Epilogue
Rebecca Barker was no more. She was now Lady Rebecca Duffy of Highland Hall.
Rebecca Duffy.
It should’ve felt strange, should’ve taken some time to get used to, but it didn’t. It was as if this was how it was always meant to be.
The wedding was beautiful. She and Duncan hadn’t prepared anything to say, but Keith, Moira, and a couple of others had read poems, some traditional, some of their own creation.
Then Nat got the school choir to sing a song that they’d only practised since learning the wedding was going to take place, but it sounded beautiful nonetheless.
Soon, Bex gave up on trying to contain the tears and let them fall freely, although at no point more so than when Patricia oversaw the vows, when she and Duncan promised to love each other, in sickness and health, for as long as they both lived.
‘Like death’ll be enough to stop me from loving you,’ Duncan had muttered, causing a tear-filled laugh to break free from Bex. But she agreed. People who thought love would only last one lifetime clearly hadn’t felt anything like this.
The cheer that went up when the pair shared their first kiss as a married couple was loud enough to send birds flocking from their roosts and Rosie and some of the other dogs into a complete frenzy.
After that, the celebrating began.
Rats or no rats, Roddy had brought down his entire stock of home brews – and he wasn’t the only one. From elderflower wines to homemade sloe gins, what followed was an afternoon and evening that showcased the very best LochDarroch had to offer: its generosity.
‘We’re not gonna put rents up this year,’ Duncan said to Bex, after yet another villager had bestowed on them a gift from the gala: their painting of the loch that had won first prize and looked like it belonged in a museum.
‘I’ll sell the cars. That’ll be enough to cover the repairs.
Then we’ll work out something that’s fair.
That gives people time to get things in order. ’
Her heart throbbed with love. For Duncan and for this entire place.
While the sudden change in plans meant that the judging wasn’t completed, and no Laird’s Cup awarded, Lorna did catch the bouquet, which Bex hoped went some way towards the bragging rights she so desired.
Even if Bex had been aiming for Eilidh with the hope Niall would see and finally take the plunge and admit the pair were endgame.
But considering the amount of time Bex saw the pair holding hands, she suspected that might have already happened.
By the time Bex’s brother arrived, the party was in full swing up at the castle.
It was the first time Bex had ever seen the ballroom full to bursting, but she promised herself it wouldn’t be the last. Not when she could tell how much joy it brought people to be there.
To be part of this life she had been so lucky to end up in.
Only when her legs burned from dancing and her stomach cramped from laughing did she stop to take a moment, stand back and simply watch.
‘We did it,’ she said to Duncan as he stopped his own dance to come and join her. ‘We did it. We got married.’
‘Aye, I noticed. I don’t think anyone’s going to forget this one in a hurry.’
‘No.’ Bex laughed, feeling the ache in her cheeks from smiling non-stop for hours upon hours. ‘I just hope we didn’t offend too many lords and ladies we don’t actually know.’
Duncan waved his hand. ‘Don’t care if we do. The only thing that matters is this. You, Lady Rebecca Duffy. This village. This place, these people we love. That’s all that’ll ever matter to me.’
‘Me too,’ she replied softly, seeing her whole life stretch out in front of her. A beautiful, beautiful life which she intended to spend right here, at Highland Hall, with the man she adored. ‘Me too.’
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