Frankie struck a pose at the end of the runway. Not for the first time—Lucas watched a wide smile lift her face. Was he the only one who recognised it as false? Her real smile was soft, almost shy, and she showed it only when she was completely at ease.
When she smiled at Edward, at patients, but mostly when she’d looked at him. Before he’d disappointed her. He had a plan to change all of that. To make her look at him again as though he were capable of saving the world.
Because when she looked at him with love shining in her eyes, he felt capable of the impossible. Here, today, he was going to conquer his demons, and hopefully putting them to rest once and for all would convince Frankie that he meant what he said and he’d changed. He’d become the man capable of giving her the type of love she wanted—the kind that lasted forever.
As the auction drew to a close, Lucas stood and made his way to the stage. He looked at his mother, eyes bright with unshed tears and a look of pride that almost undid him. It amazed him that he no longer believed he didn’t deserve his mother’s love. Now, when he needed it most, he felt it running through his veins and it gave him the strength he needed to climb the steps and walk to the microphone.
“Thank you so much for coming. First, I should introduce myself. My name is Lucas Davenport and I’m the doctor Frankie worked with in Astoria. This charity is my brain child, but it would be nowhere without Frankie’s patronage and her tireless work behind the scenes.”
Lucas paused, hands balled at his side, willing himself not to flinch every time someone pointed a camera in his direction. Today, there was nowhere to hide. No shadows, no night sky, and no convenient fear his looks made him unlovable. Hiding behind the way he looked was in his past. The only way to win the love of his life was to face his issues head on and put them behind him. Forever.
“Frankie, come up here, please.”
Still in the last outfit she’d worn, a floaty red dress that skimmed over her bottom and ended mid-calf, Frankie shook her head.
He shrugged, trying to shake off the hurt. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
“Then I shall come to you,” he said lightly, turning away from the audience with a tight smile.
As he expected, the gathered media surged forward, sniffing out their latest story. Resisting the urge to tell them to get lost as he’d done before, he walked over to Frankie.
He grasped her hands and dropped onto one knee.
Eyes wide, she looked between the photographers, who almost immediately began calling out questions, and Lucas. The flicker of longing in her eyes was all he needed to carry on.
“Francesca Hamilton, I’ve watched you turn from a spoilt princess into a loving, giving woman. One who’s put others before herself. Someone willing to do something for someone else despite the cost to herself.”
“Lucas, you don’t have to—”
“Yes,” he disagreed. “I do have to do this. Let me do this for you.”
Her mouth trembled as she gave him the smile he’d missed so much.
“You’ve taught me so much about forgiveness, about regret, but mostly about love. From the moment you arrived in Astoria, you loved with every ounce of your being. You showed me, despite my stubborn pig-headedness, what it was to love selflessly. And most of all you showed me what I had been missing. What I’ve denied myself all of these years.”
“Lucas, get up,” she whispered. “Don’t do this here.”
“I have my family back and I have you to thank for that. I need you to know how very grateful I am to you.”
She tugged her hands away from his, but he refused to allow her to break the connection between them. Not until he’d finished.
“I love you.” He raised her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I think I’ve loved you from the very moment I saw you walk across the tarmac in ridiculously high heels. I loved the way you stood up to me, the way we worked together, and the way you threw yourself into every situation we encountered. But most of all, I love the way you loved Edward. Even though you knew he wasn’t yours to keep, you loved him and kept him safe until his mother was able.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Her voice faltered, but now she was gripping his hands right back.
“I am in love with you with everything that I have. I don’t have anything to offer you except myself. But I’m hoping that will be enough. Francesca Hamilton, will you marry me?”
A whoop of delight sounded from somewhere in the crowd. Frankie’s mother stood off to the side with his own mother, their arms linked as they watched.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Epilogue
Frankie bowed her head as she walked away from the helicopter that brought them back to Astoria. Summer had made way for autumn, but the sun still burned brightly above them.