Epilogue - Millie
“Are you sure you want to leave us, Stal?” Millie asked, cradling Jenny.
A good luck banner covered half the living room of Bear’s house. Liss and Millie had stayed up all night to decorate the place. It should have taken only an hour, but they got distracted by snacks and wine. Having Rylee on video call didn’t help, either.
“You’ve got loads of babysitters desperate to spend time with Jenny,” Millie added.
“And none of you will leave me alone to be a grumpy dad.” He focused on his nine-month-old. “I’ll miss all of you, but I need to bring Jenny up where she can have a childhood like I did, surrounded by animals and green spaces. And, this will sound embarrassing, but I need my mum.”
“I get it,” Millie replied, and Stal’s eyebrow quirked. Millie elbowed him. “Well, obviously not my mum. She’s still a nightmare, even after promising to be better. But I’ve got my town of pseudo-mothers and Ma, too. I’m very lucky.”
Millie breathed in Jenny’s lavender smell. “How does she always smell so good? She’s like a lavender princess.”
“I like the smell, too.” Stal sighed.
“There’s my best girl,” Liss shouted as she rushed over.
“Me or Jenny?” Millie teased.
“Well, you’re my best girl, but when Jenny coos at me, you’re pushed to number two,” Liss said as she made faces at a giggling Jenny while taking her in her arms.
“I love it when you two are together. You’re such trouble,” Millie replied.
“I can’t help myself. Cam asked for you, by the way. He’s outside playing with Jeff.”
“Sister trouble?”
Liss nodded. “Ava refuses to come home even though Beatrice is planning the coronation.”
“Your grandad’s abdicating?”
Liss shrugged. “He says it every six months. I expect it will still be a while yet. Anyway, Cam’s struggling with how stubborn Ava is. Females, eh? So much hard work,” Liss said, pointing at Jenny and winking at Stal, who grumbled at Liss’s attempt to wind him up.
Millie hugged Stal as he made her a promise to visit.
“Catch you later,” she replied, stepping toward the back door.
Bear accosted her. “How’s the bookshop?”
She leaned across the countertop. “It’s doing well. I work there a couple of days a week.” The Spicy Nook was attached to Merryn’s café, so Elsie supported her mum while growing her business. “And the rest of the week, I run counselling sessions, a mixture of remote and face-to-face.”
“What’s the long-term plan?”
“Not a clue. What’s yours?” she countered, and Bear grinned back. The men often tried to outsmart her, but Strike was the only one who stood a chance.
“I go wherever Liss tells me to, with a smile and a Whitney Houston song on my lips.”
“And baked goods in your pocket,” Millie added.
“Always. You’re winning the darts leagues, too?”
“Are you stalling me, Bear?” He shrugged, but he couldn’t meet her penetrating stare. “Where’s Strike? I thought he’d be here by now.”
“He’s chatting with our mate, Kalen, who recently left the Navy and is joining our bodyguard team part-time.” Bear opened the oven and pulled out cheese scones. The scent made her moan. “Try one of these.”
Millie pulled one of the scones apart to cool it. “The cheese scones are a major diversion tactic.”
“It’s just scones, Millie. Chill out.”
Liss ran in. “Has it happened yet—oh, hey, Millie, you’re still here. Where’s Cam?”
Millie shoved her hands on her hips. “Has what happened yet?” Strike had messaged her, begging her to wear his favourite dress of hers, the red one from their bookshop date.
“Princess, stop meddling,” Bear said to Liss. “Eat this scone and shush.”
“You’re meddling, too,” she replied. They kissed like they were the only ones in the room.
“Hmmm, my favourite pair of jeans. You know if you wear those in front of me, showing off your spankable ass, I have to throw you over my shoulder.”
“Excuse me,” Millie said, holding up her hand. “Can you guys not?”
“Great stalling skills,” Liss whispered.
“That’s it,” Millie shouted. “I’m not going anywhere until someone tells me where Strike is and why everyone’s delaying me.”
“No reason,” Bear replied. He checked his phone. “If I were you, I’d go straight into the back garden.”
Liss did a little yip of excitement. Stal and Jenny joined them, and Millie grumbled as she turned on her heel.
“You might want this,” Stal said, holding out a coat.
“I don’t know what you’re all up to, but I’m not sure I want you as friends anymore,” she replied, snatching the coat and stomping outside to the sound of their laughter.
There was no one there.
Millie walked the length of the garden and across the deck to the water’s edge. The coat kept her warm against the early November breeze, which picked up her long blond hair and tossed it around.
It was difficult to believe that many months ago, she’d been on this same deck, staring at the water, with Strike sitting behind her.
She’d thought she hated him, but it was his power to make her feel things she couldn’t act on that had angered her.
She stared out at the lake. The last eight months with Strike had been near perfect.
He gave her space when needed, and she did the same for him.
They’d argued a couple of times, but the annoyance didn’t last long.
And one by one, they’d ticked things off his sex list. There were still a couple she wanted to try, including soldier role-play.
She rubbed the gap on her finger absentmindedly as she stared across the lake at the setting sun. The only disappointment was losing her promise ring a couple of weeks ago, but she still wiggled her finger, longing for it to return.
The orange glow filling the sky left her breathless.
Pinks merged with the blue, which tried to hold its power a little longer, but it was a losing battle.
It reminded her of Strike and her relationship.
It was a mess of colour. The bright red of their fiery passion, with the calm of the blue, brought her security and peace even though his job was risky.
And there were yellow and pink lines threaded through all of it.
Her life was unpredictable on some days, yet safe and everything she needed on others. And after the sunset, there was always darkness.
She longed for his darkness some days.
“Sunset,” Strike called.
His voice made her jump. She dug her feet into the decking as she wobbled slightly, nearly losing her footing and plunging into the water.
“Don’t do that to me,” she replied, turning.
Millie gasped.
Her strong hero stood a couple of metres away in a soldier’s camouflage shirt and trousers, the ones used during manoeuvres.
“You got it all, including all the pockets and massive boots.”
Giggling carried from the doorway where Cam, Luke, Bear and Stal stood with Liss. Bear held Jenny this time, who cooed at him. Their joy lingered on the wind, brushing past Millie’s cheek and making her shiver.
“Sorry I’m late, but I wanted this to be perfect.”
“But we can’t do that, not in front of your friends. That was not on the sex list.”
He laughed loudly. Mischief brought a sparkle to his blue eyes.
“That’s for later, at home. In the meantime, I need to do this before we lose the sun.” He got down on one knee. Millie squeezed her lips together as her eyes widened. “Once upon a time, I moved into a big house next door to the most obnoxious girl I’d ever met.”
“This better improve, or you shouldn’t bother asking,” she teased.
He winked. “That obnoxious girl wrapped me around her finger within days of meeting me, and I never untangled myself. You made me laugh, you challenged me, you helped me understand what love was and that I had a heart capable of so much.”
“I love how big your heart is.”
Strike grinned. “You were the first kiss that counted. You burnt your name into my heart, so that all I wanted was you, even after I left.”
Millie gulped as she started to cry. He always had the power to reach her like this, and she wouldn’t change it for the world.
“And then we met again. You will forever be on a pedestal, because no one else compares to you.”
Dusk made it tricky to see him.
“Now,” he called out.
Lights in blue, pink, orange, yellow, and red lit up the entire garden. He’d created a sunset for her. In his hands was a sign.
Sunset, will you marry me?
Millie ran at him, and he dropped the sign, holding out his arms. She jumped on him, and he spun her in the air. “Of course I will, you magnificent bastard.”
The group walked toward them as he eased her down to her feet and returned to one knee. He pulled a ring box out of his pocket and flipped the lid. Inside was the ring she’d lost.
“The promise ring wouldn’t last a lifetime, and we need it to, so I had it remade. I’ve added the old one to the wristband I gave you.”
“I couldn’t find that the other day, either,” she said. “So this ring is the same?”
“But stronger, and instead of cubic zirconia, it has diamonds and sapphires.”
He slid the ring on her finger as Liss handed her a glass of sparkling wine and Bear gave Strike one.
“To the future,” Millie said, holding up her glass. Strike grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles as everyone repeated it.
They partied with their friends until it was time for Stal to put Jenny to bed.
Millie and Strike hugged everyone goodbye, Stal and Jenny getting the longest hug, before walking through the house and getting in the car.
“Are you ready to reenact the dirtiest chapter from The Soldier’s Temptation when we get home?” Strike asked as he sat beside Millie and clicked her seatbelt in.
“We’re really doing it tonight?” she replied giddily.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our engagement.” Strike slid his hand underneath her dress as he sucked her neck.
“Then get us home as soon as possible, soldier.”
“Yes, ma’am.”