Epilogue
‘I can’t make Dad’s birthday dinner this year, because I’m going to Newquay with some of the others to watch a surfing competition.
’ Max had accompanied the announcement with a nonchalant shrug and when Annie had started to protest, he’d held up his hand.
‘But me and Jamie are going to do a barbecue for him instead, the day afterwards. Bev said she’d give us a hand. ’
Eve had been almost certain her mouth had fallen open and Annie’s definitely did. She wasn’t sure either of them had expected Max to deliver on his promise, but he had, and when they’d all sat out in his garden on the afternoon of the barbecue, he’d seemed to relish playing host.
‘Here you go, mate.’ Max had handed Felix a burger in a bun. ‘Better than the baked beans on toast you were always trying to get me to make.’
‘Definitely, especially when people think it’s okay to microwave them.’ Felix had grinned, making Max roll his eyes, but in a far more good-humoured way than he might have done a couple of months before.
‘There’s another burger ready, I think it’s the best one yet,’ Jamie had said to Max, passing it to him.
‘Then it has to be for Evie.’ As Max had handed her the plate, she’d once again found herself blinking back tears, at the sound of the pet name he hadn’t used in two years.
This time they weren’t tears of sadness or guilt, just gratitude that her relationship with Max was so much better now that they’d both been freed from the constraints of other people’s expectations.
They’d never be Max and Eve again, in the way they’d once been, but they were still a huge part of one another’s lives and there’d always be so much love between them.
Moving to the bungalow had been brilliant for Max.
It had been so good for all of them; the beginning of a new phase in all their lives that had been so desperately needed.
‘Are you ready to go?’ Felix asked now, slipping an arm around her waist.
‘I am. I was just looking at the latest photos from the scan. I’m so glad the baby’s okay and I think I can already see a family resemblance.’
‘Yes, he’s definitely got Max’s chin.’
‘You’ve already seen the photos?’ Eve widened her eyes as he nodded.
‘Nigel sent them to me.’ The casual way Felix said it made her smile. Annie and Nigel hadn’t just accepted her relationship with Felix, they’d welcomed him with open arms and he’d been every bit as delighted as she was.
‘You two have got a proper bromance going.’
‘I can’t help it if everyone in your family falls in love with me.’ Felix grinned and she turned to kiss him, pressing her lips against his just for an instant.
‘They do, but it’s just a cross you’ll have to bear.’ Slipping one hand into his, she picked up her keys from the hallway table with the other. ‘We’d better hurry up or we’ll be late.’
There were heading to the village hall in Port Kara, where Sophie was throwing a fifth birthday party for her son, Carter, which his grandfather had helped to organise.
With her family’s support, Sophie was progressing well and the plan was for Carter to eventually move back in with her, in the annex at her father’s house where she was now living.
She’d need to stay on track and meet all the targets she’d been set by her social worker.
Even after that, she’d be monitored closely, but it was a story of hope and the power of family.
It was also proof that it was never too late for a fresh start and that life could be filled with the kind of joy that was once impossible to imagine.
‘There’s something I need to tell you before we go.’ Felix stopped, looking suddenly serious. ‘I love you, Eve Bellingham.’
‘That’s good, because I love you too.’ Kissing him again, she allowed herself to embrace the beauty of the moment, grateful for all that had gone before; knowing it meant she’d never take her wonderful new life for granted.