by Emma Lea
I didn’t mind, not even a little bit. My future would be with him and it would be amazing and I was excited. School had seemed interminable, but the end came so quick I could barely catch my breath. I was done. I was hours away from holding my Ph.D. in my hand and then I would embark on a brand new adventure and I couldn’t wait.
Lucas
I couldn’t stop smiling. I was so proud of Frankie and all the hard work she’d put in. I’d read her dissertation and marveled at her incredible insights and the amazing way she could look beyond the outside of a person to who they were underneath…like me, for example. I’d been overlooked most of my life because I simply wasn’t what people wanted me to be, but not Frankie. Frankie saw something else besides the shy, nerdy guy with the glasses and messy hair. Right from the very first moment when she looked into my eyes, she saw me, which was more than I could say for just about everyone else in my life.
I clapped when she walked across the stage to accept her doctorate. She beamed at the crowd and I snapped as many photos that I could. This was the end, but it was also a beginning and I wanted to be beside her for every new experience for the rest of our lives.
After the ceremony, I ran to the car to grab the flowers I had stashed there. There were some from me, but there was also an enormous bunch from the king and queen. They were chomping at the bit to get Frankie back to Kalopsia and for her to start work, but I’d made sure they gave her a couple of weeks off. She deserved it.
I had plans for us. We would tour the region. She’d been on Kalopsia and in the village surrounding the palace, but there was more to the country for her to see and more people for her to meet. Plus, I wanted her to enjoy some of the summer relaxing on the beach and swimming in the sea and I’d even take her to the day spa at the resort if she wanted to. Knowing Frankie, she would use her time at the resort as a networking opportunity and then come up with some spectacular way for the resort to partner with the palace and the village in the country's rebuilding.
I watched as she crossed the lawn to where I waited beneath a tree. The tree, in fact. The tree we met under on that fateful day all those years ago. She was stopped time and again by other graduates and professors and members of the audience. Frankie never met a stranger, they were all just friends she hadn’t spoken to yet. I smiled as I watched her. I might not like to be around so many people, but I loved watching Frankie and how she navigated her world.
“Hey,” Frankie said as she stepped up to me.
I brushed a soft kiss on her lips. “Hey,” I replied.
“Did you rob a florist?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at the mass of flowers in my arms.
I laughed. “No. These are from Jamie and Meredith,” I said, handing her the largest bunch.
“Oh, they’re beautiful,” she said, burying her face in them.
“And these are from me, although now I’m embarrassed to give them to you. They don’t quite measure up to the bouquet from the king.”
“They’re wonderful and in fact I think they’re better because they’re from you.”
She kissed me and then rested her head against my chest. I let my hand coast down her back and sighed contentedly.
“That’s nice of you to say,” I murmured, “but I know it’s not the truth.”
She tilted her head and nipped at my chin.
“If I say they’re better, then they’re better and you can’t argue with me.”
I pulled her close and tucked her head under my chin. “Okay. You’re the boss. I bow to your superior opinion.”
“As you should,” she replied. “I have a Ph.D. now, so technically, I’m smarter than you.”
“Yes, you are,” I replied. “You chose me, didn’t you?”
Frankie laughed and burrowed into me, and I kissed the top of her head and leaned back against the tree.
“Do you want us to set up here?” Olivia said.
“What?” Frankie asked, pulling away.
“The picnic,” Olivia replied with a grin.
“I don’t think we can have a picnic right here,” Frankie hissed.
“Of course we can,” Adam said, as he spread out a blanket.
“You guys are crazy,” Frankie said.
“No, we just wanted to make this special,” I said. “Besides, don’t you know what tree this is?”
“Of course I know what tree this is,” Frankie said as she plopped down on the blanket and started rummaging through the picnic basket.
“Great, then this will mean more to you.”
“What?” she asked, looking up.
Francesca
“Good, then this will mean more to you,” Lucas said.
I looked up at where he was standing only to discover he was no longer standing, but kneeling, on one knee, holding out a box with the most beautiful antique ring sparkling on the velvet inside.
I looked into his eyes and saw so much love there it made my heart skip a beat—okay; I know that’s not really possible, but still, my heart definitely skipped.
“Lucas?” I whispered.
“I love you Francesca Ophelia Davenport.”
“That’s not my middle name,” I said absently as I stared at the ring again. It was so much more beautiful than the one he gave me for our fake engagement.
“And yet, I still love you,” he said with a smirk. “I want to marry you. I want to spend the next sixty years with you at my side.”
“Only sixty years?”
“Okay, the next hundred years,” he said with an eye roll and then before I could say anything else he corrected himself. “The next millennia. I want to spend the next millennia with you beside me.”
“Don’t be silly, we won’t live that long.”
His head dropped, and his arms dropped, and I grinned.
“Frankie,” Mom hissed.
“Sorry, sorry, go on. You were saying?”
“Marry me, Frankie.”
“Okay,” I replied and then tackled him to the ground and kissed him.
“So that’s a yes, then?” Dad asked.
“That’s a yes,” Mom said. “Now can we eat? I’m starving.”
I laughed and hugged Lucas one more time before sitting up and sticking out my hand so he could slide the ring on.
“This is real, right?” I asked. “You’re not just asking me to pretend to be your wife?”
“No, Frankie,” he said, kissing me. “This is real and now that the ring is on your finger, you’re stuck with me.”
I looked up at him and beamed. I didn’t think I could remember ever being as happy as I was right in that moment.
“There’s no one else I’d rather be stuck with,” I said. “And that’s Dr. Frankie to you.”
THE END
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Acknowledgments
The year twenty-twenty has been…is there even a word to describe this year? There have been many words created to give vocabulary to our experiences; social distancing, self-isolating, essential workers, lockdown, second-wave, covidiot, and rona (although that one might be Australia specific and is short for ‘corona’ if you were unsure). We’ve also seen a rise in use of certain words that many of us would be quite happy to never hear again, words like pandemic and unprecedented (which, with the amount of times this word has been used, I really think it has started to lose it’s meaning).
This year has been awful, to put it simply, and it’s been hard to do anything, especially write. I’ve even found it hard to read, let alone try and come up with story ideas.
When I started writing this book, it was such a relief. It was like transporting myself into the future and away from all the mess of this year. It was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders as I imagined life after Covid-19 and the dumpster fire 2020 has been, and as you read this story, I hope you were also transported to a time beyond the current troubles we are living through.
Frankie a
nd Lucas were exactly what I needed and I hope, in some small way, they were what you needed to.
None of this would be possible without my husband and his never-wavering support of me and my author career. I am very much a ‘Lucas’ and just as Frankie was Lucas’ favourite person, my husband is mine. He does for me what Frankie does for Lucas and without him, my life would be very beige and cream and vanilla.
I also need to thank Kathryn for her constant friendship and support. Kathryn has read every single word I’ve ever published (and quite a few that didn’t make it to publishing) and I appreciate the heck out of her.
And to Brooke. We may be separated by distance and time zones, but I’m so very glad you came into my life. Thank you for your input and advice and suggestions and friendship.
To you, the reader, I thank you for choosing this book and I hope you enjoyed reading Frankie and Lucas’ story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
About the Author
Emma loves to read. Reading has been her escape and safe place for as long as she can remember. Her earliest memories are of reading (or making up stories to go along with the pictures in her books) and it is the one thing that has always brought her happiness when nothing else could. Now she write stories and hopes that when people read them, they can find an escape, a safe place and a little moment of happiness when they need it.
She lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia with her wonderful husband. She has two beautiful, grown-up sons, two daughters-in-law, a new baby granddaughter, and a dog and a cat who are supposedly her co-workers (but they don’t really contribute much).
She is a ferocious reader with eclectic tastes and has always wanted to write, but never had the opportunity due to one reason or another (excuses, really) until finally taking the bullet between her teeth in 2014 and just making herself do it.
She loves to write stories with heart and a message and believes in strong female characters who do not necessarily have to be aggressive to show their strength.
Other books by Emma Lea
This is Emma Lea’s complete book library at time of publication, but more books are coming out all the time. Find out every time Emma releases a book by going to her website (www.emmaleaauthor.com) and signing up for her Newsletter.
SWEET ROMANCES
These are romantic tales without the bedroom scenes and the swearing, but that doesn’t mean they’re boring!
The Young Royals
A Royal Engagement
Lord Darkly
A Royal Entanglement
A Royal Entrapment
A Royal Expectation
A Royal Elopement
A Royal Embarrassment
A Very Royal Christmas
A Royal Enticement
Bookish Book Club Novellas
Meeting Prince Charming
Meeting the Wizard of Oz
Meeting Santa Claus
The Kabiero Royals
Royal Ruse
SWEET & SEXY ROMANCES
In my Sweet & Sexy Romances I turn up the heat with a little bit of sexy. No swearing, or very minimal swearing, and brief, tasteful and not too graphic bedroom scenes.
Love, Money & Shoes Series
Walk of Shame
Standalone Novels
Amnesia
HOT & SEXY ROMANCES
Hot & Spicy Romances turn the heat way up. They contain swearing and sexy scenes and the characters get hot under the collar.
Recommended for 18+ readers
Brisbane City Hearts (formerly TGIF)
Love to Hate You
Want to Date You
Hate to Want You
Twelve Days
Twelve Days of Christmas - Her Side of the Story
Twelve Days of Christmas - His Side of the Story
Collins Bay Series
Last Call
The Christmas Stand-Off
Standalone Novels
Learning to Breathe
Romantic Suspense
Hide & Seek
TOO HOT TO HANDLE ROMANCES
These are definitely 18+ reads and contain graphic sex scenes and high level swearing – not for the faint of heart
The Young Billionaires
The Billionaire Stepbrother
The Billionaire Daddy
The Billionaire Muse
The Billionaire Replacement
The Billionaire Trap
Christmas with the Billionaire
Music & Lyrics
Rock Star
Songbird
Strings
Sticks
Symphony
The Playbook Series
In Like Flynn
Manscaping
Serendipity Trilogy
The Wrong Girl
The Right Girl (coming soon)
The Only Girl (coming soon)
