Epilogue - Lucas
Three years later
The harvest has been great this year.
It was Natalie’s idea to plant vegetables in the unused field at the south of our house.
It’s the ideal spot, and we’ve grown carrots, potatoes, zucchini, beans and enormous, rosy tomatoes.
Logan has discovered a real love for working outside and has decided he wants to go to agricultural college.
It’s his skill that has resulted in such a bountiful crop.
I admit my life is unusual, for a billionaire.
While I still have to go up to the city and sit in stuffy boardrooms occasionally, the majority of my time is spent with my family here in Snowflake.
I won’t say things were easy at the beginning, especially with Eva, but we’ve made it work for the sake of the kids. She can see how much Natalie loves them, and they love her, and I think it went a long way in convincing her our relationship was serious.
Eva sold her business when she met a ski instructor who works in the mountains. Now she interior designs ski lodges and has even developed a taste for greener living, being surrounded by snow and beautiful scenery every day.
As I walk up to the house with a basket of tomatoes, I can hear Zoe singing and playing the piano. Her voice is lovely and she’s always bugging me to record her performances to put on TikTok.
Natalie comes out to meet me. Her pregnant belly is rounded and she looks like a fertile goddess with her curly auburn hair and flowing sundress.
“Come, take a look Lucas. I’ve finished.” She grabs my hand in hers and I feel the callouses on her fingers from working on her newest art piece. She leads me up to the front of the house.
The sculpture she’s been working on for the last two months is done. It’s taller than me - a tree made from reclaimed metal that glints in the late afternoon sunshine. The branches spread out toward the house, with each leaf carved from fallen wood from the forest.
There’s something so moving about seeing the tree here, in the house where we’ve built a life together, that I can’t help but scoop her into my arms.
“It’s breathtaking. You are so talented. It’s the spirit of our lives together, in sculpture form. I love it. And I love you.”
As she beams up at me and reaches to give me a kiss, in this moment everything feels perfectly synchronized. The sun shining down, warming the tops of our heads, helping to grow the food we eat. The brown earth solid beneath our feet, the roots of the huge pines growing deep in the soil all around.
And the love of my life, here, with my children, right beside me.
Life is good.