Now that I had my hero and heroine, I started trying to parse out the rest of the information I needed. It didn't take long before I realized Deck and Frankie had a past.
This was something that came to me without my realizing it. Same thing with the fact that he ghosted her. One day, I just knew.
But what were the circumstances? Deck didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd disappear on the woman he was in love with and it was clear from the start he carried a torch for a woman from his past. Frankie.
I had to sit with this for a while. Longer than I expected.
Some of it came quickly. They'd known each other in college. They'd been best friends from the instant they met at freshman orientation.
This raised more questions. How'd they go from friends to lovers? And why did Deck cut out on her and not reply to her messages/emails/phone calls?
This was the question that kept tripping me up until Deck opened up enough to share that who is now--Mr. Responsible, officer in charge of a covert Special Forces team, rarely put a foot wrong--isn't who he was in college. In fact, he insists he was self-centered, irresponsible, and immature. Frankie tells me this isn't the truth because she wouldn't have been friends with someone like that. Deck insists this was exactly what he was like. I suspect they're both right.
Deck was simply different with Frankie from Day One.
