EPILOGUE

IF R AUL HAD any lingering doubts about the strength of his love for Libby—and there were none—those doubts would have disappeared entirely in the face of her heroism and courage whilst delivering their baby.

It was not an easy delivery. There were many times when Raul thought he would undo every blissful moment of life with Libby if he could only go back in time and not sleep with her that fateful afternoon, if it meant she could be spared this pain and torment.

For twenty hours she laboured, and he was with her every step of the way until finally, in the small hours of the morning, their baby was delivered and Raul knew, the moment he looked at their daughter, that his heart—what small piece he had kept of it after meeting Libby—was no longer, and never would be, his own. He was beholden to these two women now, utterly and completely. They were his reason for living, his purpose, his life, come what may.

Libby was serene in the hour after birth, her eyes fluttering closed, a beatific smile on her face as she held their daughter cradled to her chest, Raul perching on the edge of the bed. This was his family; it was where he belonged.

Life was never the same after that. Raul and Libby had both been shaped by their experiences, and had developed skills to help them cope with life. Separate, they had existed and they had been okay, but together they really, truly lived. Success took on a different metric for Raul now—if Libby and baby Maria were happy, he was happy.

They lived as the three of them for a single year before Libby was once more pregnant, this time with twin boys, and a year after that another little girl joined their family. Raul had gone from intending to live a solitary life, completely his own person, to finding that his heart simply grew and grew with every new addition to their family—including, to his surprise, the Retriever they adopted when their youngest child was two years old.

They didn’t stay in the penthouse apartment for long. One day, while pregnant with the twins, on a drive through the Hamptons, they pulled over to have a picnic on the beach and happened to find a spot right near a big old home that just exuded happiness. From the timber walls to the old tin roof, wraparound balcony and wide steps that led to a porch swing, the house was everything Libby had ever dreamed of. Even the garden seemed to conspire to seduce Libby—huge geranium and lavender bushes lined the gravelled front path, reminding her forcefully of the flowers of home.

‘Oh, Raul,’ she said, leaning her head against his chest. ‘Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?’

Raul took one look at Libby’s face and knew he would move heaven and earth to gift her this house just as soon as he could. It did not take heaven and earth, just an offer to the owners that was a fair bit above market value, but in Raul’s eyes it was worth every penny for the surprise of being able to drive Libby back the following weekend, this time with the keys in his possession.

She wept with happiness, and Raul grinned. He had wanted to give Libby the world, and this sweet old beach house seemed like as good a place to start as any.

For Libby, the house became a home the moment they crossed the threshold. It was everything she’d always dreamed of. Pretty without being fancy, welcoming and comfortable, the sort of place she could raise her kids away from the opulence and wealth of Raul’s world—not that he went in for any of that stuff, anyway. He was finally delegating to his more than qualified executives, accepting that he could zoom out his focus from his business interests and still ensure the ongoing success of his company. Taking a step back from his role had opened the door for new opportunities anyway: he had begun to invest in worthy start-ups, supporting people with big ideas and a lack of resourcing, in the hope that he could do for them what Maria and Pedro’s support had done for him.

And then there was Libby, for whom Raul was the biggest champion.

While she was happier than she could express raising their children and being married to Raul, he knew and understood that she had so many skills beyond these, and he never missed an opportunity to remind her she could do whatever she wanted. He would care for the children, he would be whatever she needed, so she could pursue her own ambitions, to really live up to her potential.

It wasn’t until their youngest started school that she finally felt ready to turn her focus to something else. Gone was the desire to pursue anything related to bookkeeping, which she’d considered out of desperation what felt like a lifetime ago. That would have been a career of practicality, to enable her to work from home and care for Maria—way back when she thought she would be doing it all alone. Now, she wasn’t alone. She was supported and cherished beyond belief, and in the years since marrying Raul she had come to realise there was one passion she couldn’t ignore. Another hand of fate?

Libby enrolled in a course to study jewellery making. ‘It’s not just the jewellery,’ she explained to Raul enthusiastically as she came close to finishing the course. ‘It’s what it means. It’s the idea that each piece becomes a keepsake, something special and meaningful that can evoke emotions all over again. Every time I look at my ring, I think of you,’ she said. ‘And your mother’s necklace keeps her with you,’ she said gently, eyes on his face. ‘It matters.’

‘Yes, Libby, it does,’ he agreed, and he kissed her because it was the only way he could think of to express his absolute, all-consuming love for his wife.

Every now and again, Raul found himself imagining ‘What if?’ What if he hadn’t gone to Sydney that weekend? What if Libby hadn’t been sent to the boat? What if those teenagers hadn’t attempted to steal it? What if he hadn’t finally forced himself to understand what he felt for her, what he wanted from her? What if he’d actually been stupid enough to let her go? But then he looked at Libby and she smiled, and he relaxed, because fate had always been driving them to this—Raul was simply along for the ride, and it was a ride he intended to enjoy to its fullest for the rest of his life on earth.