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And there, surrounded by people bonded by blood or by choice, he knewthiswas his family: Summer and their child and the people who loved and cared for them, all brought together by Catherine and the Soames diamonds. Wetness pressed against his eyes as he looked up at the love of his life. ‘Would you, Summer Soames, do me the greatest honour and be my wife, my confidante, my love, my family, myhome?’
‘Yes,’ Summer said as tears rolled down her cheeks and her sisters screamed and yelled, and even Lykos seemed to clear his throat of emotion. ‘Yes, I will,’ she said, pulling him up from the ground and bringing him into a kiss that branded his soul as hers.
‘I love you,’ she whispered between presses of her lips. ‘I will always love you,’ she promised and Theron knew that, no matter what happened in the future, the love that he felt in that moment would fuel the rest of their lives.
EPILOGUE
Five years later...
SUMMERWASJUSTfinishing her journal entry. She’d been hurrying to get it done in time, looking as the clock ticked down the minutes until—
‘Mummy! Mummy? Where are you?’
Right on time, she heard Katy’s not so dulcet tones calling for her, even as a smile full of love pulled at her mouth. Theron always tried to keep their mischievous daughter occupied in the kitchen for at least half an hour after dinner so that Summer could have this time, knowing how important her journalling was to her.
Quickly she put down the journal, turned off the light, closed the door to the secret room, slipped through the passageway and back into the master bedroom just before Katy burst into the room.
‘Mummy, where are—’ Katy descended into a fit of giggles as she realised she’d been shouting when Summer was standing right there.
‘Mummy, that’s naughty,’ she accused. It was Summer’s daughter’s latest delight. Although Catherine was the name on their daughter’s birth certificate, they had called her Katy from day one.
‘What’s naughty, sweetpea?’ she asked.
‘Youare!’
‘Iam?Iam?’ Summer demanded, all mock outrage as she chased her daughter with tickle fingers and they both ended up in a hysterical heap on the bed. She didn’t think that there was anything more pure, more beautiful than the sound of her daughter, out of breath from laughter.
Summer pushed a dark curl from her daughter’s forehead, so happy that she had her father’s deep dark eyes. But the sparkle? That wasallSoames.
‘Where are my girls?’ Theron’s voice boomed into the room.
‘Here, Daddy. Mummy’s being naughty again,’ Katy said, bursting into laughter as Summer’s quick tickles found her.
‘Oh, really?’ Theron demanded as he came into the room, staring down at them with a glint in his eye that Katy was thankfully far too young to recognise. He smiled and Summer felt it in her heart.
Summer didn’t know how, but he was able to do this thing where he’d look at her and time would juststop. She’d feel an infinity of love in an instant and knew that she could never want for anything more.
He sighed, before checking his watch, as if he’d felt it too. His eyes widened and then he pulled a grimace. ‘Katy, we have to get dressed. The others are going to be here in twenty minutes.’
Katy scrabbled up on the bed and started jumping up and down, crying, ‘The others are coming!’
Even as Summer put her hand out, just in case, Theron was by the bed in an instant, plucking his daughterfrom the air mid-jump.
‘Come on, my love. You have your new dress to—’
The scream of delight from their daughter was so loud it could have burst his eardrums but he didn’t flinch, didn’t loosen his hold even for a second. Cradling her to him, Theron bent over the bed, Katy now giggling at being horizontal, and kissed Summer quickly but lovingly and took their daughter off to get ready for the day.
Summer watched them go until she checked the time and jumped off the bed and threw herself into the shower. Fifteen minutes later, she was showered, dry and opening the wardrobe door, marvelling at the array of colour that was on display. She passed the teals, the beautiful bright yellows and the verdant greens. There was only one colour to be worn today.
As she came down the stairs, the beautiful scarlet silk swirled around her calves, matching the red stilettos she knew that her husband would appreciate, even if she didn’t last thefullday in them. Her fingers tripped overthe red velvet ribbon Katy had insisted should wrap around the banister, and the scent of pine trees and spiced orange rose up from the lower floor. Everywhere she looked was sparkles of tinsel, rich green foliage and deep red velvet. Theron, apparently, loved Christmas as much as their daughter.
An impossibly tall spruce stood proudly in the hallway to greet every member of the family as they arrived. Giant red bows, little silver bows and American candy canes hung from the boughs while sparkling cream lights twinkled between the fronds. There was a giant silver urn on the side table with mulled wine and glasses ready for their guests.
Summer inhaled deeply and rolled her shoulders free of any stiffness, relishing the excitement and anticipation of the day ahead. In the last few years it had become her favourite part of the year because it was the one time that everyone was guaranteed to gather together. At any other point, they were spread as far and wide as Greece, Duratra, France, Costa Rica and wherever else Skye could entice Benoit to wander.
But everyone came home for Christmas.
Although Kyros hadn’t been happy about it, Summer and Theron had waited until Katy was three years old before marrying. By that point, Skye had married Benoit exactly a year on from his proposal in a gorgeous outdoor wedding in France, the Soames diamond necklace as her something old. And no one had minded one bit when little Katy had burst into beautiful laughter as the priest had asked for anyone to ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’.
