Epilogue
MARISOL
“Leo, they’re here!” I yell out the back door.
His head pops up from behind the corn stalks. He’s got a smear of dirt on his cheek, and he winks as I shake my head at him. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
I’m smiling like an idiot when I walk back inside. Who knew that a simple veggie garden could bring so much joy?
“I know you said not to bring anything,” May says as she places a giant gift basket on the kitchen counter.
“May!”
“Shhh.” She pulls me into a hug. “You’ve done so much for us in the last six months. This is the least I can do to attempt to thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank us,” I say as Cami smiles at me from where May holds her on her hip. “Getting to spend time with this one is more than enough.”
Cami curls her little hand around my index finger, babbling as I bend down to talk to her. She is six months old today, and in the overbearing aunt fashion I’ve adopted since she was born, Leo and I are hosting her half-birthday party.
I went a little overboard with decorations, with streamers hanging from the roof and photos of her from when she was born until now decorating the mantel, but I don’t care. I always want Cami to know she is loved by everyone around her, even if she won’t remember this.
“Hey.” Rafael appears through the front door, arms full with their on-the-go bag. “I picked up some strays on the way.”
Isla rolls her eyes as she and Caio follow him inside, Heath in tow. “I hope you don’t trust all strays with your child,” she says.
All of us have done our fair share of babysitting in the last six months; in fact, we’ve fought over who gets to have Cami whenever May and Raf take a night to themselves, which is something we, as a group, implemented for their own good, but also so that we can all spend time with Cami.
Rafael drops the bag by the door before pulling me into a hug.
Our hugs seem to get longer and longer with every month I spend at home.
I think my brother is still coming to terms with the fact that I’ve really moved back to Ruby Cove and that I don’t have any plans to go anywhere anytime soon.
I can’t exactly blame him, though, given our past.
Marina and Miles arrive just as Leo finally comes in from the garden, a basket full of vegetables slung over his arm.
“Wow,” Rafael wonders. “I always heard that retirees find a new purpose in gardening, but I can’t say I expected you to become a fucking farmer, Romano.”
“I’m not retired, jackass,” he throws back as he unloads the veggies in the kitchen. “I’m living a balanced life.”
Rafael scratches the back of his neck. “Jesus.” He turns to me. “Did you know you were trading in a security guard for straw hat over here? There’s still time to back out.”
I nudge his shoulder with mine. “It’s endearing.”
Rafael nods repeatedly. “Sure.”
May laughs before the two of them settle down on the couch with Cami. I wander into the kitchen, letting Leo pull me into him. “I still do it for you, don’t I?”
I grin. “You know I don’t hate the farmer thing. There’s something about the dirty hands…” Leo uses said dirty hands to pull my face toward his, kissing me like our house isn’t full of our friends and family around us.
I smack his chest, grinning against his lips before I pull away. “Wash up. I want to give Cami her present.”
“Yes, boss.” He nods before heading down the hall.
I settle on one of the oversized beanbags we brought for the living room.
Leo and I have done a little decorating in the last few months, turning this house into a home for both of us, a place we can have everyone around.
Meaning, as well as a few knick-knacks and a few more pieces of Isla’s art, we needed more seating.
“How are you going at the paper?” Marina asks from her spot on Miles’s lap.
“Honestly, it’s been amazing.” It’s been a month since I started as head photographer at the Ruby Cove Gazette.
Their photographer finally retired at eighty-three, and I wasn’t exactly qualified for the role, but I showed the director some of the photography I’d done since I moved back, and I was hired.
It’s not full-time, as the local news isn’t exactly booming, but that works perfectly for me since I was already working part-time at Olive&Vine, taking on that waitressing job Rafael was hoping to hire for, so he could spend more time at home with Cami.
God, if twenty-four-year-old me could see me now. Back in Ruby Cove and working in my brother’s restaurant—the one that used to be our nonna’s. She wouldn’t believe it. But I’m happier than I have been in years.
I never thought I’d give up modeling, especially not because of blackmail. But honestly, I think that was the push I needed to make the choice I was so afraid of. But I think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made—that, and calling Leo that night at La Sirena.
I ended up meeting Leo’s friend in the police force and making a statement about André Hugo.
My statement—though vague—along with the footage from Romano Security, is exactly what the police needed to arrest him.
Turns out I wasn’t the only woman he’s hurt.
And it felt good to help take him down. I can kind of see why Leo liked it.
But nothing can compare to the peace we’ve found here in Ruby Cove together.
The sale of Romano Security went through days after I walked away from Regina, almost like the universe was just waiting for everything to come together.
Working at Olive&Vine has given Rafael and me the opportunity to repair our relationship, and Cami has helped bridge any gaps. We aren’t perfect siblings by any means, but things are starting to feel like they used to.
“Okay, I’m here. Did you do it without me?” Leo says as he walks back into the room.
“Do what?” May asks. “I thought we said no presents.”
“Who exactly do you think was going to follow that rule?” Isla asks.
May looks around the room. “Did all of you get presents?”
“Yeah.”
“Pretty much.”
“Yes.”
I laugh as the sentiment echoes around the room. Hauling myself up off the beanbag as May begins to tell us all off, I grab the gift bag hidden behind the armchair in the corner.
“Just let us spoil her while she’s the only one,” Marina says. “You’ll get us back later.”
May looks at her as if Marina just declared something, and she laughs. “I’m not pregnant. But one day, you’ll hopefully be spoiling us in return, so just be graceful about it.”
May takes the order, shutting up as she smiles. I move to sit next to her on the couch, placing the gift bag between us. Her eyes sparkle as she looks at it.
“Look at that, piccola! Let’s see what Zia Marisol got for you.”
Leo coughs.
“And Zio Leo,” she whispers to Cami with a smile as she pulls the scrapbook from the bag.
“I still think we should start a petition for that to be the official name for your self-defense classes,” Isla says. “Self-defense at Dojo Zio Leo. It’s iconic.”
Leo rubs a hand over his brow with a sigh. Zio Leo has now replaced Leonardo in the most aggravating nickname department for him.
“Oh, Marisol,” May says, her voice weak as she carefully flicks through the pages filled with photos I’ve taken over the last six months. Photos of Cami, of her with all the people in this room, of her and Vanessa and Luca.
“I had the idea that it could be an ongoing scrapbook kind of thing. We can add photos as she gets older. Maybe when she’s old enough, she’ll be able to look at it and see how much family she has—blood or not—and how loved she has been since her first moments.”
Dio, it sounds cheesy when I say it out loud like that. But when I look up, May has a tear streaming down her cheek.
She pulls me into a hug, holding onto me tight as she rubs my back. “This is beautiful. Thank you so much. We will treasure this forever.”
I smile over her shoulder at Rafael, who’s smiling back like he’s watching a moment he wants to remember, almost like he doesn’t believe it.
For a while there, he probably didn’t think I’d be around for this kind of thing. I suppose I didn’t either. But I think we’re both glad I found my way back.
“The rest of you better not have done some sentimental shit like that, too.” May laughs through her tears as she wipes them away.
I move off the couch, squishing myself onto the same beanbag as Leo, as Isla replaces me on the couch, Cami pulling at the wrapping paper of her gift.
Leo wraps his arms around me, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “You did good, covergirl.”
“You know when you had that moment when you saw our future right in front of you?” I say.
“Yeah.”
“I’m having one of those moments right now.”
“Yeah?” he asks.
I turn my head to look at him, and his eyes are sparkling. He’s got a speck of dirt on his cheek, and I reach up to brush it away. “Yeah. I want this with you. I want all of it with you.”
He leans down to kiss me, smiling as the rest of the group cheers as Cami finally opens her present, but I can’t take my eyes from him. “What did I always tell you? You tell me when and where, and I’ll be happy to comply.”