Epilogue
Ada
6 months later
The “For Sale” sign had been a long time coming, but Jonathan was finally ready. I could feel it.
When I’d come to him with the news of our parents’ passing, he’d been plunged into a dark place. Now he’d come out the other end and was finally ready to let go of the house he’d grown up in, a house that was filled with both happiness and pain, memories good and bad.
I lowered myself to sit next to him on the front stoop, handing him a glass of red wine then sliding my arm though his and taking a sip from my own glass. Jonathan stared at the sign the estate agent had put up earlier in the day, a look in his eyes that told me he was at peace with his decision to sell. As much as I loved the house, I knew it was important for Jonathan to move on.
Besides, the memory of his mother lived on his mind. He didn’t need a building to remember her by.
“You okay?” I asked, resting my head on his shoulder. It was mid-June, one of the nicest times of year weather wise, which meant I could finally wear my shorts and sandals. Even though it was nighttime, it was still pleasantly warm out. Jonathan and I had been going to the beach the last few weekends, and we were both developing a bit of a tan. We’d also just officially moved in together. After a number of months moving between apartments, we’d finally settled on living together in his place. Although I hadn’t managed to convince him to rent out the spare apartment yet. The mercurial man was still allergic to the idea of having neighbours.
He lifted my hand and brought it to rest on his lap as he exhaled a sigh and nodded. “I’m good.”
I knew he wasn’t lying. Over the last few months, I’d become an expert at reading him, so I knew when he was telling the truth.
“I’ll miss this place, but it’s the right thing,” I said, knowing that cutting loose the house that tethered him to a painful past was a healthy step. “Some family is going to buy this house and make a life here. You’re giving them the chance for a beautiful home.”
“I know,” he agreed, turning his head to press a kiss to my temple.
It had just gotten dark, and the sky was awash with stars. Jonathan and I stared up, admiring them as we sipped our wine. He’d gradually started drinking again, but only a glass or two on weekends. It was a relief to know he’d gotten through the stage of grief that had him latching onto alcohol as a coping mechanism.
“It’s so pretty,” I said, gazing up while Jonathan lazily rubbed circles into my lower back.
“Reminds me of a line from my favourite poem,” he murmured, and I cast him a curious glance.
“Oh?”
He smiled at me gently before reciting, “ I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night .”
I blinked, catching my breath. “That’s rather beautiful.”
“It’s called The Old Astronomer to his Pupil,” he sipped some wine, and I felt him staring at my profile. “It reminds me of you, too. You were the stars when I was lost in the night, lighting the way and guiding me home.”
My throat thickened at his tender-hearted statement. I drank more wine and endeavoured not to get emotional. That was the thing about Jonathan; he had such a way with words. One moment, he could be growling filthy, sexy things in your ear, and the next, he was reciting sonnets about how ardently he adored you.
“Okay,” I said when I finally got a handle on my emotions. “You are most certainly getting laid tonight.”
He chuckled low. “Not why I said it, but I’ll take the win.”
Something bright caught my attention as I glanced down and spotted a yellow ladybird moving slowly across the pavement.
“Oh, wow, look at that. It’s so rare to see a yellow one.”
Jonathan peered down in the direction I was motioning, at the path just below the step we sat on. His expression clouded a little when he saw it, but he didn’t speak.
“They don’t typically come out at night, do they? At least I only ever really see the red ones during the day.”
“No, they usually nest at night, I believe,” Jonathan said at last. “Do you notice it has extra spots? Red ladybirds have fourteen spots, but the yellow ones have twenty-two.”
I studied the tiny creature again. “You’re right. How did you know that?”
“I found one in my grandmother’s garden when I was a boy. I can’t remember what age I was, but I must’ve been young because it was before we moved to this house and still lived with my grandparents. They’ve passed now.” He fell silent, staring again at the small bug as though something was confusing him. “I pointed it out to my mam, and she told me it was a good sign. That yellow ladybirds symbolised new beginnings and prosperity. She said that whenever I saw one, it was the universe’s way of telling me good things were on the horizon.” He shook his head fondly. “She could be a little new age and woo-woo like that.”
I chuckled softly while tears rose in my eyes. “Yes, she could be,” I agreed, remembering how Leonora loved to read her horoscope and would sometimes hang crystals about the house that were supposed to draw in positive energy. Jonathan turned to me, frowning when he saw I was crying.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t you think it’s a sign?”
His expression gentled. “From my mother?”
“Who else? I mean, what’s it doing out at night? I’ve always found myself wondering if our parents would be happy that we found each other. I think this is a little message from Leonora. She’s telling us she approves.”
I found myself smiling as I watched the ladybird scuttle across the pavement before disappearing into the grass. I didn’t realise how quiet Jonathan had grown until I glanced his way and saw the emotion in his eyes that matched mine. He believed it, too.
“It’s all I want, for her to know I love her.”
“She knows it,” I affirmed. “Wherever she and Dad are right now, their love is shining down on us.”
He gripped my hand so tight, the touch telling me that even if it weren’t true, even if that ladybird showing up was pure coincidence, he was choosing to believe Leonora had sent it, and I was choosing to believe it, too. The idea filled my heart with too much peace not to.
And when we finished our wine and went back inside the house, turning off all the lights for the last time and saying goodbye to the place that had a special spot in both our hearts, I still saw the little ladybird in my mind’s eye and contentment radiated through me.
A little symbol of hope.
A new beginning for Jonathan and me.
It might’ve taken tragedy to bring us together, but from that tragedy grew something wonderful, a love I’d never known could exist but had knocked me off my feet and created a world that was so much brighter than the one before.
END.
Thank you for reading Quietly Yours ! Up next is Derek & Milly’s story: Prudence (Balfe Family Series). Can’t wait for the official release? You can join my lovely supporters over on Patreon and read this story in weekly instalments every Friday starting May 9th. Check out the blurb below.
Derek Balfe proposed to Milly O’Shea at nineteen.
She turned him down and left to build a career and a future that didn’t include him. Derek had no idea that it wasn’t purely Milly’s decision to decline but rather the influence of a meddling relative.
Now thirty-seven, Derek is a successful hotelier, divorced and parenting two teenagers. His father is retiring soon and has asked Derek to take over the family business. He has a lot going on and to add to it Milly has moved back into town, more distractingly beautiful, shy and delicate than ever—and with a teenage daughter of her own in tow. Milly is close friends with Derek’s sister so he can’t avoid running into her—but he is determined to ice her out.
That is until their daughters meet at school and become inseparable. Derek has to deal with seeing Milly every week, sometimes daily. The more he’s around her the more he realises that deep down she’s still the same girl he fell for all those years ago, and he begins to suspect that there was more to her rejecting his proposal than he’d always believed.
Tropes & Themes:
~Second chance~
~Brooding hero~
~Best friend’s brother~
~Single parents~