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EPILOGUE

ERINSMILEDAT the scene before her. Chaos, in a word. But very happy chaos.

She was standing on the terrace of the villa in Athens. Where once there had been a pristine empty lawn stretching into the distance, with the majestic city of Athens in the background, now there was a bouncy castle, clowns, too many children to count, adults chatting and warding off minor accidents, tables groaning under the weight of food and drink, and at least two fluffy dogs alternately being pawed at by the children or hiding in the bushes for some respite.

Her father was on one side of the garden, discussing plants with the head gardener. He had a pointed party hat on his head, askew, making him look even more like a mad professor than he usually did.

Then Erin's eyes widened, and she put a hand to her mouth to try and hide a laugh of disbelief. Yes, that really was Ajax's impeccably cool and elegant mother, on the bouncy castle, being thrown hither and thither with any number of children. And she wasn't horrified—she was laughing. Shrieking with delight, in fact. And her sleek cap of grey hair was mussed up in a way that Erin would never have believed possible just a couple of years ago.

Andromeda had changed utterly. She was now a much beloved grandmother, making the most of all the love she'd missed out on with her own children. She'd divorced Ajax's father and since married the man she'd fallen in love with ten years ago. He was watching now from the sidelines, with an indulgent smile.

Erin's mother hadn't had such a radical change of heart, but she was making an effort and she and Erin had found some peace.

Erin had left her job at the firm—understandably, after falling pregnant again—and she'd since decided that she wanted to move into not-for-profit consultancy work. She had set up a firm that helped small businesses who couldn't afford the fees that the big law firms charged. They did a lot of work with charities and marginalised communities. It was unbelievably rewarding, and she loved it.

‘Yaya! I'm coming!'

Ashling, four years old today, leapt up onto the bouncy castle and promptly upended her grandmother. To say she was fizzing with excitement was an understatement.

Agatha had come from the island to visit, and was currently holding a sleepy toddler in her arms. Teddy. Ajax and Erin had agreed that they would have loved to call him Theo, but it was just too close to the bone. And Theo had been Theo. So they'd settled on Teddy as a compromise. With his dark blond hair showing tints of red, he took after the Murphy side of the family. Except for the light eyes. They were as blue-green as his father's.

The tiny hairs on the back of Erin's neck stood up. She smiled before she even felt him. And then he slid his arms around her distended waist, his hands covering her sizeable bump.

Ajax kissed the side of Erin's neck and her blood hummed. She put her hands over his. No sign of their chemistry waning. It only got stronger.

And soon they would welcome a new member into their family. It was the reason they were here in Athens and not on the island. She was due any day now. Baby number three...

Ajax moved to take her hand and she looked at him. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. They just smiled. The evidence of their love was all around them. It had broken the shackles of the past and brought them here, to this bright and shining place, where love was celebrated daily and where fear was no longer given room to breathe.

He led her down into the garden, and they were soon swallowed up in the joyous, loving mayhem.

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