Epilogue
Luka
I watch as Cara hands Isla a glass of wine. Ethan and Isla are here for a meal and it’s a warm spring day, so we decided to come sit outside for a while.
My ring sparkles on Cara’s finger as she picks up a bottle of beer to pass to Ethan. It’s a stupidly big rock but I wanted to get it for her as soon as I saw it. And since I became a full partner with Liam, Ethan, and Reece, I’ve had the money.
Cara doesn’t generally like flashy things. She’s not the sort of woman to spoil with clothes and make-up. She still wears those long dowdy skirts, and I don’t care because it’s her. Her style. And I know what lies underneath those swathes of black and navy-blue cotton.
She’s not teaching anymore, but a student herself now. She’s taking a horticulture course. After thinking long and hard about what she wanted to do with her life, she decided on gardening. It seemed a bit out of the blue to me, and to be honest, I’m not sure if this will prove to be her lifelong dream, but I don’t give a fuck. I’ll support her through as many dreams as she needs to try until she finds the perfect fit.
She might say I saved her, but truthfully, she saved me. I hardly ever have night terrors, and the odd time I do, she stops them with a few murmured words and soft kisses. She makes me smile daily, and it’s something I’ve not had in a long time.
Cara has her own nightmares sometimes, and she says they aren’t about Tristan but about her cousin killing himself. She still sees her therapist regularly, too. I stopped seeing mine when she felt we’d done enough work together. It’s not a lengthy process like some forms of counselling can be. The therapy was challenging work at times, but it has helped me to find a kind of peace about what happened to those girls that hot, dusty day. I’ll never be free of the guilt completely, but it’s at a level I can live with.
“So, how’s the course going, Green Fingers?” Isla asks Cara, and I smile and lean back as Cara chats away about how she’s learning all about different types of soil.
We’ve some other news to share later, and when I open my eyes and glance at Cara, I see her place her hand protectively over her stomach. I smile, and she lifts her gaze to mine at that moment.
We were planning on getting married soon, but now this little fella has come along, Cara wants to wait. Not because she doesn’t want to walk down the aisle with a bump, but because she wants to focus on the joy of the baby, and have the wedding as something to look forward to after.
Personally, I want to make her mine as soon as I can, but I’ll wait if it’s what she prefers. And she’s carrying my baby now, which makes her as much mine as a wedding I suppose. A boy, the technician told us at the scan.
I can’t wait to see her all rounded and glowing as the months go by. She’s going to be the best mother.
Isla and Ethan can’t have kids, but Ethan told me one night over some beers that they’re cool with it. He’s happy with Isla, and she loves their menagerie of pets. So I’m not worried about telling them.
My phone beeps and I look at the text. It will be only me and Ethan in the office the next couple of weeks as Liam and Reece are off to the U.S. They’ve been called in by a guy we worked with on some missions, an ex-Delta Force member. Best of the fucking best, and that’s coming from me.
The guy set up a firm doing high end, off the books spy shit for organizations, and he’s got a case he wants help with. His team is small, only three of them, and he wants some extra man power. I got offered the chance, but I said no. I need to be here for Cara.
Liam and Cara have become friends, which is weird as shit, because Liam is as hard as they come. Love the man, but he’s not got a soft bone in him.
She’s trying to persuade him to grow out his buzz cut. Says it will help him get more women if he doesn’t look as severe. I don’t like to burst her bubble by telling her Liam doesn’t do women. Not that he’s gay. He simply doesn’t seem to do intimacy. Guy lives alone, like a fucking monk. Visits his elderly parents now and again, sees his few friends, and that’s it. Doesn’t even have a cat or something.
Cara laughs, and I tune into their conversation.
“So, this way, we can run all our electricity from the solar panels,” she’s telling Isla.
She’s still the idealistic girl I met and eventually fell for, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
“You could get them on your farmhouse,” she says to Ethan.
He nods, but I can tell he won’t. Won’t want to ruin the look of the place, I imagine.
“How’s the new puppy coming along?” She recognizes his lack of interest and changes the subject.
“Oh, he’s a dream!” Isla exclaims. “Such a gorgeous little boy. I can’t believe anyone could abandon him in a river like that.”
Although they’ve already got more animals than I can keep track of, the pair of them recently adopted a puppy found half drowned, and out of all their animals, Isla seems to love him the most. Probably because he’s a scared little thing, and she’s got a heart of gold.
She and Cara talk about various things, and then Cara starts to tell Isla about this Fairtrade clothing company she’s discovered, who sell ethical and green clothing. I smile to myself, loving how much she cares instead of being irritated by it, as I used to be in the early days of knowing her.
Already, she’s talking about me selling the BMW and buying some sort of bullshit electric car. I might have to put my foot down on that score. I do have my limits. She keeps saying we’ve got to think about the world we’re creating for the next generations. And I suppose now, I do have to think about those things. Because I’m going to be a father. And it scares the crap out of me, and yet it fills me with so much hope I could burst.
Life’s good at long last. Filled with love where before it was empty and grey.
I get out of my chair and go to grab another beer for Ethan and myself.
It’s a day for celebrating.
Thanks for reading!
Read on for a super sneak peek at the next book in the Raw Heroes series.
This will be Liam’s story and it will be available in March.
Read on for the first chapter of Fast: Raw Heroes book three.