No surprise flickered in Ted’s dark eyes.
“But what’s going on is Edward’s taken his latest affair a little far.”
Ted spared me the briefest of looks before he focused on his grandson again. I had the sneaking suspicion he knew exactly what Archie was about to tell him.
“He’s having an affair with Frankie’s mother. Allegedly, they’ve gotten a place together.”
“Allegedly?” The mild tone betrayed nothing.
“Allegedly,” Archie confirmed. “We haven’t seen it. Though they’ve made some effort to try and get Frankie to move in with them.”
“But you’ve refused?” That question he directed to me, and I nodded.
“I’m really not keen on watching my mother crash and burn with a married man. No offense.” He was “Eddie’s” father after all.
“None taken.” Ted tapped an index finger against the arm of his chair, but it was the only real physical reaction to the news. “Sprout, I’m going to need you to start at the top and walk me through this after we get more coffee. Frankie, are you finished with your sundae?”
I’d already been full, but I had made a dent, so I nodded.
“Sprout, you want to clean that up or slide it over here?”
“And risk the wrath of your doctors?” Archie said with a smirk. “I don’t think so.” He polished off the last few bites easily enough, though he fed more than one to me, and it was a little embarrassing to be fed in front of his grandfather. But the older man didn’t seem to be paying attention to us while Archie seemed to need something else to focus on.
After he’d finished and Jeremy had made a pass through with more coffee and retrieved the bowl, he settled back with me tucked next to him as he recounted the whole sordid mess of our parents, from when he found out to when I did, to what had happened in the last few weeks.
Had it really only been a few weeks? It seemed like it had been ages. Then again, Maddy and Edward had been engaged in their affair for far longer than we’d been aware of it, so…maybe that was part of it. I had no idea. Listening to Archie though, I felt bad for him. The distance between him and his father was so extreme, I doubted it would ever be repaired.
Honestly, I didn’t think he wanted to repair it.
Not that I could blame him. As much as I loved my mom? I really didn’t like her. After the last few weeks? That dislike had grown. I didn’t think Archie even had the love aspect to fall back on.
Throughout Archie’s whole explanation, Ted sat quietly, sipping his coffee. When we got to Homecoming, I braced for it, but Archie kept it simple. Detailing that I’d ended up in the hospital after my water had been drugged and I’d been assaulted, and how long it took Archie and Jeremy to figure out where our parents were.
Finally, he summed it up with Edward’s threat following their visit to the school on Monday and the uncomfortable discussion in the park. He left out my suit for emancipation, though he did admit he’d paid for my apartment for the next several months to make sure it was done, and nothing Edward could do would touch that money or the place.
It had already seemed like a lot that Archie had done it in the first place, but some of the whys behind it had me biting my lip. He didn’t have to pay for several months, but wanted to make sure I was secure. That nothing our parents did would dislodge me if I wanted to stay there.
“That’s about it,” Archie said. “After I left the park, I sent you the message. Edward can cut me off. I don’t care about that. Muriel is just as likely to open the floodgates if he does. The money I don’t care about.”
“But protecting your friends, you do,” Ted summarized, then turned a studying look on me. “Protecting Frankie.”
“Exactly.”
“Your trust doesn’t fully vest for a few years.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Hands steepled together, Edward sat back in his chair.
“But you will be able to access roughly twenty-five percent of it beginning on your eighteenth birthday.”
“Can Edward block it?”
“He could try,” Ted said with a mirthless chuckle. “But the terms of the trust are ironclad, Sprout. Neither Edward nor Muriel have control over the funds in the trust. The only control they have…”
Archie tensed next to me.
“…is over whether you can access it eighteen. They’d have to prove you were too immature to handle the money though, and I don’t see any evidence of that. You do well in school. You’ve applied to colleges, correct?”