Epilogue
OLIVIA
Almost Five Years Later
I lean against the palm tree, enjoying the sun and the ocean breeze.
It’s a beautiful day in paradise. I smile, feeling happy down to my very core.
Life has never been this sweet. Every morning that I wake up, I have trouble believing this is my life now.
Bear and I survived hell, but maybe life evens things out because it definitely feels like paradise now.
My grin only deepens when I hear our child’s laugh.
Leora Grace is a very happy toddler with her daddy’s brown eyes and stubborn attitude and blonde hair that gets lighter and lighter with all the sun here.
We named her Leora because it means light—and that’s something Bear and I both needed desperately in our lives.
Grace seemed natural too. The very definition is Divine favor.
To make it through what Bear and I did, to somehow find our way back to one another—to love without even knowing he was Bear—especially with my past …
Well, it all had to have The Man Upstairs involved.
Bear says we were written in the stars. My hand drops down to my stomach.
Our little boy will be making an appearance soon.
When I think back over all we’ve survived and where we are now, I just never dreamed I could ever feel this complete. The past is completely behind me now. Sure, I still have scars left over, but I’m stronger than those memories.
I keep my hand on my belly as I walk over to Bear and little Grace.
I sit down in one of the chairs across from them.
Bear immediately gets up on his knees, kissing my swollen stomach.
“And how is my little Wolf today?” he purrs into my stomach placing a kiss.
Our son kicks against his dad’s lips making me giggle.
“I think he’s as anxious to get out of Mommy’s tummy as I am to have him out,” I joke.
“I can’t wait to see my little brother! I’m going to take care of him just like I do my dolls,” Leora proclaims proudly.
I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Mommy loves you.”
“Love you too!” she says, but then dismisses me and goes back to her sandcastles. I look back at Bear. He’s staring at me like he always does—as if I’m the answer to every question he’s ever had.
“Are you happy, Livy?” he asks. I laugh again. He asks me that question every day—sometimes multiple times during the day. It’s as if the man has made it his life’s goal to make me the happiest woman on Earth. Honestly, I’m pretty sure he’s achieving the goal easily.
“More and more every day,” I tell him at once and I’m completely serious.
“Blade, Winnie, Cross and Deb will be here later today. They’re going to stay for a week.”
“I’m surprised Blade is letting Winnie come. She’s about ready to pop, too.”
“She is, but because my woman is stubborn, we aren’t that far away—instead of an island somewhere,” Bear grumbles.
I elbow him. “I didn’t want to be away from our family,” I defend, and I didn’t. So, we moved to Outer Banks in North Carolina. “And our beach is secluded. Besides, you bought up so much property around us, it’s not like we have neighbors.”
“That’s something I’m very proud of every night when I make love to my woman out on the beach.”
When he says that a shiver runs down my back and I can feel my body responding. My need for Bear is always like that. He can make me wet, with just a few words. I thought it might change after we’d been together awhile, but it hasn’t. At this point, I’m thinking it never will.
“I have thought about it, though. Maybe having our own island wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“Are you serious?”
I shrug. “Well, we have the money because you’ve turned into a genius when it comes to investing. An island would be nice. Nothing huge, but private would definitely be good.”
“I am pretty good at it,” he says, making me laugh.
Bear never went back to the club, and I was glad. That life had taken too much out of the both of us. We started a new life and it’s one that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.
“A small island. I’m thinking out on the West Coast. It can be a vacation home. I can do that,” he announces.
“I had no doubts, Bear. My man can do anything,” I whisper.
He leans over to bring his lips close to mine. His eyes lock onto mine and the love shining in them does what it always does. It steals my breath.
“As long as you’re by my side, Livy. As long you’re by my side.”
With that he kisses me, and I let the feeling of his love wash over me, burning over a few more of the scars of the past. It wasn’t an easy journey, but it was one that I’d take again, as long as I ended up exactly where I am right this moment.