The Loch Effect bonus epilogue

Tahiti

I lay on my chaise lounge, breathing in the salt air as the sun’s rays warmed my skin, listening to the gentle lap of the lagoon beneath our overwater bungalow. Yesterday we’d gone sailing and snorkeling, tomorrow Duncan had a hike planned, but today I just wanted to relax and enjoy. It was early yet, but the soothing sounds lulled me back to the edge of sleep until his voice caught my attention.

“Molly? Do you want to say goodnight to the girls?”

He didn’t have to ask twice. I climbed the stairs from the deck to the bungalow’s patio door. Inside, he sat at the small dining table in front of his laptop. On screen, Louisa’s and Sophie’s faces crammed together, each trying to commandeer the Skype session. I bent down until my face appeared next to Duncan’s.

“Happy birthday, Molly!”

They held up hand-drawn signs for me. Sophie’s depicted Shatner wearing a birthday crown, and Louisa’s read Forty and Sporty in beautiful script. I laughed over their personal touches.

“Thank you, girls. I love the artwork.”

“We’ll make you a birthday dinner when you get back,” Louisa said. “You won’t have to help at all.”

“Your favorite curry!” Sophie added.

“I can’t wait.” I loved our homey dinner nights. Even if we didn’t always recreate the recipes quite right, I liked nothing better than hanging out in the kitchen with Duncan’s girls as their bonus mom.

“I’ve been practicing making naan.” Louisa beamed with pride.

“She burnt the last batch to the pan.” Sophie’s impish laughter broke free, spoiling her older sister’s moment.

Louisa’s gaze turned thunderous. “Now I’m not going to make enough for you.”

Sophie stuck out her tongue, unfazed.

“Girls.” Duncan’s gentle but stern voice silenced them. It always worked—sometimes only briefly, but it worked. “No fighting before bed. You need to be good for your mum. Say goodnight to Molly.”

“Goodnight, Molly,” they chorused.

“Goodnight, Sweeties,” I sang back, blowing kisses.

I moved out of the way so Duncan could say his own goodnights to his daughters. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and flipped through for yesterday’s updates. The London kennel I’d chosen for Shatner had emailed a picture of him getting his daily snuggles. For all the devotion I’d shown him throughout the years, he’d sure turned traitor easily enough.

He had zero time for me when Louisa and Sophie were visiting. He demanded their kisses and belly rubs, getting into their laps for every last ounce of attention the girls could spare him. When they were gone, he pined. It was adorably pathetic.

I also had a text from San Diego.

Jill: I want to see some bikini selfies on this happiest of birthdays!

I listened to the voicemail from my mother, too. “Happy birthday, honey! Did you know there are one hundred and eighteen islands in French Polynesia? Amuse-toi bien! Give Duncan a hug for me and don’t skimp on the sunscreen!”

Last, I peeked at my work email and got a little rush of satisfaction at all the messages waiting when I’d only been out of office for a few days. Sometimes I looked at Molly Clarke Designs’ current success and wished I’d been brave enough to take that leap again sooner, but mostly I just enjoyed where I was now.

Duncan came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. Speaking of enjoying where I was…

“How is Shatner today?”

“Ignorant of my absence.” He loved me, but it turned out he had plenty of love to go around, too.

“He’ll be out of his head when he sees you again. I know I always am.”

He nuzzled my neck, sweeping shivers along my back. I set my phone down and turned around to face him properly, tracing my hands up his arms. “I’m booked out on bid requests for the next three months.”

His smile held nothing but pride. “That’s great, love. I just hope your boss isn’t going to make you work all vacation.”

“Nope, she’s given me the solid two weeks off.”

“I’m in love with that boss of yours.” He ran his palms along my sides, his gaze already warming up. “Sexiest web designer I’ve ever met.”

I laughed, knowing full well I’d never heard those words in the same phrase before. Well, except from him. He told me that plenty.

“I know you want to just soak up the sun today,” he said. “Tomorrow, what do you say to a seaplane ride?”

I froze. We’d taken two long flights and crossed several time zones just to get to this tropical paradise, and while my anxieties were a little more manageable—especially with Duncan’s steady presence beside me offering reassurance—I wasn’t so comfortable I was ready to make seaplane flights a regular thing.

Once every five years, maybe. Give me plenty of recovery time.

He tugged me closer. “I’m only kidding. There’s a famous chocolatier in Papeete, and I reserved us a behind-the-scenes tour for the birthday girl.”

I fisted my hands in his shirt while my brain stuttered back to life. “I want to scold you for making my heart stop that way, but taking me to a chocolate factory for my birthday makes up for it.”

“I’d hoped. Happy birthday, love.”

I went up on tiptoes for a quick kiss. But as usual with Duncan, a quick kiss turned into a long, luxurious event neither of us wanted to end.

I pressed against his chest, breaking us apart, but I needed a second. My coherent thoughts had sizzled away right along with that kiss. “Now, are we getting in the water or what?”

His eyebrows ticked higher. “I’m up for or what.”

“Come on.” I tugged at the hem of his T-shirt. “A swim, and then I’ll give you all the or what you can handle.”

“Don’t tease.” He pulled his shirt off and tossed it onto the king-sized bed.

Actually…or what sounded pretty good, too.

We walked through the wide-open bedroom doors onto the bungalow’s deck. A thatched canopy shaded most of it, completing the resort’s rustic look. We faced the island’s protected turquoise lagoon and the South Pacific beyond. A warm breeze played on the water’s surface while yellow and black Rainbow fish darted in the shallows.

We took the steps down to the lower platform that hovered just feet above the lagoon.

Duncan waved me toward the water. “After you, Mrs. Stewart.”

I would never get tired of him calling me that.

I stood on the platform’s edge and paused as if I were making a wish over my birthday cake. Moving to London, starting my design business again, marrying Duncan in an intimate Highland wedding last fall—I couldn’t have predicted a bit of it two years ago, but every last one had been worth it.

And I couldn’t wait to see what came next.

I grinned at Duncan, took a deep breath, and I leaped.