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We were orphans now. Both of us. Kate and Jack were all we had left.
Turning toward them, I finally allowed myself to look at the coastline of Howth, and what I saw took my breath away. The lighthouse was in the process of being rebuilt, using as many of the original granite blocks as they could find at the bottom of the harbor. The fishing boats, turned tour boats for the summer, waved to us as they looped around the island—waiting for the ceremony to be over before they docked with their tourists. And there, on the top of the cliff, in the spot where I used to sit and stare at the spot where I was standing now, was a white stucco house with a lemon-yellow door.
Only now, it had a second story.
And a balcony.
Damien was ready with open arms when I spun and launched myself at him, lifting me off the grassy island and wrapping my legs around his waist.
“Welcome home.” He grinned a millisecond before my mouth crashed against his.
“Thank you,” I sobbed, peppering his eyes, his nose, his clean-shaven cheeks with kisses. “When did you? How did you …”
“Jack needed somethin’ to do while she was on the mend, so I gave her a little project. Two actually.”
“Two?” My heart fluttered as I stared into his sparkling silver eyes, alight with mischief of the very best kind.
Damien nodded slowly, holding my gaze with a smirk that would have made my knees weak if I were still standing. “Got the house in Glenshire too.”
Glenshire.
My heart simply couldn’t hold all of the love and gratitude I felt for this man. This soul. It spilled from my eyes as I kissed him again, radiated from my hands as I clutched his face. It coursed through the very marrow of my bones, lighting me up, making me glow.
“Jack’s been a little busy.”
I turned to find Jack leaning on her cane, trying to look nonchalant but failing miserably, thanks to the massive prideful grin on her face.
“You did this?” My gaze darted over to the two-story stunner on the cliff again. “And …” A lump formed in my throat. “And Glenshire?”
“I know some former military lads in the construction business.” She shrugged. “Kate decorated, so I apologize in advance for the inside, but the outside’s class, right?”
Kate elbowed her wife, who grimaced dramatically and clutched her ribs.
“I can’t take credit for any of it, but if ya need a butler, let me know.” Paul chuckled, clapping a hand on Damien’s shoulder.
Reaching into his pocket, Damien tossed a set of keys to Jack. “Why don’t ya give Paul a tour? We’ll meet ya there after I show Clo her other wedding gift.”
“You got it, boss,” Jack said, tossing her wife a quick wink. There was no mistaking the blush on Kate’s face as she returned the look with a knowing smirk.
Then, the three of them navigated the rocky shore to the tour boat that was waiting to take them back.
Once Damien set me down on my bare feet and I finally mustered the strength to tear my eyes away from the house on the cliff, I froze mid-step when I glanced over at the beautiful, natural wood–finish speedboat he’d rented.
Because there next to it, staring at me with deep brown eyes, was a single gray seal.
Grabbing Damien’s arm, I forced him to stop, and the two of us stood in silence for what felt like minutes.
The seal didn’t wink at me. It didn’t raise its flipper and wave. But something in it acknowledged something in me, and that felt like enough.
It was enough.
Closing my eyes, I smiled up at the sky.
And felt a drop of rain kiss my cheek.
“Don’t look.”
“I know where you’re taking me.”
