Lucas grabbed her hand as together they walked towards the hospital that was in the early stages of being rebuilt.
“You were right, this is totally where we should be.”
“Of course I was right.” Lucas bent his head to kiss her. “I’m always right.”
“Not always,” she retorted. “In fact, I can name many occasions where—”
Lucas kissed her again, this time not raising his head until her knees refused to lock and her breathing was uneven.
“When you’ve quite finished ravishing me, I think the islanders have something planned for us on the beach.” Lucas pointed to an enormous gazebo set up where the pier had once stood.
Pulling her gently behind him, Lucas headed over to the sand. She paused slightly to kick off her shoes before allowing him to once more lead her towards the upbeat music she could hear mingling with the crashing waves.
“They’ve organised a party for us?”
“Something like that.” Lucas gave her an enigmatic smile.
Charles and Hettie came towards them, a smiling Victoria carrying baby Edward between them.
Tears stung Frankie’s eyes even as her heart soared. The picture they made, together, even after Mother Nature had done its worst, gave her great joy, but her heart still pinched. She’d loved that baby so much.
Hettie placed a garland of flowers around Frankie’s neck while Charles shook Lucas’s hand energetically.
“Ready to do this thing, Doc?”
“I’ve been ready for months.”
Hettie snorted. “That’s not strictly true now, Doc, is it?”
“Ready for what?” Frankie looked between them for an answer.
“Your wedding, of course.” Hettie chuckled, turning to Lucas. “You didn’t tell her?”
He shrugged, aiming for noncommittal. “Too afraid she’d run unless I organised the entire thing and gave her no option but to go through with it.”
“We’re getting married right here? Right now?”
He hadn’t even asked her what she wanted, discussed any of this with her. and…she loved him for it. Especially when her parents and his mother broke free from the crowd to embrace them. It was perfect.
“It is okay, isn’t it?” Supreme confidence had faded, leaving a trace of self-doubt in his words.
“It’s more than okay,” she assured him. “When I thought we were coming here for a visit, I was excited. To get married here, in front of our family and all of our friends, is more than I could’ve ever dreamed of.”
“You don’t mind you’re not wearing a traditional dress?”
Once she might’ve. But that was old Frankie. And she hadn’t been her for a long time now. She looked down at her pink top, white Capri trousers, and the heavenly flowers Hettie had placed around her neck.
“Not even a little bit.”
“You’re the most stunning bride I’ve ever seen.” He kissed her, then nuzzled her neck. “I was so afraid you’d turn me down.”
“I’d never turn you down.” Her voice cracked slightly. “No matter where you wanted to marry. You’re the only man for me. For now and for always.”
Despite shouts that the groom should wait until married before he kissed his bride, Frankie clung to him as his lips caressed hers. He’d faced his greatest fear to prove his love for her and, as far as she was concerned, he could kiss her any time he damn pleased.
If you enjoyed reading this medical romance, you may be interested in reading Duty of Care (Seacrest Siblings, Book 1) which is out now.
Duty of Care - Chapter One
The relentless good humour of the holiday season was already too much for Adam Reynolds—even though only three hours had passed since his plane landed on English soil. If one more person wished him a happy holidays or he saw another strand of tinsel, it would be too soon.
He gritted his teeth as he pushed open the doors leading to the special care baby unit. Christmas carols trilled from a music system perched on the nurses’ station and a tree decorated with so many different baubles and other shiny stuff it was in real danger of toppling over.
“Doctor Reynolds.” One of the nurses stopped on her way from the supply cupboard to the ward, her words half statement, half question.
Adam could understand her confusion. He didn’t usually work in the SCBU, but in the paediatric department, and clearly he wasn’t dressed for work.
“I’m here…” His breath caught in his throat and he cleared it, looking somewhere over Jan Thomas’s shoulder. If he looked at her face and saw sympathy there, he was going to lose it. “For the baby. The baby who was abandoned?”
My sister’s baby.
My sister the drug addict.
My sister who was dumped at the hospital in labour.
“You’re just in time to see her before she’s discharged,” Jan told him. She pointed at a petite blonde woman through the window of the unit. “That’s the foster carer over there with…um…baby Reynolds.”
“She doesn’t have a name?”