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Epilogue
Sam
On the morning of our wedding day, I was up early.
I had barely slept at all the previous night. Natalie insisted that I not see her, and I was in a room at the top of the guesthouse. I watched the sunrise and the sky glowing with glorious hues of red and gold and I couldn’t help but feel an enormous surge of gratitude for the way everything had turned out. I never thought I’d get married again. I never thought I’d want to. But Natalie had changed everything, she had changed me. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t even look the same to myself anymore. I knew I didn’t want to take any aspect of our relationship for granted ever again.
Ethan had taken the news of our engagement well. The idea that Natalie was becoming his stepmother didn’t bother him at all.
“Two mommies!” he said with a satisfied grin. I couldn’t believe this was the same kid who barely spoke or acknowledged me just over a year ago. But I’d come to see that many of Ethan’s problems stemmed from the acrimonious divorce, and Skye and me being at each other’s throats all the time. While he was with me afterwards, I was so consumed by anger and resentment that I couldn’t give him the reassurance and stability that he needed. It wasn’t easy to admit that I’d had a hand in Ethan’s issues but in many ways, I was rebuilding a relationship with him as well.
I told Natalie she could have the wedding of her dreams, but she surprised me by saying she didn’t want an extravagant affair. She wanted something small, just us and some friends and family as witnesses. We’d booked out her parents’ guesthouse for the wedding and more guests were staying at other places nearby.
Her family and friends, Zac and Holly were there. I invited Skye and Trevor, even my parents. My father had become an old man and I found my anger towards him had mellowed. When I told my mother I was getting remarried, she started crying and I could see how much it meant to her to be invited.
Natalie was always clear about wanting the wedding to be in Cape Cod. Her sister, Helen, now pregnant, was in one of the rooms with her husband, while her older brother, Derek, was by himself in his own room. When I met him, he gave me a firm handshake with a certain narrowing of the eyes. I could see he didn’t entirely approve of me. I sometimes got the same kind of look from Natalie’s mother, as if she wasn’t completely convinced that getting married was a good idea. But one evening before the wedding, as I was busy putting up fairy lights outside, Natalie’s sister Helen came out to talk to me. At five months pregnant, she was showing quite a lot already.
“So, you’re the famous rich arsehole,” she said to me, a small smile on her lips.
I shrugged and grinned.
She looked over her shoulder to check that we were alone.
“You know, I know they like to give you a hard time,” she looked in the direction of her parents, who were busy in the guesthouse kitchen. “But none of us is a saint. Nobody can say they haven’t made mistakes.”
She gave me a serious look and I knew she was referring to herself as well. “I don’t know if you know this, but my father was found guilty of fraud back in Boston.”
“He was?”
“My parents tried to pretend that he had been set up and fooled, that somehow, he was misled. But I overheard them talking one night and my father told my mother that he’d told her they shouldn’t mess with the tenders and that they’d be found out. But my mother had apparently insisted.”
“Your mother!” I was astounded. She was always so righteous towards me, on her high horse.
Helen smiled knowingly. “You came clean, though, you see, and in a way that is better. Your sins are there for all the world to see. You asked for forgiveness and Natalie has forgiven you. That is good enough for me too. I don’t go looking for saints in this life. Sinners and mere mortals like me are good enough. Welcome to the family!”
Helen gave me a warm hug and waddled back inside. I wondered what Natalie would make of this revelation, but I already knew that Natalie was the most forgiving person I knew. She would not judge her parents.
The wedding ceremony took place in the late afternoon. We had an arbor on the beach, decorated with flowers and tulle. Natalie’s father gave her away and when I saw her coming across the sand towards me, I felt tears in my eyes. She was wearing an elegant, yet simple white gown. She took my breath away. There was a crown of wildflowers in her hair, and she was barefoot, looking radiantly beautiful. I knew how lucky I was that she had said yes after everything that had happened, and all that I’d done to her. She had not only been willing to give me a second chance but was willing to join her life with mine.
After the ceremony, we made our way back to the guesthouse. A long table with white tablecloths, decorated with roses and wildflowers had been set up outside. Ethan ran about with our new dog, Willow. It was informal and wonderful. When I made my speech, I acknowledged that our journey towards happiness had not been a straightforward one, but a trip that had taken us on various detours.
“Like with most journeys where you get lost, it was the fault of the driver,” I pulled a face, and got a few laughs. “And like most drivers, I don’t like to admit when I’m lost. But if there is one thing I’ve learnt, it is that you will get lost in life and when you do, you had better be with someone who knows the way, in every sense of the word.”
We raised our glasses and I toasted Natalie, who’d never looked lovelier to me than she did that night.
“You are the love of my life,” I said. “I love you now and forever.”
She was beaming at me and when I sat down, she kissed my cheek and whispered,
“I love you,” in my ear.
Tucker and some friends pulled out their instruments and played a few tunes. There wasn’t much room for dancing, but a few couples tried anyway. It became cool soon after that and we drifted inside for more wine and celebrating.
I took Natalie to Paris for our honeymoon. I insisted. It was the city of love, after all and it felt only right. Natalie had not been to Europe, and I would have liked to take her on a trip across the continent but that would have to wait. Natalie was starting a new job at a school in the city. She was nervous about it, as it was a prestigious private school, and she hadn’t been in a serious teaching position for some time. So, we made the most of our week in Paris, with a romantic hotel in the heart of the city and cycling up and down the Seine. We walked all over the city, visiting Montmartre, and searching shops along cobbled streets for hours, looking for souvenirs to buy for people back home.
We found a nanny for Ethan, a young girl who’d been scrutinized by Natalie and trained exhaustively into which fruits had to be sliced how and which games Ethan liked to play. We’d also found a new place to live. Ethan’s only request was that there be a garden with a jungle gym and trees for playing hide and seek. I didn’t care where we lived or what the house looked like. In the end, Natalie found a small farm with plenty of land and established trees. The house was old but charming, with a big porch where we put up a swing and I promised to sit every night and tell her about my day.
I had also made my peace with Dana. After spending a few days in hospital, she was discharged and admitted to a mental facility. Police came by with many questions and even though I tried to keep her out of it, the cops found her car outside my house, filled with containers of gasoline. It was clear that she was the one behind the fire. I made a statement saying she was mentally unwell and that I wouldn’t press charges. This helped reduce her sentence and I was glad to hear that she was moving out of the city.
