Epilogue
Gabi
Gabi heaved the one remaining box to the doors of the van where Walker waited, shoulders nicely stretching out the T-shirt he wore. She shielded her eyes against the spring sun to appreciate his body and the fact that he was all hers. Finally. Walker caught her looking.
‘Stay focused there, Gabi.’ He winked. ‘We’ve got work to do.’
Gabi laughed. ‘Not for long,’ she said. ‘This is the last one.’
They’d hired the van that morning and packed it full of her old life from her apartment in London.
Walker had driven them back to Honeybridge, one hand on the wheel and one on her thigh, just the way she liked it.
The miles had sped past until they pulled up at their destination, Wisteria Cottage, Honeybridge.
‘I’ve got it,’ he said, making the box look light as a feather as he lifted it and carried it away, which gave her an opportunity to check out his bum in his jeans.
She scanned to ensure there was nothing left to unload and then did a neat somersault from the tailgate and onto the lawn beside the cottage.
Not just any house. Their house. And not just their house. Their home.
Gabi bit her lip, excitement coursing through her, as she let her eyes sweep over the sweet frontage that she and Walker had both fallen in love with.
The delicate wisteria that twisted around the front door and up to the bedroom window.
The white gables, the red brick. It was so old and so quaint and so different from her sleek London apartment – and she was pleased about that.
Because it made this a complete change. A new phase of her life was just beginning.
And for Walker too, it was the same. He’d sold his riverside house after Alex moved in with Amber and Jayden, wanting a new start with Gabi. Something that would be theirs together.
Walker emerged from the front door again having deposited his box, brushing his hands. He joined her on the lawn to admire the view, slinging his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. She didn’t think he had stopped smiling since she got back from America at Christmas.
‘Happy?’ he asked.
‘Very,’ she said, lifting her face to kiss him, for the thousandth time that day.
‘Good, because I love you, Gabi.’
‘And I love you, Walker,’ she said, never meaning anything more.
It had been a long, hard six months apart, but they’d done it.
Walker’s visits to the States, and her surprise trip back over for Isabella’s hen weekend, had punctuated the time with pockets of happiness when they’d filled up on each other, making the most of every minute together before having to separate again.
And each time they were forced to be apart only seemed to emphasise how much they were meant to be together.
When her contract ended and she took that final fight home, she knew she didn’t want to be separated from Walker again any time soon.
The flight home from America hadn’t felt like the end of something, it felt like she was on her way to a new beginning.
In fact, a flight had never felt so long.
Walker had met her at the airport, holding a bunch of red roses, which he had to drop as she threw herself into his arms. She didn’t doubt he would catch her and he didn’t let her down.
Those first ecstatic moments of holding each other, knowing there was not a ticking clock in the background as to when they would have to part, was the best feeling she’d ever had.
She was exactly where she wanted to be. She was with Walker. She was home.
Since then, they’d alternated between time at his riverside house and her London apartment, working around his shifts as they negotiated next steps.
Her flat sold quickly to a young couple working in the city, whose tick list included access to a gym and views of the London skyline.
All the things that Gabi had looked for too when she came for a viewing and signed on the dotted line.
Now, standing in the front garden of Wisteria Cottage, she realised how much her tick list had changed.
It didn’t include security access or solar panels, marble islands or sunken baths.
The only things she had on her list were: Walker himself, doorways wide enough to fit his shoulders and a cat flap for Fatboy Jim.
She turned them on the spot and snapped a selfie, with the cottage as the background, before whizzing it off on a message.
‘Just sending it to Papà,’ she said. ‘He’s so excited for us.’
‘He’ll see it for himself next weekend,’ Walker said. ‘Will be nice to see him again. And he’ll get to meet my parents too.’
‘True. We’d better get the spare beds ready,’ Gabi said. Walker enfolded her against his chest and she heard a different tone in his voice.
‘I’m more interested in our bed at this precise moment in time.’ Gabi could smell the peppery spice of his aftershave as he whispered into her ear.
She laughed.
‘Thought you were telling me a few moments ago we had work to do.’
‘I think we’ve earned a lie-down,’ Walker said, eyebrow raised. She couldn’t resist. Not that she wanted to.
‘Well, you’d better carry me over the threshold then,’ Gabi said, raising an eyebrow back at him, fully expecting him to sweep her into his arms. She saw the glint in his eye too late as he lifted her bodily and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift.
‘Walker!’ she laughed, slapping at his back.
‘Gabi,’ he replied striding towards the front door, giving her upturned bottom a smack for good measure. He carried her inside before gently setting her on her feet, closing the front door and hanging the key on its hook on the wall.
‘Welcome home,’ he said, cupping the back of her head and kissing her deeply. The world stopped for an instant as she felt herself melting against him. He smacked her bum again and nudged her. ‘Now get up those stairs!’
Fatboy Jim ran for cover as they both bolted for the bedroom.