Page 69 of Gravity of Love
With each word Liam spoke, Arthur winced, as if each syllable that came out of Liam’s mouth caused him actual physical pain.
“Canyoukeep that to yourself, Doc?”
Liam had never had the urge to tell anyone’s business before, but he wanted so badly to tell Frankie about Arthur. The problem was, he knew if he did, she would tell everyone. As much as he loved the girl, and he did love her, she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. And this one, this was a Hope Falls insider secret to beat all secrets.
He hadn’t even started his role as the small-town doctor, and he was already getting drawn in by gossip. He wondered if that was part of the Hope Falls Effect.
20
Wedding planningin six days was not for the faint of heart. Having an unlimited budget definitely made things easier, but it was still exhausting. It didn’t help that Frankie’s mom wanted to do everything herself. She refused to hire any help. Thankfully, Frankie was fairly certain they were out of the logistical weeds and were now getting into the fun part.
Over the past two days, they’d taken care of everything from the guest list, invitations, location, catering, florist, DJ, photographer, rehearsal dinner, welcome brunch, welcome dinner, vendors, lighting, and day-of coordinator. They’d finalized the seating arrangement yesterday, which had taken seven hours. Seven. Hours. During which Liam texted her mom and said he was bringing a plus one. She nearly had a heart attack until Poppy messaged minutes later saying she was coming as Liam’s date and asking what the dress code was.
Speaking of dresses, today was dress shopping, which is where they were headed. Tomorrow night they had the rehearsal dinner at The Castaway, not at the resort where the wedding was being held, which Frankie didn’t understand. She’d always assumed that a rehearsal dinner was a dinner after yourehearsed what you’d be doing at the wedding but apparently this dinner was just a dinner. Half the people in the wedding weren’t even going to be there since her brothers weren’t flying in until. This was just a dinner for the guests who were arriving on Thursday, which was mainly Yaya’s family.
Friday morning was the welcome brunch for any guests who had arrived and Friday night was the welcome dinner that all of the out-of-town guests would be attending. Between the Costas, who still considered Frankie’s mom family, and Dr. Sterling’s professional acquaintances, there were over three hundred people descending on Hope Falls for the nuptials. Saturday evening was the wedding.
Saturday night the wedding party was staying at Mountain Ridge Resort, where the wedding was being held, and then Sunday morning she and Tristan would have breakfast with their parents before they left on their honeymoon, and after that the charade was over. Tristan was flying back to New York, and Frankie and Liam could…well, they could go back to whatever they were doing.
“Come! Come! Come!” Yaya shouted as she held the door of the bridal shop.
“Sorry.” Frankie hadn’t realized she’d zoned out on the short walk down Main Street to Ivory and Lace.
They were early for their appointment at the upscale boutique that had its grand opening in downtown Hope Falls just two weeks earlier. With the small-town drawing in more and more destination weddings, the need for its own bridal store became a necessity.
The first thing Frankie noticed as she entered was the shop's unique floral and citrus scent wafting through the air with hits of rose water and lemon. Sunlight poured through sheer pale pink drapes framing the front window, which displayed rotating designer dresses, fairy lights, and elaborate floral arrangements.Inside, creamy marble floors led to a series of three vignettes of velvet settees in either blush or gold, each one arranged like theater seats facing a platform in front of a three-sided mirror.
A curvy blonde with a beaming smile, bright green eyes, perfect skin, and a name tag that read "Brandi" greeted them with a calm, composed, capable energy that made Frankie instantly feel at ease, as if every single one of her needs could be met, not that they were there for her. She wore a black sheath dress that clung to her hourglass figure, with perfect, shell-pink nails that matched her lipstick, and a ‘big city’ chic aura. She was definitely giving a vibe that she’d just walked off the set ofSay Yes to the Dress,which filmed in Kleinfeld’s in Manhattan, rather than working in a boutique shop located in a town of less than five thousand people.
“Who is our bride?” She beamed positivity.
Frankie gave Brandi credit, she looked at all three women with equal interest, not assuming that Frankie was the bride-to-be because she was the youngest.
Frankie’s mom lifted her hand sheepishly. She’d never been comfortable with attention being on her. “Me.”
“Wonderful, lovely to meet you, Miss Costas, or do you prefer Cora?”
Frankie’s mom never went back to her maiden name. It made sense considering her childhood had been so tough. She maintained that her children were Costases, and so was she.
“Cora is fine.”
The telephone rang, and Brandi politely excused herself to answer it.
“You know what I just realized?!” Her mom’s eyes widened and danced with excitement as she took both Frankie’s hands in her own and brought them up under her chin, the same way she used to do when Frankie was little.
“What?” Frankie asked.
“We arestillgoing to have the same last name!” Cora exclaimed. “We’llbothbeSterlings.”
“Pfft." Yaya made the dismissive sound and then mumbled beneath her breath in Greek, “Kakos.”
“What?” Frankie’s mom turned to Yaya, her brow furrowing.
“I said?—”
Frankie spun towards her grandma to stop her from repeating the Greek insult. Frankie wasn’t exactly fluent, but she knew that it was not a nice word, and she’d only heard her grandma say it when she was speaking of someone she didn’t like.
“Okay, sorry about that.” Brandi joined them once again and swept her mom away.
