Epilogue
The smell of smoke permeated the air, gagging Cameron. Her once lovely cottage no longer existed. Her heart broke a little at the sight. True, the cottage was just a house. A small structure that she could easily rebuild. But the tiny home had also been where she’d raised Arabella and where she’d learned to be happy again. She’d miss her home, but she’d find somewhere new to be happy.
“You haven’t gone inside, have you?” Ian approached through the woods.
“No. There’s nothing in there.” Except the remains of Victor Roberts and his minion.
Ian gave a lazy shrug. “Should make moving easier.”
“Moving?” Of course, eventually she’d have to find somewhere else to live. Though her friends had offered their homes, she wouldn’t impose. But she and Ara couldn’t stay at the clinic indefinitely.
Narrowing his intoxicating eyes, he replied, “You, Ara, Keso. You were moving. Getting… married.”
His words made her cringe. Yeah, she’d said that, but…
“We don’t need to leave now. Not with Victor Roberts…” She waved her hand at the charred rubble.
Ian nodded. “So, you’ll stay here? For good?”
She hadn’t thought much about her future. With Roberts dead, a world of possibilities had opened for her and Arabella. No longer did she have to live in fear and isolation. But this island was her home now.
“You can get papers for Ara. With the house burned and Roberts gone . . .”
Yes, they could come up with a story. From what she knew of the big island’s government, almost anything could be pushed through, for the right price.
“I might do that. Eventually.” Arabella deserved to exist. To have choices as she grew older.
“The two of you could come to the States.”
“Ian,” she warned. “Maybe one day we’ll visit.”
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans, he studied her former home. “When I get back, I’m cleaning out the apartment. Would you like to help or—”
“You’re moving?” She had no right to be upset about his leaving the home she’d deserted years ago. Still, her heart ached a little at the thought of the small apartment being abandoned to someone else.
He nodded. “It’s time. I don’t need it anymore.”
No, he didn’t. For him to truly move on, he needed to let go of the place where they’d shared their lives.
“You can donate the clothes. Maybe if there are pictures or . . .” Remembering the memories she’d left behind, she fought her tears. “Mementos you don’t want, could you send them?” After all, she had an entire home she’d have to fill once she rebuilt.
He shook his head. No? What did he mean, no?
“You won’t send them?”
“You can have them. You just have to get them from me yourself.”
And see him again? How many times did she have to say goodbye to her heart? “You’re going to make this harder than it has to be. A clean break heals easier.”
With lips pursed, he appeared to give her words some thought. “No breaks heal best.”
“Oh, Ian. You know—”
“I’ve resigned. I’m moving.”
“Moving? Where?”
“Here.”
“Here?” She shook her head. “You can’t move here. We don’t have a hospital. What would you do? You’d go crazy.” Or maybe he already had.
“I bought a boat.”
“A boat? You? Bought a boat?”
What the hell did Ian know about boating? In their years together she’d never seen him on the water.
He snickered. “Why can’t I have a boat? If you, Miss Terrified of the Water, can live on an island, surely I can own a boat.”
Still, this made no sense. He could own a boat, but it didn’t explain what he would do if he moved here.
“Why would you want a boat?”
His smile melted away, and his eyes grew serious. “Brodie needs a livelihood. I need something to do when you’re tired of me.”
“Are you saying you bought Brodie a boat? He can’t—”
“But he knows how. I bought a fishing boat. I don’t know what to do, but physically I can. Brodie knows what to do, but physically he can’t. Together we’ll provide for his family until he can do it on his own.”
If she hadn’t been irrevocably in love with Ian Gauthier before, he’d just cemented the deal. Tears blurred her vision and emotion clogged her throat.
“Rumor is also that your friend Dr. Jean from the big island will retire soon. I figured once Brodie gets used to his prosthetics and wants the boat to himself or gets his own, maybe one or both of us can travel over to help out.”
Dr. Jean had offered his practice to her once before, but she’d declined, wanting to stay away from the big island and Victor Roberts. But now . . .
“You’ve really thought this through.”
Stepping closer, Ian gripped hips. “Of course, I have. This is our future. Ours and Ara’s. Nothing is more important.”
Love for him consumed her. Could this be real? For so long, she hadn’t dared dream of actually having this kind of happiness.
“Ian. I…” There were no words.
“Is it okay? That I’m staying?”
“Okay? Of course, why would you even ask?”
“You never asked me to stay. You said you were going to marry Keso.”
Sighing, she rested her cheek against his chest, then wrapped her arms around his waist. “I couldn’t ask you to stay. To give up your life to live here.”
“Why? You did.”
She nodded, the cool cotton of his T-shirt sliding across her cheek. “But that was my decision. I couldn’t ask you to do the same.”
“You could have. You should have.” Taking her biceps in his large hands, he pushed her back until he could look into her eyes. “After you left, that life meant nothing. I would’ve given it up years ago if I’d known you were here. Any life with you, is better than one without you, Cam. I swear.”
No longer able to keep her tears at bay, they flowed freely down her cheeks. “Ian, will you stay with me? Marry me? Build a life and make babies with me?”
A grin stretched his lips, happiness reaching all the way to the laugh lines beside his smiling eyes. “We’ll fill this island with babies. Brodie and Esme won’t have anything on us.”
Laughter bubbled in her chest, spilling out and filling the smoke-tinged air. She would rebuild here. She and Ara and Ian. And this time she wouldn’t just survive, she’d thrive.