Epilogue

Three years later

Jacob

I stand on the shore of our lake, my wife's fingers laced through mine.

"Are you ready to jump?"

My shivering wife laughs. "No!"

"You can go back to the cottage."

Jo shakes her head and looks around at all the villagers standing on the shore, holding hands, waiting for the countdown.

An icy cold New Year's Day polar plunge into the lake has become a new village tradition, somehow thanks to me.

"And disappoint everyone? The media?"

Mirror Lake has become the new family vacation spot for the royals, on top of that. The siblings have all banded together to renovate Jo's little cottage into a small estate that will accommodate sleeping arrangements for 10, including a bunkhouse for when the little ones are a little bit older.

Sabine appears on Jo's other side, taking her hand. She and Jo had a long talk after Jo and I reconciled. As far as I can tell, there are no hard feelings between the best friends.

Jo's father finally caved. When he realized Jo wasn't going to hand over free money just because of her newfound wealth, he came to the palace to work for Callum Black. My father-in-law wasn't a fan of working outside at first. But he's grown accustomed to it now. He's better with nature than with people.

Sigurd and Stasi are the only other members of the royal family joining us this year.

Torben and Haley and Etienne and Kala are all back at the cottage having a lazy New Year's Day breakfast with our two-year-old daughter, Sunny, and all her cousins.

Sunny loves the time we spend at the palace when royal duty calls, but she loves it even more when her cousins visit us here in the village.

I laugh, "Haven't we royals disrupted your peaceful country village enough?"

Jo shrugs. "I appreciate the extra business at the market."

"When are you going to quit that job?"

She laughs, "I like my routine. And I like to keep everybody guessing at the same time."

I hug her to my side, on one hand wishing to protect her from the icy cold depths of Mirror Lake in January. On the other hand, my heart is full.

With a dozen cameras on him, Sigurd counts down.

"Three…two…one!"

A hundred or more villagers leap into the water.

I've done this hundreds of times, but each time, it's a shock to the system.

Washing away the old. Welcoming the new.

Again and again.

And I welcome each new moment as it comes, with Jo and our friends and family around us every step of the way.

THE END