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I looked around. “Are there?”
“There’s one, actually.”
“There is?”
He lifted his chin. “Follow me.”
Sig led us to a small fenced-in area out back that featured an open, three-sided shelter. There was a lone, large…bird standing in it. It had beautiful dusky, grayish-brown feathers that were black at the ends.
I covered my mouth. “Is that an ostrich?”
“An emu, to be precise. A while ago, you said if a man were to gift you with an outrageous animal like Leo did Felicity, you’d choose an ostrich. Unfortunately, come to find out, ostriches are quite violent animals. They attack with their beaks. I didn’t want you to get your finger bitten off in the name of love. The emu is a much nicer alternative.” Sig brushed his hand along the bird’s feathers and said, “Meet Loco.”
“That’s his name?”
“Yeah. His previous owner named him.”
“Where the hell did you get him?”
“That’s a story for another day. Let’s just say, I owe someone a huge favor in Australia. Loco’s been here for a week now.”
“Who’s been looking after him?”
“I’ve been borrowing Nathan from Leo and Felicity to come over and feed him.”
My mouth fell open. “Out of all of the crazy things we’ve experienced together, this emu takes the cake. I absolutely love him, though.” I reached over to pet him. Alex’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. “You love him, too, don’t you?” Alex kicked his legs as if he wanted to fly out of my arms to touch the animal. “Look at that smile.”
We spent the next hour touring the inside of the house and walking around the property. Then Lavinia stayed inside to rest while the three of us went back out to the yard.
Just as we stepped outside, a massive rainbow appeared in the sky. It was the first rainbow I’d seen in England and probably the most vibrant rainbow I’d witnessed in my life.
“Rainbow, Alex!” I pointed toward the sky. “Look at the rainbow!”
He stared up at the sky, mesmerized. “Mama,” he babbled.
It was the first time he’d ever said it, though I’d been practicing it with him, trying to get him to utter that sound.
Sig and I looked at each other in amazement. There were no words. Regardless of whether it was true, we knew what the other was thinking.Britney.
“Yeah.” I bounced him. “That’s Mama coming to say hi, isn’t it?”
EPILOGUE
Sig
Four Years Later
Final Track: “And I Love Her” by The Beatles
Holding my daughter’s hand and carrying my infant son, I stood at the entrance to a quaint bookshop in Notting Hill.
Abby had contacted a number of bookshops around London, trying to get one to stock the book she’d self-published. This one was the only shop that bit, and the owner, Shepley Van Zant, had been nice enough to offer Abby a Saturday-afternoon slot to sign her books. He’d even created a poster advertising the event.
I snuck up behind Abby and Alex at the table where she’d set up a stack of books to sign. There was no line.
“Mummy, are we just going to sit here all day?” Alex asked.
“Well, I hope at least a few people show up. But I don’t mind hanging out with you, even if nobody comes.”
