Chapter 11
Two Years Later
“It’s so weird having everyone together again,” Abigail said. “Isn’t it wild?”
Byron looked across at her as he busied himself with the tea things.
“Definitely wild. It’s a pretty big thing for Jacob to be here again,” he said, “you excited?”
“Um, yeah, but also a little nervous for him,” Abigail said, “this will be the second time he’s been out on his own since the trial ended. It’s bound to be a bit odd for him—right?”
He nodded and smiled. There’s something in that smile, though, she thought. She felt very much like he was up to something.
Today, though, she didn’t care. She was having a garden party with all her favorite people in the world. The trial was over and she didn’t have to think about any of it ever again.
Despite making her preference of ‘never thinking about any of it ever again’ very clear, she had seen that Byron had rescued the newspaper from the floor where she had tossed it the week the verdict made the news. Cleo had saved it too, and even Abigail had to admit that she might want to read it someday down the track.
Her testimony, the video, Jake’s testimony, the papers they’d found in the safe—it had all contributed to life sentences for seven people around the world. Jake’s mom had been one of them, getting handed three life sentences for arms trafficking offenses. Her network around the world had been dismantled; nearly fifty people were in prison thanks to the evidence she had found and brought to light one of the longest-lived crime networks along the coast.
It had been utterly terrifying.
Her girls had attended school in London for a year to keep them away from the press and out of danger. Being apart from them had been the worst part, except maybe for the press on court days—they were probably the worst.
Now, though, everything was getting back to normal. The twins had been in the country six months—still hanging on desperately to whatever shreds of English accent they had picked up in their sojourn—and were looking terribly grown up in their party dresses. At nearly fourteen, they felt closer to fully grown teenagers than Abigail had ever thought she had at that age. She could see them now, down the hallway and through the glass doors in the living room that opened to the small garden.
“Come ON! Mo-om!” Sid yelled.
Since cutting their hair short on one side, Sid was looking more and more like the punk rocker every day, and Abigail could not be more pleased. It was fantastic to see her child discovering what they liked and who they wanted to be.
“Coming!” she glanced at Byron as she called out, “You’d better hurry up with that tea.”
He winked at her and gestured for her to go without him. She hefted the tray of cakes and snacks out in front of her and headed down the hallway.
An acoustic guitar twanged as someone tuned it. A few chords played, then a second guitar joined in.
“Who’s playing with you?” Abigail called out as she crossed the living room and approached the garden,
Sid was there, perched on a stool clad in a black maxi dress complete with shiny black combat boots. Next to her was Jacob, looking decidedly the polar opposite in comfortable-looking jeans and a smart button-down shirt.
“I didn’t know you played still!” she exclaimed, placing the tray down.
“I’ve had a lot of time on my own,” he said, “lotta hobbies.”
She watched as Jake made eye contact with Sid and they began to play a duet. She was sure she recognized it, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Cleo and Bee emerged from the house with Hannah, Camille, and Pierre in tow. It was fantastic to have both of Byron’s grown-up children in town, and it was even better to see how well Sid and Hannah got on with them.
“Come sit with us, Mom,” Hannah said, pointing to the chairs at the end of the garden.
Her favorite swinging chair had been set up under the most shade. Although she still wasn’t a big fan of the Rhode Island humidity, sitting in the shade reading had become one of her favorite things.
“Okay, love, where’s your dad?”
“Right here, Erika too,” Liam’s voice joined the fray, “found these two suspicious types out the front.”
Behind Liam and Erika was John and Michelle. It had surprised everyone except Abigail and Jacob that the pair had announced their relationship almost the second their part in the trial had been over. Six months in, they seemed to be very happy indeed—almost as if they’d been dating far longer.
“Mom, come on,” Hannah insisted, pulling her towards the front.
“Okay, okay, what’s the rush?” she said, “everyone’s here, right?”
“Almost, but Byron’s coming,” Hannah said.
“Okay...?”
Hannah pressed her lips together in a pout. “Will you just cooperate for once?”
Abigail blinked hard. “You know, it’s every bit as disconcerting to hear your voice come out of your child’s mouth as it is to open your own and hear your mother’s.”
“I don’t sound like you,” Hannah said, rolling her eyes.
The tempo of the song that Sid and Jake were playing changed and suddenly Abigail recognized it. It was the theme music to the weird British TV show she and Byron had spent three months at the start of the trial watching.
“Oh my god, did Byron tell them to learn that?” she asked Hannah.
“Obviously,” Hannah said, “it would be a bit spooky if they just picked it. I think you two are the only people who actually watched it this decade.”
Abigail tutted and Hannah rolled her eyes—again—and ducked in for a quick hug.
“Can I tell you something, Mom?” she asked.
“Always, darling,” Abigail replied.
“We really like Byron,” Hannah said, “all of us, but me and Sid in particular. We wanted you to know that, and we remembered how important it was to Dad that we liked Erika when he started seeing her...”
A warmth flooded her chest as she looked down at her tiny daughter looking so tall and grown up. It meant the world to have them here again, close enough to hug whenever she wanted, and for them to really get to know Byron without the video call screen coming between them.
“That means a lot,” Abigail said, smiling at Hannah.
“Good,” her daughter replied, darting off in that easy way teenagers seem to.
As she surveyed the little garden, Abigail saw all her favorite people and felt a welling of happiness in her chest.
“Yoohoo!” Shelly called out from the back door, champagne flute in hand, “are we too late?”
As she and Peta joined the group, Abigail smiled wide. They were all there, she thought, in her garden just to have a nice time—
Byron entered the garden. He’d changed his shirt. Instead of the tatty old t-shirt he had been cooking in, this was a rather nice button-down. A different kind of warmth spread throughout her body as she watched him make his way towards her. Somehow, even after two years together, he still made her light-headed occasionally with how good-looking he was.
“Hey you,” she said, “you look nice.”
“Well, I hope so,” he said. “I’d hate for you to say no because I looked like I’d been through the ringer.”
She cocked her head to the side, “what?”
Byron swooped in and planted a kiss on her cheek before turning to address the crowd.
“Thank you all so much for being here,” he said, “you all know why we’re here today—well, except one of you.”
Her heart began to beat fast in her chest and she looked around the garden, each and every one of them was smiling triumphantly back at her.
“What have you done?” she whispered to Byron.
“It took twelve of us,” he said, “but we finally did it.”
“Did what?” she hissed.
“Pulled a fast one on you,” he said quietly before turning back to the group, “now, you all know how wonderful this woman is. She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and one of the prettiest. One of the hardest—by far—to keep a secret from, as we all know.”
Everyone laughed and now Abigail knew something was up. Her pulse began to race and she felt tears welling up in her eyes.
“You didn’t… did you?”
Byron winked at her but addressed their friends.
“The people in your life who love you, the people whose blessings you’d seek,” he said, “have worked together to try and catch you out, surprise you, and I think we might have succeeded. Whether it was Hannah measuring your hands up for a pair of knitted gloves for your birthday, Sid getting you to rate designs for an art project, or Bee and Cleo dutifully distracting you whenever you were getting a bit close. For me, it was Camille and Pierre coming with me to meet the jeweler and put their blessing on it.”
Finally, he turned to her, and she could see tears in his eyes. He was being a showman about it, but she knew deep in her bones that he was doing this to show her how well their lives slotted into each other. She knew he meant it every time he had told her he loved her. She knew, in her heart, that the day he had really proposed to her was cuddled up on the couch six months earlier when he had, ever so casually, asked if getting married again was something she was looking for.
She had said yes then, and she knew exactly what she was going to say now.
“I’m blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life,” he said, “most of them are there because of how incredible you are, let’s be honest. I’ve loved you for a long time now, but I’d be the happiest person on the planet if you’d marry me?”
A small, dark blue velvet box emerged from his pocket. He snapped it open and she could barely see the solitaire diamond set with a halo of tiny sapphires through her tears.
Frankly, it could have been a candy ring—she would still have said yes.
“Of course, I will,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck. Then, in a whisper close to his ear so only he would hear, she added, “But only if I get at least one more kiss like that one in New York—otherwise, no deal.”
She felt him laugh against her as they held each other.
“I think I can promise at least one,” he said quietly.
They were both grinning as they broke apart for him to place the ring on her finger.
The End.