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Across the crowded room, I catch Ricco’s eyes. He smiles and nods, but it’s pained. I know why. He’s saying goodbye to the love of his life, and he meant his vows to her every bit as much as I mean my vows to Eden.
It's a vivid reminder that we have no promise of tomorrow. That today is all we have. I can't change yesterday, and even with all the strength and will in the world, I can't promise tomorrow. But I have the love of my life in front of me, and I choose to believe in a future together ahead of us.
I never thought I would love anybody until Eden. Her very name means paradise, and the symbolism isn’t lost on me.
My new beginning.
My fresh start.
My utter devotion.
* * *
EPILOGUE
Eden
“Starla! That’s toofar!”I yell, shading my eyes from the beaming rays of the sun. I’m told the warm summer days are fleeting up here, but I can’t think beyond the sweltering heat that rises up from the sand in waves. “Sergio, where is she?”
It’s late August and Starla’s managed to convince us to take her to Maine.
“I’ve dreamt of going,” she said, her eyes not unlike Daisy’s puppy dog eyes gives me when I’m cooking. “Pretty please?”
I can’t say no. And Sergio would buy her an island if she asked him to.
“Starla! Hey! That’s too far!” My sister’s gone out so far she’s little more than a bright splash of purple in the blue-green sea. “Starla!”
The heavy weight of Sergio’s arm around my shoulders brings me some comfort. “Let it go, baby. She’s an excellent swimmer.”
I purse my lips. “Even good swimmers can get caught up in the undertow, or attacked by sharks, or have their muscles cramp up.”
“She isn’t alone, Eden. She’s got three competitive swimmers with her, and lifeguards everywhere.”
I look around the beach and notice he’s right. There are lifeguards everywhere. “Sergio,” I say thoughtfully. “There are a lot more lifeguards here than usual, I would say. Did you have something to do about this?”
Not meeting my eyes, he only shrugs, but I note the little hint of a crinkle around his eyes that tells me I’m onto something. A-ha. He’s only pretending to be a calmer pseudo-parent than I am.
“Well, let’s see if you keep this chill when she starts dating,” I mutter, my gaze still tracking her every move.
Sergio blows out a breath and shakes his head. “She’ll never date,” he says, so seriously I’m not quite sure if he’s joking or if he means it. “I’ll arrange for her to be married and we can skip the hair-raising, nail-biting drama of the whole dating thing.”
Okay so that’s another story for another day.
Starla begins to swim back to us, and I breathe a little more easily. He’s right, she’s not alone. Quinn and Timeo, Mario and Gloria are swimming alongside them like a little pack of dolphins, diving up and down below the surface of the churning waves. They’ll be sunburnt, thirsty, and starving when they finally come back to the shore, but it’ll be worth it.
“You sure you don’t want to join them?”
I shake my head. Though I’m wearing a swimsuit for the first time in my adult life — a modest one-piece sporty thing — I’m still not used to wearing something so fitted and revealing. I have to, though. I’ve begun the long, necessary process of healing, and one part of that journey means realizing that my body is beautiful. My body is miraculous. My body isn’t something to be ashamed of or hidden or taken for granted. My body helps me love. Helps me live. It’s time.
“Not today,” I say, sitting on a towel and opening the picnic basket. I look up to him from beneath lowered lashes. “I need some alone time with my husband, a gift that’s been in woefully short supply lately, you know.”
Sergio joins me on the towel and pulls out sandwiches from home wrapped in paper.
Home.
We still reside at The Castle, for lots of reasons, but mostly because it’s good for my sister to be with extended family, she thrives by the ocean, and I like her being apart from Belle Notte. Soon, Sergio and I will begin a family of our own. I know most people might like having a place to settle, but I like that we don’t have to, that we can stay here with family at The Castle, or have a home of our own when we’re ready.
I like the endless promise of possibilities. The knowledge that our love and commitment to one another have more to do with what we do and nothing to do with where we live.
