Page 103 of A Scottish Lighthouse Escape

Epilogue

December, twelve months later

I bristled with anticipation. Then I realised I was grinning.

With one excited, nervous finger, I pressed ‘Send’ and watched my new, feel-good romance, The Lighthouse at Rowan Bay, make its way to Mia.

Mitch has reignited in me my belief in love and romance. He’d made me realise, over the last few months, that I had missed being an author and how much it meant to me, that I wasn’t Rosie Winters without it. With this had also come clarity. All that time, Joe had made me think that I had to have him in my life, in order to write. He’d gaslighted me, made me believe that he was the source of my ability.

Now, I knew differently.

You can imagine how delighted both Mia and Lola were to hear that I’d decided to return to my romance writing. They both insisted they’d been sure I could never have given up on it – not really – but I think underneath it all, at the time they had been concerned I meant it. Which I did.

I’ve now got a brand-new, three-book deal from my publishers, so that will keep me out of mischief for a while!

Mitch and I, along with Kane and Bronte, are settled together and now all live in my grandparent’s cottage. It’s rather chaotic, with our two fur babies bounding about, but it’s convenient for Mitch for his lighthouse duties; the views over the bay and the harbour are spectacular and very inspirational for my writing and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We were two very broken people who found each other, and I’m so happy we did.

There are so many wonderful memories of my mum, dad and grandparents built into these walls, and we hope to be adding to them day by day.

I’ve converted Grandma’s studio into my writing room, but I made sure it still retains traces of her. The ornamental butterflies remain on the shelf above the fireplace, and Mitch put up three of my personal favourite paintings of hers on the walls. I kept her old desk; Mitch and I cleaned it up and it still resides in its original place.

She’d be happy to know that her granddaughter is using it now for her own artistic endeavours!

The gorgeous, towering, strong and dependable lighthouse means even more to us now than it did before. It’s as if it showed Mitch and me the way, not just the shipping vessels and boats which rely on it to reach home safely.

Mitch and Romilly’s decree nisi was confirmed in June. Romilly is marrying her fiancé, Oscar, in the spring. It looks like moving on and making new lives is catching.

The apartment in Hampstead was sold in March and all the legal papers have now been filed away. Another chapter of my life has ended.

Reece comes to visit us regularly from Edinburgh and Mitch and I have visited him in the capital. We have a link now, an invisible bond that binds us together with my much-missed grandma, and I know that link will never break. The love we both had for her, and still have, remains real and alive.

Ruth still owns the Lumiere Gallery and has just launched her latest exhibition. It’s by an up-and-coming young artist by the name of Noah Colton…

It transpired that Noah returned to painting after his accident at Mitch’s former outdoor activity centre and was also undertaking an Open University art degree course too.

One night a few months back, Mitch was talking again about Noah and what happened, so I did a bit of detective work, reached out to Noah through the magic of social media and discovered that the young man had decided to take up art again.

I then contacted Ruth, explained the situation and things moved quickly from there.

This has all put Mitch’s conscience a little more at ease.

Ruth is moving on with her life now and is doing everything she can to accept herself for who she is, and that’s all any of us can do. In fact, she and Reece seem to have become good friends, and he has been more than happy to help out at the gallery whenever he comes up for a few days.

Lola has been promoted to Editorial Director, which she is thrilled about, and as for Mia – well, she’s fallen hard for one of her new authors, a dashing American crime writer. Her air miles to and from New York are piling up, but James is a lovely guy and I couldn’t be happier for them.

I kept my word and I’m keeping in touch with Joe’s parents. I know they feel somehow responsible for what happened, but Joe’s decision to have an affair was his and his alone. Things will always be a bit odd between Nancy, Jeremy and I from now on. The dynamics have changed. But I’ve moved on and I’ve told them they have to as well.

But the best news of all is that Mitch and I are about to get married! Yes, even on my wedding day, I’m tying up some loose ends because I wanted to get my latest book fired off to Mia. I suppose it feels like another new chapter beginning.

We wanted a small, simple affair, but Reece and Ruth had other ideas…

It’s the twenty-second of December, and Rowan Bay Church is decked out with garlands of holly, ivy, pine cones and berries.

Everyone is here to see Mitch and me start our married life together. Mia, Lola, Ruth and Reece of course, together with Barclay, Mags and all the other locals who have become such an important part of our lives – even Rhea Stafford!

After Mitch’s daring rescue of Rhea she apologised to me for being so nosey during our fraught conversation in her corner shop when I first arrived in Rowan Bay, and I apologised too for being so prickly. She would always miss her Freddie, she told me, but that day when she’d fallen in the sea, brought clarity that she wanted to live her life for both her and her husband. Sometimes it takes a moment like that to make you realise what’s important in life.

Everyone is wearing festive-coloured outfits. Mia and Lola look stunning as my two bridesmaids in their fitted, satin, knee-length cranberry boat neck dresses and matching bolero jackets.