Epilogue
Jade
Six months later
“Call me when you get in.” I throw my arms around my brother’s neck.
He lifts me up, squeezing me in a bear hug. “Will do.” He kisses me on the cheek, then sets me down.
“Come back soon,” Axel says, shaking his hand and clapping him on the shoulder. “There’s always a space for you here.”
“I’ll definitely take you up on that,” Jasper says, picking up his bag. He steps into the waiting tender, Ahmad at the wheel. He looks up at me, his green eyes, the same as mine, full of love. “Look after her,” he says to Axel.
“Always,” he replies, his arm around my shoulders. I lean into him as the boat speeds away, Jasper waving.
“You okay?” Axel kisses my hair. “He’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’m okay.” I am. My heart is so full, but with love, rather than sorrow. “One more year and he’ll have finished his Master’s. I wonder what he’ll do then.”
“Myles has offered him a job, right?” Axel keeps his arm around me as we head back along the jetty. “Will he take it?”
“It’s an option. Maybe I’ll talk to Myles about it next time I see him.”
I’ve been based at Sembuh for six blissful months.
I’ve had to travel, of course, getting back out on the circuit, still working with sponsors.
But I’ve pared down my sponsorship list now that I don’t have to pay for Jasper’s schooling anymore.
Sol’s okay with it because it gives me more time to surf, and that, after all, is what I do.
I thought the ocean turned her back on me, that terrible day in the storm.
But being back here, with Axel, has shown me that she is still a refuge.
That it was my own pain that kept me out of the water, nothing more.
I surf every day and delight in it, remembering a young girl with an old board, my connection to her stronger than ever as I dance through sparkling waves.
I think of Dora, often. Of how much she would love it here.
Sembuh, though, is still Axel’s and my secret.
I don’t post much about it, and certainly nothing that gives away where it is.
I’m still working for Ocean’s Curl, of course, lending a hand on the design side of things as well as wearing their brand around the globe.
I’m also still involved with the foundation, which is going brilliantly, more sites being saved each month.
Myles and Zara have been to visit, bringing little Max and mooring their yacht just offshore.
It was lovely having them here for a few days.
I work remotely a lot of the time, but I need to head off again soon.
Axel is coming with me this time. Which is something new.
I haven’t pushed him about coming back into the surfing world.
I know there’s pain, still, about what happened to him.
But he’s making his peace with it, one day at a time.
He’s even started taking commissions again, though only for a select few, and only when he feels like it.
Bryce Maylands is one of those people; I kept in touch with Claire after the foundation launch and they’ve both been to stay, borrowing Anna’s cabin.
It turns out Claire used to work for Anna, at one of her boutiques in Australia. It’s a small world, sometimes.
“I’m looking forward to our trip,” Axel says, hugging me closer. “There are a few people I’m hoping to catch up with.”
We’re heading to Australia. Winter waves there are the best waves, or so a lot of surfers say, the swell larger and more consistent than at any other time of year. Plus, there are a couple of competitions on, so I’ll be making the most of that.
“I’m looking forward to having you with me. Though you might be a bit of a distraction.” I still haven’t really forgiven him for telling me that, the day he went to Jakarta to plead with the banks. He knows it, too.
“A distraction? I’ll do my best.” He nibbles my ear, his hand squeezing my breast at the same time. Damn him.
I expect him to pull me inside the house, to throw me on the bed the way he likes to, making love to me slowly and torturously.
We still cannot get enough of each other.
Which is another reason I want him with me when I go.
I kind of wasn’t kidding about him being a distraction. Not that I mind in the slightest.
But instead, he leads me to the back of the house, to the storage cupboard where we keep our boards. My Black Axe from the auction is there, as well as Dora’s board, lovingly repaired by Axel for the second time. It’s getting quite fragile now, though, so I don’t ride it as much as I used to.
“What’s going on? I guess we’ve done it everywhere else in the house so why not in the storage cupboard.” I laugh as Axel pulls me to him, kissing me hard as he unlatches the door with his free hand.
“No, though now you’re giving me ideas,” he says, biting my lip gently before releasing me. The door swings open and he steps inside, pulling a board from the rack. He turns, offering it to me.
“What’s this?” I take the board from him, admiring its clean lines, the beautiful shaping.
It’s a Black Axe, but not one I’ve seen before.
There’s a frangipani flower design at the tip of the board, fluid green lines against the ivory.
My name is in tiny flowing script next to it inside a heart.
I stare at Axel, my mouth dropping open.
“It’s for you,” he says, unnecessarily. “An early birthday gift. I know you already have a Black Axe, but I wanted you to have something special. Something made specifically for you.”
It’s my birthday next month. Tears prickle my eyelids. I can’t speak, a lump in my throat.
“The flower is you, because you’re beautiful and you smell like frangipani. Green, like your eyes. Your name is on it, so everyone knows it’s yours. And the heart is mine. Because it’s also yours, Jade, along with every other part of me.”
I’m crying like a baby now. “Oh, Axe,” I splutter. “I love you so much.” He takes the board from me, sliding it back into the rack, then gathers me into his arms. I sob against his broad chest. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you.”
“Hey, it’s all right.” Once again, I expect him to take me into the house, but he doesn’t. He just holds me, letting me cry it out.
I lift my head, sniffing. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I thought maybe we could take the new board out. Give it a test run.”
I blink. “We?” Axel’s been doing a lot of healing. Even been out for a swim with me, a couple of times. But he hasn’t surfed since that terrible day in the storm.
He shrugs, but there’s something in his eyes. “Yeah. I er… I made myself a new board as well. For the trip. And I’m a bit rusty. So, I thought if I knew a professional surfer, they might go out there with me, hold my hand if I need it.”
“I’ll always hold your hand, Axel Black,” I say, reaching up to kiss him. “In the water, out of the water, whenever you need it.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He smiles, stroking my cheek. “So, shall we?”
A short while later we’re both jogging into the surf, freshly waxed boards under our arms. It’s a beautiful day, the waves like curls of glass, not too big. Perfect for someone getting back into the swing of things. We both drop onto our boards at the same moment, paddling forwards, side by side.
Kind of feels as though I’d like to paddle side by side with him forever. He glances over at me as though he knows what I’m thinking. He reaches out his hand as we coast over a wave.
I take it. And together, we glide into the infinite blue.