The Late Blossoming of Frankie Green (41 page)

Ever since, they've been a full-on couple, which Em is still coming to terms with. ‘It's lovely, my brother and my best friend being together, but it's quite gross when you two hold hands,' she said last week when the gang had all met in the pub for a long and lazy Sunday roast.

Even though Frankie feels as if she's inside a big bubble of love, she's never been so free. Floyd doesn't try to hold her back or impose his ideas on her.

Sometimes, when she's sweeping up, she thinks about her past, but it all feels like a dream. She's divorced now and back to her maiden name Rogers. Floyd thinks it's very funny that when you say their names in a sequence – Frankie Rogers Floyd Good-Fellow – it sounds a bit ‘oo-er'.

If she sees Jason, which isn't often but he's helped with some scaffolding so she could handpaint her sign, she gets a sense of déjà vu, as if a moth's wings are dusting her arm. She simply can't imagine how they ever lived side by side.

When she told Jase she couldn't ‘marry' him, a week after Floyd's confession in the car park, she'd said they were too much like friends. He'd been a mess for a while and then bang, one night, he'd met a girl and they were already engaged. Whether or not it proved that he was one of those people who needed someone, she hadn't dwelled on it. She wants him as happy as she is.

Sasha, surprise, surprise, had landed herself a photographer's job on a billionaire's Caribbean island, where she parties with the rich and famous. The last they heard, she was having a ‘spiritual connection' with the resort's water sports instructor.

Frankie's thinking about Floyd's offer that she should move in with him. She can imagine Leonardo stalking through the park, chasing butterflies and bees.

Before that though she wants to take on a Saturday girl at work, join a choir with Letty, spend time with Em and the baby and go glamping.

As far as sex goes, they're very happy indeed. But her bag of tricks was chucked out long ago. Who needs that stuff when you've got bags of chemistry?

‘Here it comes,' Floyd whispers, as the grooms exchange vows and rings. ‘Brace yourself! They're going to sound the horn. The dirty devils.'

She shivers from the tickle of his beard, which is back in all its glory. As the registrar announces them husband and husband, Frankie throws up her bouquet in delight. Everyone watches as it somersaults across the room – and lands in Letty's hands.

‘You're having a laugh, aren't you?' she says.

Confetti flies through the air as an ear-shattering siren blasts across the land and sea.

And Frankie kisses Floyd with her mind, body and soul.

She thinks of Phyllis, her very first client at the salon, who comes in every Tuesday for a shampoo and set.

‘What did I tell you?' she always says when she settles into the chair and unwraps some Welsh cakes for them to share. ‘If you sit on your feelings, in the end they'll out.'

Phyll was right. Everything did change.

It's Frankie and Floyd forever.

 

 

 

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Laura Kemp's next book is coming in 2017

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Believe it or not, this is the hardest bit to write of any book.

How to tell those you love, those who put their faith in you and those who have to put up with mad starey editing eyes that they are entirely wonderful and without them you'd be nothing?

I'll try but these words are nothing compared to the thump of my heart.

Lizzy Kremer, my agent, who is Agent of the Year Every Year for her belief, support and swearing plus her unswerving rational thing which is my safety net when I'm bouncing up or down. For teaching me there is no such thing as an ordinary woman. Harriet Moore, at David Higham, too because she is very cool.

Caroline Ridding, my publisher at Aria, who is fist-pumpingly On It, whom I wave at across the sea on my mum runs.

Nia Beynon and Blake Brooks for saying ‘yes, we can'. You get all the custard creams.

Jade Craddock, thank goodness for your eagle-eyed editing, you made it all much sparklier.

Debbie Clement, the cover is beautiful – thank you for bringing Frankie to life.

The authors I bow down to, generally on Twitter but also in bed (where I read your amazing books) – Milly Johnson, Lucy Diamond, Rowan Coleman, Clare Mackintosh, Rachel Abbott, CL Taylor, Amanda Jennings.

Book bloggers and readers, you are gorgeous the lot of you and the point of why we do what we do. Twitter pals and Facebookers and Instagrammers, you entertain me at all hours.

My friends for making life rich and hilarious and meaningful.

My mum, who passed down her love of words (stop beating me in Words With Friends), and dad, for running and sitcoms.

Finally, to my husband, son, dog and cat – I bloody slubs yousies.

L
AURA
K
EMP
lives in Penarth, Cardiff with her supportive husband, gorgeous son, playful dog and ancient cat. Writing to Laura is compulsive. With 15 years journalistic experience and several successful books to her name, writing is her escape and her love.

Aria is the new digital-first fiction imprint from Head of Zeus.

It's Aria's ambition to discover and publish tomorrow's superstars, targeting fiction addicts and readers keen to discover new and exciting authors.

Aria will publish a variety of genres under the commercial fiction umbrella such as women's fiction, crime, thrillers, historical fiction, saga and erotica.

So, whether you're a budding writer looking for a publisher or an avid reader looking for something to escape with – Aria will have something for you.

Get in touch:
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Addictive Fiction

First published in the UK in 2016 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd

Copyright © Laura Kemp, 2016

The moral right of Laura Kemp to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN (E) 9781784976996

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