Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 71871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
She smacked me on the arm, causing me to laugh.
“No, you didn’t lose it, baby,” I apologized. “I’m sorry about lying to you.”
She stared down at the ring now, her tears no longer unshed.
They were trailing down her face at a rapid pace.
I watched her study the ring, and her breath hitched.
“How…” She licked her lips. “Baby, it’s beautiful. But why the black diamond?”
I touched the ring with my thumb.
On one side of the ring, there were her old diamonds. It had a princess cut half-carat diamond with three smaller diamonds on the band. Which was how her old ring looked. On the new part of the ring was a black diamond sitting next to the old princess cut. Same cut. Same shape. Same everything. Only black instead. On the other side were three smaller black diamonds embedded in the band.
The new me, and the old me.
That night, as she lay in my arms, I knew that my life from this point forward would only get better and better.
Epilogue
Some days just aren’t worth a bra.
-Frankie’s secret thoughts
Frankie
One year later
“So, Dr. Francesca Solomon…” I held up my hand to stop the woman interviewing me.
“It’s Maldonado now.” I grinned. “We were married last weekend.”
The woman interviewing me, who just so happened to be the mother of Piper, as well as my new mother-in-law’s best friend, grinned at me.
“I actually knew that.” She shook her head. “I forgot, though.”
I smiled. “It’s still so weird signing my name. I hate to tell you, after all these years signing Solomon, it’s going to take some getting used to.”
Cheyenne Mackenzie smiled.
“Okay, Dr. Maldonado. Tell me a little about yourself,” she said.
We both burst out laughing.
We weren’t close-close, but we were close enough that she knew pretty much everything there was to know about me seeing as Ember and she were great friends.
She knew mine and Luca’s entire story.
She knew that Luca and I had been seeing a fertility doctor to try to get pregnant.
She knew that I couldn’t work at my old hospital where I’d previously been working because of how uncomfortable I now was with Dr. Cromwell who was treated like royalty. Dr. Cromwell who still made me feel bad for his child’s infatuation with me. His child’s infatuation that was so bad, it was found out, that he tried to murder his friend based solely on the fact that he saw me in a sports bra, kind of infatuation.
She also knew that I had a plan to go get a pregnancy test after I left this appointment.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Cheyenne said. “How about we go take your pregnancy test and discuss specifics.”
I liked the idea of that.
“I don’t…” She waved away my words.
“We have tests here, honey. We’re an emergency room,” she teased.
I felt my face flush. “Well, I know that.”
It was as I was coming out of the bathroom in the employee’s lounge that I saw two of my favorite people in the world.
One that held my heart, and the other that had helped protect my heart while he was away.
I stopped just outside of the door, my pregnancy test with my pee still on it in my hand, and stared.
“They’re a sight, aren’t they?”
I looked over at a young woman who was standing outside of her exam room.
She had a laceration on her face, and she was pressing gauze to her forehead while she stared at the two men.
“You can have the one on the left,” I teased. “The one on the right is my husband.”
The woman smiled. “Deal.”
She looked down at the white test in my hand.
“Is that pee on your…” She gestured to it. “It’s positive, you know.”
I looked down at the indeed positive pregnancy test and smiled wide.
“Umm, yes, it is. That’s why I’m holding it on the paper towel.”
She pointed to a biohazard bag that had some half-melted ice in it.
“You should get one of those.”
I did as she suggested, dropping the plastic pregnancy test in the bag before looking at it one more time.
I wondered idly if I should tell Luca here or not.
“What are you waiting for?” my new friend asked. “You should go tell him.”
I licked my lips.
“I’m nervous,” I said. “I’ll give you a dollar if you go give it to him.”
She held out her hand and I placed a crumpled up one-dollar bill in her hand.
She took it, pocketed it, then took my plastic baggie by two fingers.
“I’m doing this because it’ll get me closer to that black-haired hottie,” she informed me. “Because holy shit, is he hot.”
I snorted and watched her walk away.
I leaned against the doorway and watched as she walked straight up to Luca, held out the bag to him, and started talking.
Malachi looked down at the woman with bemusement on his face.
His brows rose, and I watched Luca’s face as he stared at the test in his hand.