by Rae B. Lake
I just focused on breathing. I couldn’t breathe all of a sudden.
A minute later, Frances burst through the door. Her eyes widen in complete shock at the number of patients in the waiting room. “Oh shit.” She took off her jacket to show the pink dress I’d asked her to wear. “Mom, what’s going on? Was it a car accident or something?”
“Something.” Her father replied.
I watched her pull out her stethoscope from behind the reception area where she usually stashed it and turn back to see which patient needed to be seen first.
“Dad, have you guys triaged them already? Are there more in the back?”
On cue, one of the women who was sitting in one of the front seats walked up slowly to Frances. Frances being who she is rushed to meet her halfway. Instead of the woman stopping in front of Frances, she expertly pirouetted and spun around her.
“Whoa…Um, miss, are you ok?” Frances turned, her gaze following the woman who just spun around her.
A loud crackle sounded, and the sound system came to life with a melodic hum.
“Dad! Turn the radio off! We gotta check these people.” Frances yelled over the loud sound.
I watched in joy as two men started walking up to Frances from either side and sandwich her between them before they grabbed each other's hands and dipped, holding onto one another for balance.
“What the fuck!” Frances spun around, confused about what they were doing.
The telltale melody of the iconic song from Dirty Dancing poured out of the speakers. I watched her eyes widen in shock.
“No! NO!” Frances screamed as the lyrics started, and everyone in the waiting room jumped up and started dancing. Nothing says I love you like a flash mob.
I watched from my spot as they twirled around her and mimicked the legendary last dance scene in Dirty Dancing. They included Frances in the flash mob and shortly those screams of ‘no’ turned into her smiling brightly and singing and dancing along.
The lights and fog machine I had delivered earlier set the tone and vibe for the whole spectacle. Three men grabbed her one on each arm and another around the waist, and they lifted her so that she was standing on the reception counter.
That was my cue.
I made my way to the center of the room and, along with ten other dudes in my best Patrick Swayze impression, danced my rich ass off.
“NO! Oh God! Carson! Oh, God!” Frances belly laughed until tears streamed down her tomato-red face, and she snorted every time she tried to take a breath. Before the end of my number, she had fallen to her knees on the reception desk and was slamming her hand on the desk while she held her side from the pain of her laughing. I took a second to glance at her parents, and they both were laughing just as hard. The wink from her father was all I needed to attempt the next part. I hoped she would go for it.
As the song came toward the end, the dancers and actors in the flash mob expertly moved out of the way, so there was a clear path to me.
“You are out of your mind, Carson. No! There is no way!” She looked to either side and could see the scene playing out in front of her. The men who’d helped her up were now by her side again to help her down so she could run to me. They cheered her on as did everyone in the room. Even my father was yelling for her to do it. My mother clasped his arm with a cheek splitting grin on her face.
“You better not fucking drop me! I swear!” Frances cursed me through her laughter.
They helped her down, and she shook her head, throwing caution to the wind, and she ran full speed at me.
My time to shine.
The second she made it about four steps away from me, I braced myself, gathered all the strength I could and dropped down to one knee.
In my hand, a 5-carat princess cut solitaire diamond engagement ring.
Frances skidded to a stop just in time. She gasped and then didn’t breathe again.
They quickly turned the music down, “Frances, I know our road hasn’t been easy or traditional, but I was lost when I made my way to Falls Village, and I don’t know where I’d be if you hadn’t found me.”
Frances let out a deep breath, and her face crumpled slightly as new tears started to fall from her eyes.
“Baby, I can’t say things are never going to be hard because I assure you they will. But I promise to do everything I can to make sure you always know how much I love you. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?”
“Oh, so much gold, so much green. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” She moved into my arms and held me tight.
“I love you too, Baby, but was that a maybe, or…”
“Oh, you’re impossible, Yes, Carson, that was a hell yes, babe.”
The crowd applauded as I picked Frances up off the ground and kissed her.
I couldn’t wait to start our lives together.
Epilogue
“You can’t be serious.” I turn to look at Frances as the director goes over the part of the script one more time.
I came on set to support my cousin Claire who’d decided to make Falls Village a home away from home, especially since she was contracted to be the fashion designer for a movie taking place at the Charleston mansion.
A movie about my family and this so-called feud between my great grandparents and the Charlestons. Ninety percent of what he was saying never happened. Like the current scene, where the actor who portrays my great grandmother must hint at how there are bodies in the basement.
Ridiculous.
“Oh, don’t be such a prude, it's just a story.” Frances pulled at my arm and wrapped it around her waist.
“Yeah, a completely fabricated story,” I said loud enough for most of the people in the room to hear me before I turned and walked out of the room with Frances still holding onto me.
I bumped right into Callan as I opened the door. The bastard. We are still on shaky ground with each other. Sure the feud is supposedly over, at least for now. I knew it was him that had been sending the tourists up to my castle. He never admitted it, but I made sure to repay the favor. I smile and step back so he and his wife can walk in.
“Callan.”
“Carson.” He nods once a slight smirk on his face.
I would have been pissed if it weren’t so damn smart. Callan and I seem to wear the title of friendly enemies very well. The last group he sent to my estate managed to figure out I was the same man from that viral YouTube video, and somehow they talked me into taking a photo with them. Frances laughed at me for the rest of the day.
I work to make sure the small emergency services we’ve set up is ready for almost anything. I ensure all the family businesses are running smoothly and morally with the help of my brothers, but I still am the most at ease when I am in my own space with Frances. She still thinks I can make a better impression on the people in town if I go out and mingle with them some more. I rarely want to. I wished it could go back to the days when they all ran away in fear. Now they smile and wave.
I let Frances walk out of the small set, and we hop into our new Range Rover.
“I can’t believe how out of touch those people are with reality. They think we worked with the Mob? They are so clueless.”
“Yeah, clueless.” Frances laughed.
“Tell me about it.”
“Completely over their head.”
“Yeah!” I threw my hand up in frustration.
“Almost like a man who has been having unprotected sex with his wife, who is no longer on birth control and mysteriously puts on five pounds. Completely clueless.” She stared at me through the reflection of the rearview mirror.
I look at her as my brain tries frantically to switch gears. What does that have to do with the blatantly false stories they are telling in this movie.
“Who does that?”
“Oh, for fucks sake!” Frances threw her hands up in the air before she pulled out her phone, swiped it a couple of times, and shoved it in my face.
“Woman! I’m
driving!” I try to look around the phone, but catch a few words; one is her name, and the second is pregnant.
I slam down on the brakes, causing both of us to lurch forward. Thank God there was no one on the road behind me.
I quickly put the SUV in park and snatch the phone from her hand. It was a lab report, nothing I understood, but I could see that it was hers, and it clearly said that she was pregnant.
Then all the words she’d just said, and the strange way she’d been acting for the past few days make sense. She’d ‘accidentally’ left a dinner roll in the oven, and kept giving me Baby Ruth Candy bars. I found like three empty Prego jars, and it never clicked.
“Baby, are you saying there’s a baby?” I grin. We’d only been trying for a month.
She chuckled, “Lord, Carson, for someone as smart as you, boy, are you slow! Yes, I’m pregnant. And from those numbers, it seems more like two babies.”
“Two…babies?” My normally deep voice squeaked and cut out.
She stopped laughing and rubbed my leg. “You ok? I know it’s a lot, but you said you wanted to start a family. You still want that, right?” I could see the insecurity crossing her face.
Instantly feelings of doubt ran rampant through my body. I didn’t want my children to grow up as I had, in a home filled with unearned extra privilege and prejudice. I didn’t want them to feel the pressures of having to be perfect to be worthy. I looked out the window, then back to my newlywed wife, and all those feelings melted away. Frances would always be there to help me, and she would always be there to keep me grounded. With a mother like her, my children would have nothing to worry about. “There’s nothing I want more.”
She smiled and leaned over to kiss me. “I love you, Mr. Ingram.”
“And I love you, Baby.”
Towns Epilogue
Carson Ingram was once just the black sheep of the Ingram family now he has majority control over one of the largest conglomerates in the United States, all the while staying true to his word by keeping a running Emergency Service Center here in the small town. Now when there is an emergency my townsfolk know that help is never far.
I know for sure if it weren’t for an outside force by the name of Frances Hoffman pulling him out of his comfort zone we would have never known the real Carson. If you can believe the rumor mill, there are still quite a few secrets roaming around about the tall, striking Billionaire who has chosen to make Falls Village his home.
France Hoffman is one of the finest urgent care doctors that the town could ever hope for and I know that with the addition of the Emergency Services center she will be busy as ever making sure the people here are well taken care of.
Callan Black and Carson Ingram seemed to come to some sort of truce but I am sure that any day now there is a chance that they will be at each other's throats again. Two alpha males may be too many for this small town. Fortunately, this will not happen for some time as both men are completely focused on their wives. Frances soon to be a mother and Jordan enjoying the newlywed life.
There is one player in this game that I was surprised to see. That is one Ms. Claire Ingram, she left so long ago and now she is back to work as a fashion designer for the movie being shot here in town. With so many secrets surrounding not only her family but her departure, I was sure she would never be back.
Abi is doing well after that scare in the sound and both Stacey and Damien are learning what it is to be in love again. It is such a joy to see the people of Falls Village really opening up to their town ‘superhero’, accepting him and his family.
The Falls Village Collection
The Falls Village collection is an anthology hybrid including myself and various RomantiConn authors. Each story will be released as its own book and focus on a resident of the community
Do you want more of the Falls Village Series residents?
Start the series from the beginning!
https://bit.ly/FallsVillage
Now Available
The Rest of Forever Book #1 by Kitty Berry
(Callan Black & Jordan Collins)
Puppy Love Book #2 by MJ Santangelo
(Lucas Hart & Jenny Collins)
From Then Until Forever Book #3 by Kitty Berry
(Teyler Walker & Colleen Hamilton)
What Once Was Mine Book #4 by Krystyna Allyn
(Cole Alexander & Marley Bishop)
Finding Carson Book #5 by Rae B. Lake
(Carson Ingram & Frances Hoffman)
Coming Soon
Promise Me Forever Book #6 by Kitty Berry
(Mathew James & Olivia Lancaster)
Where Forever Leads Book #7 by Taylor Delong
(Graham Lowden & Avery Abbott)
Authors in the Falls Village Romance series are:
Cara Wade,
Kitty Berry,
Krystyna Allyn,
MJ Santangelo,
Rae B. Lake,
Nicole Banks,
Posey Parks,
Taylor Delong,
Ginni Conquest,
JT Cheyanne,
Michelle Iannarelli
Please support their work.
Coming Next In The Series!
Promise Me Forever
Falls Village Collection Book 6
By Kitty Berry
Welcome to Falls Village...
Olivia Lancaster
My life couldn’t get much worse. Am I destined to be a small-town girl for the rest of my life?
Crap, maybe I was.
But I want to live. I want to see things. I want to do things, all kinds of things. Even very naughty things. Things I know nothing about.
But I’m running out of time.
I was born and raised in Falls Village, Maine, not in the McMansions, but not in the rundown old factories that were a poor excuse for apartments either. Nope, I grew up in the middle.
It’s the story of my life.
Matthew James
I’m living my best life. Destined for great things in the wild world of Hollywood. My big-screen career is flourishing. But life should hold more than that, shouldn’t it?
Fuck, maybe not.
But I want to be a better man; I want to be more than just a pretty face with deep pockets and my expertise with women. I want to find a woman who wants me for who I am. Something I know nothing about.
So I’m running away from the limelight.
Born and raised in Falls Village, Maine, I’m the family fuckup who will never be fit for family life.
It’s the story of my life.
One chance meeting...
After bumping into Falls Village’s Hollywood celebrity (literally), Olivia’s life gets way more interesting.
Once Matthew finds a woman who doesn’t care about his money, he looks at life differently.
But can a small-town girl be the one to change the playboy ways of a Hollywood actor for good? Or will Olivia be left in the middle again, this time stuck between a broken heart and the future she craves?
Can a man who never thought love was necessary become a family man?
Will Matthew James destroy the small-town girl, or will he promise her forever?
About the Author
Rae is a daydreamer, nurse, bookworm, nature enthusiast, wife, momma, animal activist, and an optimist. She has lived her entire life in NYC and loves to travel with her family. She writes about flawed bad boy alphas who fall hard for their women, there is always angst, always drama and always steam in whatever she writes. When she is not working as a nurse in her community, she can either be found reading, writing or taking a walk while listening to music. She has been writing books in her mind for as long as she can remember but decided that maybe there were others out in the world that would find joy in the words she would put down on the page.
books on Archive.
