“I love you, Mia. With all that I am, failings and all, I love you. And I promise you, I will honor you all my life, with the truth always between us and with my undying love for you and Jasper.”
Mia’s heart swelled as she heard the words she’d waited so long to hear from his lips. A tremulous smile spread across her face.
“Does this mean we’ll be leaving for Isla Sagrado together now?” she asked, mentally repacking all those things that had been unpacked back in her apartment only yesterday.
“No.”
She reeled back from him, stunned at his monosyllabic reply.
“No? What do you mean, no? How can you say you love me in one breath and then say we can’t come with you to Isla Sagrado in the next? You can’t do that to me, Ben. You can’t.”
He reached for her and dragged her stiff and unwilling body back into the cradle of his arms.
“I mean that if you’ll let me, I want to stay here. With you and Jasper. I can do what I do anywhere in the world, Mia. Goodness knows my vineyard and winery have managed quite nicely without me since my accident and they will continue to do so. But what I can’t have anywhere in the world is the knowledge that you’re fulfilling the dreams and goals you’ve set for yourself here. So here is where we belong until you say otherwise.
“I love you and Jasper more than anything in the world. I could no more walk away from you than I could stop breathing. I nearly lost my life once before, Mia, and I didn’t believe I could ever feel that scared or that vulnerable again. But I am now. You and Jasper are my life now. Without you both I am nothing, no one. I’m not prepared to risk it all again. I’ve been forced to face some hard lessons in my life recently and at least I can say I have learned from them. I know now that my strength, such as it is, is not tied up in my achievements or my fertility or how fast I can drive a car. My strength is tied to my love for you and for our son. Will you let me stay with you?”
Mia raised her hands and her fingers traced the defined planes of Ben’s features. Features of the man she knew she would love for every day of the rest of her life.
“I will never let you go again, Benedict del Castillo. You’re my husband, the father of my son, and the only man I will ever love. I don’t care where we live—home will be any place that I share with you.”
Joy filled her, replacing the remnants of sorrow, overwhelming the disappointments and the fears she’d borne in the past. And she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that her future—their future—was one they could step toward with a full heart and without hesitation.
Epilogue
Their commitment ceremony in the chapel at the castillo last night had been beautiful—it was a moment Ben knew he’d treasure for the rest of his life. Insisting they were already married, Mia hadn’t wanted the pomp involved in a second full wedding here on Isla Sagrado, where they’d brought Jasper and his new family face-to-face for the first time, but she’d acceded to his wish to reaffirm his promises to her with his family as witness.
Seeing the delight on Abuelo’s face had made the struggle of the previous months worthwhile. Knowing he’d done his part and finally brought joy to his grandfather’s heart, and peace to his soul, was priceless. Having done so was more precious than any gift on earth, and had been more enriching than he’d imagined.
In the chapel, Ben had felt the weight of expectation of nine generations of del Castillos upon him as he’d exchanged vows with Mia in front of their family, in the private ceremony that had held more meaning for them both than the wedding he’d forced upon them both only weeks ago.
And now, walking with Mia and Jasper, together with his brothers and their chosen life partners, on the beach below the castillo, Ben finally felt at peace with his world.
“Rey, I think we should can the big wedding and just have something small in the chapel,” Rina said to her fiancé, breaking in to Ben’s thoughts.
“Are you sure you want that? You already have everything planned ahead,” Reynard responded, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.
“I know, I know. Old habits die hard, but since last night I’ve been thinking that it would mean more to me if we married at the castillo. Kept it small and intimate and made it sooner. Ben and Mia’s ceremony was so beautiful, so theirs, you know? I want that for us, too.”
“Alex and I had our own private ceremony in the chapel, just the two of us,” Loren, Alex’s wife, admitted in her gentle voice. “It was very special and uniquely ours. I think you’re making a good decision. When all is said and done, it’s between the two of you. That’s what’s most important, yes?”
Out the corner of his eye Ben saw Alex squeeze Loren to his side, silently affirming her words.
Reynard gave his fiancée a loving look that told her she could do whatever she wanted as long as he remained at her side.
“You do what you need to.” He smiled. “All I want is this engagement to be over so we can be husband and wife. I can’t believe my little brother beat us to the punch.”
Ben laughed. “I always was faster than you, Rey. About time you admitted it.”
“Never!” Rey teased in return. “But hey, I’m really happy for you, Ben. A wife and a son? I think we can safely say the curse is well and truly lifted, don’t you?”
As he and Alex concurred, Ben’s heart swelled. He really had it all now.
“Where is Jas?” Mia asked, her voice suddenly strained with a note of anxiety.
Ben cast his eyes up the beach. They were nearing the headland upon which the castillo perched and the beach curved away from them, its rough shores obscured from their view. He couldn’t see Jasper anywhere.
“He wouldn’t have gone near the water’s edge, would he?” Loren asked, a corresponding thread of concern creeping into her words.
“No, he knows better than that. He’s grown up around water, but he’s not used to waves such as you have here. If a rogue wave has washed up…” Mia’s voice trailed off.
In unspoken agreement the three brothers broke into a run, the women close behind, all of them pounding along the sand until they reached the headland.
“There he is,” shouted Alex. “He’s all right.”
Ben didn’t halt until he reached Jasper, swooping his precious boy into his arms and holding him close, silently vowing he would never let him out of his sight again.
“You gave me a scare, mi hijo. Stay where I can see you next time, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy,” Jasper said with a smile that rocketed straight to Ben’s heart.
As he settled his son back on the sand and the women caught up, he noticed that Jasper clutched something in one hand.
“What’s that you have there?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Jasper uncurled his pudgy fingers, revealing a tangle of heavy gold chain with something large and solid nestled amongst it. Ben’s blood ran cold. Dios! It was La Verdad del Corazon. The Heart’s Truth. The necklace the governess had cast from the cliffs so very long ago. He reached out and took the necklace from Jasper’s hand, letting it swing in the air in front of him, the massive heart-shaped ruby surprisingly clean and glowing brilliantly in the sunlight.
Both Alex’s and Rey’s faces were white with shock.
“Is that what I think it is?” Rey asked, his voice little more than a whisper. “Sí,” Alex replied, lost for more words.
Mia knelt in the sand next to Jas.
“Where did you find that, darling?”
“The smiling lady gave it to me,” he answered, looking fretfully from one adult to the other, his little face beginning to crumble as he picked up the vibes that strained between them.
Ben squatted next to Mia.
“It’s okay, Jas. We’re just surprised, that’s all. Tell me about the lady. Where did she come from?”
Jasper pointed to the waves crashing on the rocks on the water’s edge. “Over there, from the water. Daddy, where’s she gone now?”
Ben smiled and hugged Jas
to him. “I can’t see her, my boy. Maybe she’s gone home now, to be at rest.”
He slowly straightened and exchanged a look with his brothers. While none of them said a word, each held his woman a little closer. The irrefutable proof that the curse was finally broken lifted an unseen weight from their shoulders, enriching them with the promise of a happy future for them all, forevermore.
On the cliff top high above the beach a woman watched the family below. Finally, a true family in every sense of the word. She lifted both hands to her lips, then threw her arms wide to encompass them in her imaginary embrace before fading away, her face serene and smiling, her soul at peace at last.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6985-3
FOR THE SAKE OF THE SECRET CHILD
Copyright © 2010 by Dolce Vita Trust
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*New Zealand Knights
†Rogue Diamonds
**Wed at Any Price
For the Sake of the Secret Child Page 16
