I’m all tears and seawater. I swipe at my cheeks with trembling hands.
“Izzy, will you accept this ring, and do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
“Yes. Yes.” I sob as he slides the ring onto my finger. “Oh my God. I can’t believe . . .” I clench my fist. “Let’s get out of the sea. I am not losing this one.”
Lucas laughs. I love that laugh—it’s his lightest one, unselfconscious and full. I want to make him laugh like that a hundred times a day forever.
“OK, so now I have asked the question . . .” he says.
I grab his hand as we find our footing on the sand and begin to walk to the shore. Rio de Janeiro stretches before us, waking up, if it ever truly slept. Apartment windows blink bright in the sunlight, and the fierce blue mountains rise behind it all, just waiting for us to explore them.
“Yes,” I say, looking over at the man I hated, the man I love, the man who makes me burn my brightest.
“I win? At proposing? I win this one?”
I laugh. “You win this one,” I say, and he scoops me up in his arms, whooping, dancing up the beach.
I feel the ring pressing into my palm, carrying so much within it. I’m crying, laughing, clinging to Lucas as the December sky lightens above us. What an honour to wear this ring. And what an honour to call this difficult, wonderful, obstinate, generous man mine.
Acknowledgements
This is a book I wasn’t supposed to write—I had no publication scheduled for 2023. Essentially, The Wake-Up Call was created through the sheer stubbornness of Izzy and Lucas, who refused to shut up even when I told them to. Now that you’ve read the book, this probably won’t surprise you.
A lot of brilliant people came together to bring this story out into the world, people who said, Sure, that wasn’t the plan, but let’s do it anyway. I’m grateful to be surrounded by such innovative and creative talents.
Tanera Simons, my partner in crime （or should that be partner in rom-com?）： Thank you, as always, for your patience, care, and clear-headedness. You’re a wonder. Cassie Browne, Emma Capron, Kat Burdon, and Cindy Hwang, my super-creative editors: thank you for giving me the nudge I needed to let this book fly, and for all your help shaping the story. Helena Mayrink: thank you so much for your brilliant insights, ideas, and support on the Brazilian aspects of this novel, as well as all the Portuguese translations, and thanks also to Pedro Staite for your help—and for letting me borrow your name!
Jon Butler, Stef Bierwerth, Hannah Winter, Ellie Nightingale, Ella Patel, Hannah Robinson, Angela Kim, Hannah Engler, Lauren Burnstein, Tina Joell, Chelsea Pascoe, and everyone at Quercus and Berkley: thank you for all your creativity, passion, and hard work. To Georgia Fuller, Mary Darby, Salma Zarugh, Kira Walker, Sheila David, and all at Darley Anderson Agency: thank you so much for continuing to share my books with people around the world.
Thank you to my parents for all the sage advice while I navigated writing this book. Thank you to Gilly McAllister for too many things to name, but primarily for being the other （better） half of my brain. Thank you to Caroline Hulse and Lia Louis for listening to many rants and providing much wisdom. To my sister, Ellen: thank you for being my rock.
Sam, my love. Thank you for treating these stories of mine with such respect—so much so that you took a pause in your career so that I could tend to mine. You are a rare, extraordinary man, and the most wonderful father. To my little bug: thank you for filling my life with the purest, brightest, most profound joy.
Lisa, Lucy, Beth, Hannah, Rhianna, Kate, Carly, Alison, and all the amazing team at my son’s nursery: thank you for looking after my little boy with such love and care while I am writing these stories. Without you, this book would not exist.
Finally, dearest, dearest readers . . . I dedicated this book to you, which perhaps feels a bit redundant （I mean, of course the book is for my readers）—but I felt it needed saying for this one. I will never stop feeling lucky to do this job, and I only get to do it because you read the stories I write. Thank you for the faith you put in me every time you pick up one of my books. I mean it—I truly treasure you.