Epilogue #2
“It seems to have worked in your favor.” Mother sipped her wine, slightly smiling at her husband, who was jostling Drake’s elbow so he would miss the next shot. The orange target went flying and Drake still made the shot perfectly.
“Or I should say it worked out in his. That man is obsessed with you.” Her eyes went distant, and her lips curved with a wistful memory.
“I hated to force you into that arrangement knowing you openly disliked him, but I am so glad to see how he treats you now. He worships you, much like your father does with me. That was all I ever truly wanted for you.”
Flashes of my life over the past few months made me think of the changes that followed the arrangement and then the final confrontation.
Gizmo returned to work for me after two months away, guarding me as loyally as ever.
Julian and Brooke went public with their relationship at a Christmas dinner party.
Drake and his life melded seamlessly into mine, as if fate always intended for him to be there.
We had returned to one another as if it had been inevitable—our union written in the stars. He and I were irrevocably tangled in one another, threads of fiery passion and longing weaving into a universe where one couldn’t exist without the other.
“I did what I had to do for our family, and I would do it again.” My lips stretched wider when my father successfully made the next shot, and Drake whooped loudly.
Mother chuckled at the sight, and I shared a truly radiant smile with her.
My heart felt so full, so light, so golden.
“God, I would choose him again and again and again,” I admitted.
Because at the end of every day, Drake came back to me.
15 YEARS LATER
“Hurry or we’ll be late!” My voice carried through the London rental house.
Giggles echoed off the walls upstairs, followed by the sounds of little feet running over hardwood.
Red-bottom heels clicking, I entered the kitchen to find it empty despite the absurd amount of breakfast items piled on the counters and table.
“Where is—oof!” A small body crashed into my legs. Light brown curls twisted into two neat pigtails, chestnut eyes, and a wide grin with two missing front teeth greeted me. “Lyra, where is your father?”
The small girl beamed before running circles around my legs. “Daddy is outside with Sawyer.”
“Perfect, thank you, sweet girl.” I carefully patted her head, knowing she and Drake would both complain if I messed up the pigtails that he’d meticulously styled that morning. “Can you run back upstairs and fetch Aiden? The boys will be late if we don’t leave in five minutes.”
“Yes, Mama!” Lyra’s blue skirt swished around her little legs as she scampered off. It didn’t surprise me when instead of the children coming downstairs, the laughter and playing only continued.
“Je dois tout faire ici,” I grumbled, going in search of my husband.
Spending two weeks in London as a vacation and preparing for the school year had become part of our routine two years ago when our oldest, Aiden, started at St. Henry’s.
Part of it was because of the nostalgia that came along with the significant event.
And part of it was to spend time together as a family before being separated for months.
Getting away from the noisy city back home and relaxing in an environment that felt like a familiar dream.
Aiden took to St. Henry’s with ease. That year he would be playing with the rugby team as his father had; with potential future captain written in his blood.
The black-haired, blue-eyed boy had all the charisma of his father without the Graham arrogance.
He had a gentle spirit under the charm, which made him a wonderful older brother.
Pausing at the cracked open door to the back garden, I peeked through, first catching the vibrant colors of sunrise and the colorful flowers on the stone patio. Hushed voices drifted over from the two figures sitting at the white wrought-iron table.
“—be more than fine. You’ll have Aiden with you all year,” Drake was saying. He reached across the table and placed a large hand on the small boy’s shoulder. When his son didn’t look up, Drake ruffled the boy’s dark curls.
“But Aiden already has friends there. I won’t know anybody my age.”
“Sawyer, I’ve never met anybody who didn’t want to be your friend,” Drake said. “Like when we went to the museum and those two kids were following you around by the end because you knew more about the dinosaurs than the tour guide did .”
“Brachiosaurus and Brontosaurus are separate species.” The eleven-year-old wiped his arm under his nose before meeting his father’s stare. “They’re quite easy to tell apart, really.”
“You’re brilliant. Just like your mother.” Drake grinned as he chuckled. “You’ll make a ton of friends. And if anyone doesn’t like you, just do what Lyra does.”
“She bites people,” Sawyer said.
“Just like her mother.” Drake ran a hand through his hair with a slight shake of his head. “God, I’m outnumbered.”
I heard the smile in his tone, and it lifted my lips.
“Look son, I can’t promise it’ll be easy. Your mother didn’t have the best years at school, and I hate to admit that was my fault. But no one, and I mean no one, will mistreat you with Aiden by your side. You know that.”
“I’m not worried about being mistreated.
I’m worried about being alone.” His soft-spoken admission fractured my heart.
Glancing through the door, I saw the same thoughts on Drake’s face as he stared at Sawyer.
As much as I wanted to intervene and add my experiences, this was a conversation between Drake and our middle child.
Sawyer had never been away for school or summer camp.
The softest of our three kids preferred books and learning.
He wanted to spend his time at the library, the science center, or any museum available.
But he had always done that in the comfort of home or with both parents by his side.
He didn’t have the independent, adventurous spirit of his older brother, who went to school and didn’t look back.