furthermore, the lock on it was open. She had never noticed a lock there before, and curiously wondered what could have been so private he had to keep it under lock and key.

Glancing towards the door to superficially ensure no one was coming, she opened the drawer, revealing a large, very full folder. As it was slowly revealed to her, she noticed a name on the front, written boldly in black ink.

'Fred,' she read aloud, her mouth falling slightly agape as her fingers grazed over the letters. Blinking once, she grabbed the heavy folder and tugged it out of the drawer, setting it atop Donny's desk. Her heart was racing with anxiety as she opened it, but what was inside made her heart stop completely.