Epilogue
Diana
Seven Years Later
I stand on a ledge, staring up at the water flowing off the cliff into the pool below. Cool water droplets kiss my face. I’ve seen it dozens of times over the years. But it never gets old.
“Mama!”
I turn and smile as ásta walks toward me in her bright yellow raincoat, one hand firmly clasped in Ari’s.
“Hi, baby.”
I crouch down and hold out my arms, close my eyes and smile as my daughter steps into my arms and wraps her chubby arms around my neck.
“Boo-tee-ful waterfall.”
She stares up at the water. She has my hair, thick and dark. But she has her father’s eyes, bright blue and inquisitive.
“It is.” I kiss her cheek before I look back at Ari. “Have fun?”
“We climbed the staircase no less than four times.”
I laugh as I tilt my head up for a kiss. He brushes his lips over mine, a quick kiss with the hint of something more as his tongue darts out and teases my lips.
“Ari!” I swat at his shoulder with my free hand. “You’re a tease.”
He grins at me as he rakes my body with a brazen gaze. “Not a tease, ástin mín. A promise.”
I shake my head even as desire kindles and flickers to life inside me. Seven years later, including six of marriage, and I still want him as badly as I did the first time I laid eyes on him. Some things don’t change.
But, I reflect with a smile as I bounce ásta on my hip, some things do.
ásta will be three next month. Old enough to travel with Ari and me to Greece to tour the ammonia cracking facility just outside Athens and celebrate two years of being operational.
She’ll also have a chance to see her godfather, Georgios.
My smile grows. It’s hard to believe that seven years ago Ari and Georgios nearly hated each other on sight, and now they’re closer than ever, both personally and professionally.
Their collaborative investment in the cracking plant gained worldwide recognition.
The plant opened a few months late, but it’s been running steadily ever since.
Georgios and Ari never waste a chance to pick on each other.
But their working relationship is strong, steady.
When I found out I was pregnant, Ari asked me about asking Georgios to serve as godfather. Given that neither of us had a father figure in our lives and Georgios had done so much for us, it was an easy choice.
My phone buzzes. I pull it out of my pocket and glance at the screen.
“Switzerland next week?”
Ari pulls out his own phone and opens the calendar.
“I’m free.”
I rattle off the dates to him. I wasn’t sure how Silverstone would feel about me permanently relocating to Iceland.
But my boss had been surprisingly supportive, even giving me the option of working from Reykjavik and coming in every few months for a one-on-one meeting.
I’d eased back on my workload since having ásta, but still took projects that interested me and aligned with Ari’s and my schedule.
“Good. I’ll have Viktor to drive us to the airport.”
I click my tongue. “Remember, he and Malla are on their honeymoon.”
Ari rolls his eyes. “Right.”
I playfully tap his shoulder. “I think it’s great they’re finally tied the knot and are getting a vacation.”
“Except I’ll be down two employees for nearly a month. Three, if you count Atli.” He grimaces. “Another set of twins. I don’t know how he does it.”
I nudge his shoulder. “Don’t be a grouch.”
“Don’t be a grouch,” ásta echoes.
Ari’s smile, so full of love and affection for our daughter, melts my heart.
“How could I be,” he says before he kisses ásta on the nose, “when I have my two best girls by my side?”
I grab his hand, gently navigate it to my stomach.
“What about three girls? Or,” I add with a teasing smile as his eyes go wide, “perhaps we can add a best boy.”
“Diana…”
My smile deepens as he leans in and kisses me with a passion I once thought fleeting, but now know will be mine forever.