36. Epilogue One
Epilogue One
Luke
SIX MONTHS LATER
Feeling the warm sand press through my toes, walking along the seafront is my new favourite thing to do. My jeans are rolled around my ankles, and my t-shirt flaps in the gentle wind as I follow the tiny footprints being left in front of me.
Eyes fixed on the back of his amber hair; I watch Liam’s head searching the wet sand. “This. This.” He bends down reaching for a shell. Its multicolours glisten in the late afternoon sun. He holds it up, and I bend down to inspect it.
“That’s my favourite so far,” I tell him.
He smiles, dropping it in his blue and red bucket, before he’s looking up. Glowing, green eyes just like his mother’s stare back at me.
My heart skips a beat when Liam smiles, his round cheeks pressing his eyes half closed. “Come on. There’s more over there, little man.” I hold my hand out for him to take just as the waves wash around our feet.
He squeals, and the sound feels like the sun just got brighter. Tears of affection push to the front of my eyes. This is it. This is what true happiness feels like.
With exhales of laughter, I pull him up, into my arms. “Oh. Ah. It’s cold.” I tiptoe like a mad man, my knees jumping up and down while he giggles wildly in my arms. I retreat from the sea, my feet leaving my mark in the sand.
“Again!” Liam screams .
“Okay, take it easy,” I laugh. I hop to one of my footprints, then to the next. The sea sucks backwards before it’s coming for us again. “Ready?” I feel like I’m shaking up a fizzy drink before you unscrew the lid.
Liam vibrates with excitement, holding his breath, his cheeks turning red. Christ. I need the wave to hurry up. I’m still learning here. I have no idea if Liam’s breath holding skills are as good as Adam’s.
The waves slap the sand with a crash, and I turn with a cry. “Ahh!” I run with Liam bouncing in my arms, watching as he falls into a trance of pure bliss. This is the happiest I’ve seen him in weeks. Coming to terms with the changes, he seems like he’s finally settling down.
“Again!”
Fuck. I’m sweating. “I need five, little man.” He rolls his bottom lip out to me.
“Hey, none of that. There’s ice cream when we’ve finished collecting all the shells. How many do we need again?”
He makes up some babble number, and I nod enthusiastically.
“That’s going to take us all the way through to dinner at this rate.”
Straightening his limbs, he slinks from my hold like a worm wriggling free. Then he happily continues collecting the perfect shells and dropping them into his bucket.
Thirty minutes later, I’m now carrying the bucket for Liam. My stomach rumbles signalling we’ve been out here too long. Not that I care. The way Liam’s singing away to himself about some rainforest animals washing their clothes, makes me smile.
“What time do you two land?” I ask Adam.
“Seven-thirty.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Thanks,” he says.
“Remind me again why you two went away together?”
“Why does it matter? ”
“No, it doesn’t. I just,” I don’t know what I’m trying to say, “I’m glad you’re alright.”
Adam sighs. “Are you?”
“Fine, Bro. I was thinking we should go see Sammie soon.”
“Really? Because I don’t think I can look her in the eye ever again.”
I understand the way he feels. “I know. But anger steals from the present. We need to get it over with, then maybe we’ll feel better about everything that happened?”
“If you say so.”
I smile. “I say so.”
“Right. Catch you tomorrow, Bro.”
“Laters.”
He hangs up.
Seeing Sammie is the right thing to do. I know it. Even after everything she did, we need to say a real goodbye to our sister. Enough time has passed.
She was swiftly arrested after the paramedics saw the gun on the floor. Too shocked to even try to escape, she went without fuss.
Zoran on the other hand, he was harder to appease. He accosted me on more than one occasion. Luckily for me, the USB I swiped contained information more valuable than any human. It was a hit list. Or shit list, as he called it, with information he could use to blackmail criminals like himself with.
Once I had his word that he’d never come for me again, I handed it over gladly, but not before making a copy, just in case.
“Time to turn around, buddy. We need to eat.” I slap my stomach.
Liam’s bottom lip dares to make another appearance, but it quickly dispels when I crouch down. “All aboard.”
He jumps on my back almost knocking me sideways. With one hand steadying myself in the sand, I realise I need to start running again. Six months has been too long without my normal exercise routine.
Still, what can I do?
“We have ten minutes to get all the way back down there.” I point down the coastline, one arm supporting him. “Think we can make it? ”
Gripping my ears, I smile with a wince as he uses my head like his steering wheel. “Five, four,” he squeaks with delight at his favourite game, “three, two, one.” I set off running with him pulling my ears either left or right, depending on which way he wants me to turn.
My ego bruised, a minute later I’m moving at a steady jog, until finally I give in and walk us to the cabin overlooking the seafront. I set Liam down, watching as he runs past me and up the wooden ramp to the set of double doors. His energy is intoxicating, but I’d be lying if a hot shower and my bed didn’t sound like the best two things on this planet right now.
“Oh, you mucky little thing.” Eva’s mum practically jumps out of Liam’s way as he runs to his grandpa.
I make my way up the ramp, needing to hold the railing. “I thought this was supposed to be a relaxing weekend?” I reach down and kiss Andrea on the cheek.
When I stand straight, she laughs, wafting her hand in front of her face. “Christ, you two need to shower before we eat.”
I lift one arm, sniffing myself. “It’s not that bad. Anyway, I just want to eat, watch this sunset together, then sleep for a week. Actually, make that two weeks.”
Andrea laughs at me. “Wouldn’t that be nice.”
Laura comes from the kitchen in the open floor plan, one story cabin. “Okay, food is ready.” She looks up at me. “You made it back just in time.”
I politely nod as she sees to Eva’s dad who’s now got a lap full of wet, sandy shells. “Liam, put them back in the bucket.”
“Leave him.” Andrea places her hand on my arm. I’ve come to accept Eva’s family as my own. This is how normal people communicate. I learned to embrace it and not shy away from the everyday normal. “Look how happy he is.”
She isn’t talking about Liam. It’s her husband she’s referring to. Her soulmate. Her other half. Seeing her face light up how it always does, I look back at her, catching her eyes filling. “Where is she?”
Shaking herself from her daydream, Andrea picks up the plate Laura just carried in here. It’s a plate full of picky foods Liam will be happy with. “She’s on the terrace, reading. ”
Grabbing a nugget, I kiss her cheek again, making her scoff when I toss the chicken in the air and catch it in my mouth. Then I wink at her, drawing a smile on her face before heading out the back of the cabin, finding the person I’m looking for.
Snuggled in her reclined chair, Eva tries to hide the fact she’s crying into the book she only started reading this morning. One day. That’s how long it’s taken her to finish it. Not that I mind. Means I got to spend quality time with Liam while she rested. Even if she is now fully healed, anything I can do to help the woman who saved me, is nothing short of what she deserves.