Page 122 of A Little Naughty

Nikki’s eyes widen, and she looks from Raif to her mother. “You do?”

Vivienne nods, and Nikki jumps up, running to hug her first then Raif then Porkchop, then me. When she gets to me, she stays longer, and I hold onto her as long as she needs.

“We got you through the hard time.” I slide my hand down the back of her hair, doing my best to hold back the tears.

“Does that mean we’re not a special family anymore?” She lifts her head, and when I see the tears in her eyes, I can’t stop mine.

“No way!” I manage to make my voice sound upbeat, but it breaks. “We’ll always be there to help each other through the hard times. It means this is your happy ending… for now. Until you meet a boy… or a girl!”

She rolls her watery eyes, hugging me again. “I love you, Jemima. You’re a good mom.”

“I love you, too. You’re the best daughter.”

As they drive away, she’s in the backseat waving through the glass. It’s different from how I left here when I was a little girl.

Her wish has come true, and in our hearts, we’ll never say goodbye.

* * *

As the sun is setting,when the dishes are washed and it’s only the two of us, Raif holds out his hand to me. I take it, and he leads me out through the yard. I follow him to where his bike is parked, and he picks up the helmet, putting it on my head and strapping it under my chin.

He does the same with his then helps me onto the back before kicking it started. I don’t have to ask as we head out the old dirt road, the same one as that very first night when I was supposed to be interviewing him—when I told him why I wanted to live in Eureka, and about magic and family and why this place is special.

My cheek is against his shoulder, and it’s not long before we arrive at the narrow path leading from the road out to the isolated stretch of beach. He guns it across the soft sand, and when we reach the shoreline, the sun is just touching the horizon.

It’s another perfect sunset, and he pauses long enough to remove our helmets and set them on the sand. The sea breeze is strong, blowing my hair and whipping my skirt around my legs.

Turning back, he captures my lips in a burning kiss, and just like that, we’re off, racing across the surf as the sun makes its slow dive into the ocean turning the whole world to gold.

I lift my arms in aVand lean back, releasing the heaviness with a loud cheer.

When I lean forward again, I understand what he wants me to know—without endings there can be no beginnings, and some endings aren’t endings at all.

We race all the way to where the rocks stretch into the ocean cutting us off, and we’re both breathing fast as we watch the sun continue to disappear.

When it’s gone, we drive back the way we came, restoring our helmets before continuing home.

The bike stays in the yard, and we crash through the front door, slamming it closed and coming together in a fierce kiss. We’re still taking it easy, still inside his window of recovery, but it’s good. It’s healing, and when we finally collapse, sated and sweaty in the bed, his head is across my waist, strong arms holding me securely.

I trace my fingers along his back singing our song, of him being my man. His fingers slide along my arm, and he listens like he always would, sitting on the floor when Nikki was here.

Now it’s just the two of us.

“You don’t need me to help you adopt Nikki anymore.” His voice is quiet.

A breeze blows outside the window, and the chimes on the side of the house ring like soft bells. For a minute we’re all alone in the universe, just him and me, contemplating our destiny.

“I always had the things I needed in my life,” he continues. “I had clothes and food and a bed, but I never had anything like you. I never needed anything like you.” He lifts my hand, sliding his mother’s gold ring around my finger. “I’d like to keep on being your husband if you’d like to keep on being my wife.”

A surge of love radiates from my heart up to my cheeks, and I can’t stop a smile. “I’d like to be your wife to the end. Then I’d like to turn around and do it all over again.”

He reaches up to slide my hair off my cheek. “We’ve got experience with endings. I think we should start our beginnings now.”

“Our beginnings?”

“Yeah.” He moves higher, caging me in his strong arms.

“And what would those beginnings look like?”

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