Epilogue
It was Wednesday, which meant it was ‘Woody’s Words of Wisdom’ day and Briony needed to do this in one take, because she had somewhere she needed to be that she wouldn’t miss for the world.
‘Welcome to another episode of “Woody’s Words of Wisdom”, today’s broadcast isn’t live, so there’ll be no Q&A session, but if you leave a comment below, I promise to respond to as many of them as possible later on.
’ She beamed into the camera as she spoke.
Part of her wondered if she should try and temper her happiness, but she didn’t think she could have done if she’d tried.
There’d been so many times when she’d used the ‘Woody’s Words of Wisdom’ slot as a kind of therapy, sharing her feelings and problems with the world from behind the safety of a screen, connecting with like-minded people.
She knew there would be people listening to the recording whose lives weren’t in a good place right now, but she hoped the message she was about to deliver would give them hope that better days could still be ahead, no matter how bad things might seem right now.
‘The reason I’m not live today, is that I’m off to a Welcome to the World party that my sister is hosting for her best friend’s baby.
’ Her smile widened even further at the thought of meeting Rowan’s daughter, who’d been born three weeks ago and was now ready for her first party.
It was the October half term holiday and Briony had been helping Bex prepare for the event for the past couple of days.
‘The words of wisdom I want to share today are related to that. The baby’s lovely mum and dad first met when they were at school, but life took them in very different directions and no one, least of all the happy couple, would have envisaged them getting back together.
But in the end, all it took to get their happy ending was a willingness to risk taking that second chance. ’
Briony took a breath, still staring into the camera, and silently praying that this message would reach the people who needed it most. ‘I’ve been given a second chance these past few months too, one I never dreamt I’d get, and one that I came close to throwing away because I was scared of allowing myself to risk getting hurt, but I’m so glad I took that chance in the end.
I read a quote recently which summed it up, and it went something like this: if you don’t take a risk on the chance to have everything, there’s every possibility you’ll end up with nothing at all. ’
Briony didn’t care if it sounded cheesy, because this week’s words of wisdom were the most honest she’d ever shared. They were a mantra she’d begun living by from the moment her sister had found her on the beach at Ocean Cove, and she had no intention of ever stopping.
Just as she ended the recording for her followers, there was a frantic banging on the door of the camper and, when she opened the door, she was greeted by a wide smile from Tristan, and an even broader one from Tom.
‘Hurry up, Auntie Briony. Mum says everyone’s going to be here soon.
Grandad’s already tried to eat one of the cupcakes that Nan made, and she chased him all over the kitchen calling him a guzzle-guts.
’ Tom laughed and Briony found herself thinking how quickly it had become one of her favourite sounds.
‘We can’t let Grandad eat all the cakes before we get a chance, can we?’ She winked at Tom, before turning towards Merlin. ‘Come on then, boy, you’re invited too.’
Merlin didn’t need telling twice, no doubt realising there was a good chance he might be able to score himself a cupcake that one of the children dropped. As Briony stepped down on to the grass, Tristan took her hand.
‘You look absolutely gorgeous.’ He whispered the words quietly enough for Tom not to hear them and pull a face at the affectionate exchange.
Tristan’s voice was another one of Briony’s favourite sounds and things between them were going well.
But if anything happened to change that, she knew Bex had been right when she’d said all those things about Tristan on the beach.
So far there was every indication that they might have what it took to get a happy ever after of their own, but even if they didn’t get that, neither of them would allow it to ruin the happy ever after they already had, in a family whose love for them was already guaranteed.
‘You don’t look so bad yourself.’ She pressed her lips against his briefly, Tom already running off towards the farmhouse ahead of them to stake his claim on the cupcakes.
When she pulled away, the two of them turned to follow her nephew in the direction of the house and she knew without question, despite all the places she’d travelled to, that there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be, because she was back where she belonged.