Page 71 of Gravity of Love
“Who is that?” Yaya demanded. “Who make you smile?”
“Shhh.”
“Is Liam? He make you smile? You tell your mama.” Yaya waved her arm. “You tell her he make you smile.”
“Yaya—”
“Tell me what?” Frankie’s mom asked as she walked out in a form-fitting, strapless trumpet gown with lace overlay.
“Nothing, it was just a text from Zee.” Frankie quickly pulled up Zion’s last text and flashed it at her mom. “He said to have fun shopping and to send him pics.”
“Oh, good! I’dloveto know what he thinks. He has such great fashion sense!”
“Well, he’s in India, so I don’t know if we’ll get real-time feedback, but he did say to tell you, ‘You could wear a plastic bag and look beautiful.’”
Her mom smiled shyly as she stepped up onto the platform, and she and Brandi started discussing fit and possibly adding straps.
Frankie took two photos and attached them to the message as Yaya leaned over to her and whispered, “You need extinguisher for pants.”
Nowshe was quiet?
“What?” Frankie asked.
“For pants, they are on fire because you are liar, liar.” She sipped her mimosa, clearly proud of herself for her creative dig.
Zee would think that was hilarious, he was endlessly amused by Yaya. Frankie included the exchange with the photos of her mom in the dress and pressed send.
After it went through, she opened Liam’s text once more, just to scroll their exchanges. It wasn’t anything romantic or sexy. But just being in constant contact with him made her feel…special, good, happy.
Just a few more days. She just had to get through a few more days of this, whatever this was. Despite Yaya wanting to blow the whole thing up, she knew she was doing the right thing. Or atleast, she really thought she was because this week wasn’t about her.
“Frankie?”
She lifted her head and saw her mom now wearing a veil. She never looked more beautiful.
“What do you think?” Her mom looked so wide-eyed and vulnerable. “Too much?”
“No. It’s perfect.” Frankie saw her mom starting to well up and she knew she was doing the right thing.
Just three more days. That’s all she had to get through. What could possibly happen in three days?
Liam could barely keep his eyes open as he drove through the winding mountain roads on his way to the tux fitting. He was running on fumes. In the past seventy-two hours, he’d gotten a grand total of ten hours of sleep. The last thing he wanted to do was try on penguin suits with his dad and brother. He’d been so tempted to blow it off, especially after the stunt his dad pulled yesterday showing up at the hospital, but Cora sent him a text that morning asking, as a personal favor to her, if he’d go. That was the only reason he’d left work to come and do it. He had to go back as soon as he finished.
Because of his work schedule, he still hadn’t seen Frankie since the invasion, which is what he was referring to it as. When he got home the night before, everyone was already in bed. He’d walked by the room that she and Tristan were staying in, but the light was off. He’d wanted to text her, ask her to come downstairs, but it was two in the morning, so he hadn’t.
He missed her. It was an emotion he wasn’t familiar with. Sure, over the time they hadn’t been in each other’s lives, he’dmissed her, but it wasn’t this feeling. This feeling was so much worse than that one.
Having her so close, literally upstairs, after being so close to her, literally inside of her, was making him feel insane. His body ached like he was coming down with the flu, despite getting vaccinated for it. He’d run a panel on himself to make sure that he hadn’t caught anything, it was all clear. His blood was clean. All of his aches were heart-related.
As he pulled off the highway, following the directions on his navigation system, he picked up his phone to check and see if Frankie had responded to his last text. She had. She’d even attached a photo of her and Yaya drinking mimosas. He smiled and got a jolt of adrenaline.
He felt like a teenage girl, constantly checking his phone, seeking any sort of assurance or sign that she was thinking about him. Anytime she did send him a message, he would get flooded with endorphins. It was pathetic, but he couldn’t help it.
Unfortunately, the hits didn’t last long. By the time Liam arrived at the men’s formalwear shop, in a part of town he wasn’t familiar with, he was ready to pull over and take a nap. He got out and rolled his neck as a yawn claimed him. He stretched and took in the surrounding area, which was known as Old Town Hope Falls. There was a large field with a sign that said King’s Farm Ice Skating $5. He assumed there must be some sort of lake or something that people ice skated on in the winter. Down the road a half mile or so was a large dragon with flames blowing out of its mouth wrapped around a sign reading Putt N Stuff Mini Golf and Arcade. Across the road was The Watering Can Nursery, which looked like a botanist’s wet dream. Next to that was Hope Falls Twin Cinemas, which had an old-fashioned marquee sign. Beside the building he was entering was Lone Pine Lanes Bowling Alley.
IfNorthern Exposuretaught him anything, then Poppy was right about integrating himself into the community. He was going to have to learn about the town, and its history. He wouldn’t be able to stay as removed and distant as he had as an emergency room physician. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. His talk with Arthur was still bouncing around his head. Normally he never gave a second thought to conversations with virtual strangers, but he hadn’t been able to shake it. Maybe the town really was already rubbing off on him.
He pressed his FOB and his locks clicking into place as he pushed open the glass door entrance. The building looked like a two-story brick relic from the turn of the century, with arches and hand-milled timber beams that could outlast a nuclear strike. The sign overhead read “Gunnarson Haberdashery, Est. 1918” in gold-leafed letters, flanked by two crossed axes.
