Unbreak My Hart (The Notorious Harts 4)

He drops his head so our brows are touching. ‘Well, if it’s okay with you then Avery, do you mind if I spend the night?’

‘And every night for the rest of your life,’ I agree, lifting up so my lips can brush his. ‘I promise I won’t ever send you away again, Barrett.’ And I’m earnest and honest, meaning everything I say. He carries me the rest of the way home and I honestly doubt my feet will ever touch the ground again.

EPILOGUE

‘WELL, WHAT DO you think?’

‘Besides how loud it is?’ I blink up at Barrett, my smile showing that I’m not serious. It’s true, though. The noise has become almost deafening. But it is the very best kind of noise—that born of happiness and love, of sheer giddy joy. It is the noise born of a rich tapestry of family and friends.

We are surrounded by those we love most in the world. Strange how admitting I loved Barrett was like opening the floodgates to love in general. It was easy to love my brothers, easier still to love their wives, and Felicity and the other children? They hugged their way into my heart in no time flat. As for Barrett’s parents?

I shift my gaze across the crowded gazebo, spotting them easily. They are on the edge of the dance floor, he in a tuxedo and she in a stunning mauve dress, all frothy and elegant. Their eyes hold and they move in perfect unison. They are, as Barrett told me over a year ago, the epitome of love and connection.

‘I think it’s perfect,’ I correct a moment later.

One of our little flower girls—still wide awake despite the lateness of the hour—toddles towards us and Barrett sweeps her up. Eleanor—Felicity’s younger sister—grins shyly then nuzzles into his chest. A moment later, Grace appears.

‘She keeps running off.’ She laughs, holding her hands out to her. Jagger is right behind her, Felicity cradled over his shoulder, fast asleep. Their satin dresses are cream in colour, their tights an opaque white. Somewhere along the line, Felicity has lost one of the shiny ballet slippers she was wearing earlier and one of her stockinged feet has become wet and muddy, courtesy no doubt of the flower-dotted field where the wedding party is taking place.

‘How’s it going, bro?’ Jagger grins, the fact that Barrett is now officially ‘part of the family’ something all my brothers are pretty pleased about.

‘Couldn’t be better.’ With his spare arm he wraps me close, and my heart skips a beat at the near perfection of this. Near because, even in this moment, when I have almost everything I could ever want in life, I am conscious of my mother’s absence. It’s not a heavy sadness though—not like it used to be. Loving Barrett has meant talking to him about my mother, sharing things, bringing her back to life in a way that I never comprehended to be within my power. It’s just like he explained about Caroline—I needed to find a way to honour Mom, and I have. Talking about her makes her more a part of my life and I’m grateful for that.

Theo arrives, followed by a waitress carrying a tray of champagne. ‘Too many empty hands.’ He grins, gesturing for us to each take a drink. I do, cradling it between my fingertips, breathing in its sweet fragrance.

Behind him, I see Asha with her phone pressed to her ear, and baby Pierre asleep in her arms. Pierre is the spitting image of Theo—the family likeness is striking. I even see a little of myself in him, something in his eyes when he’s watching you, and for someone who thought they were completely alone most of their lives, you can imagine how surreal that is.

The song comes to a gentle close and Holden and Cora join us next. She’s stifling a yawn. At nearly nine months pregnant, I have no idea how she’s still awake, let alone smiling beautifully and walking on wedge heels.

‘Sorry.’ Asha moves to stand beside Theo, her phone tucked back in her clutch purse.

I shake my head in response to her apology. ‘Work?’

‘Always.’ But her smile shifts to Theo.

‘Well?’

‘We did it.’

We all wait, and then she encompasses us in her look. ‘Angel Pie just won Brand of the Year.’ She refers to the teen cosmetic line she developed and launched a few years ago. ‘It’s huge recognition—we were going up against some heavy hitters, including Fleurs Sauvages.’ She names her parent company, which was founded by her grandfather. Her eyes drift to their son, fast asleep in her arms, and then shift to Grace and Jagger’s daughters. ‘It just felt so important, for this generation to have access to cleaner cosmetics. But I never expected it would achieve all this.’

‘I did.’ Theo kisses her cheek. ‘I’m so proud of you.’

My heart turns over in my chest. The love that surrounds us is palpable.

‘Has everyone got a drink?’ Jagger addresses us.

‘Hang on a second.’ Holden retrieves a glass of juice from a passing waiter. I eye it a little enviously as he passes it to Cora. ‘Okay, now we’re good.’

‘A toast.’ He lifts his glass and we all follow suit. ‘To the happy couple. A man who has been, for as long as I can remember, a brother to us, and a woman we are so lucky to have now as a sister.’

‘To the happy couple.’ They chink in unison. I swallow past a lump of emotion in my throat.

‘To the Harts,’ I respond, eyeing them slowly. ‘I thought I was complete.’ I look up at Barrett, my heart almost hurting with how full it feels. ‘It’s because of you that I met Barrett and because of Barrett that I remembered it’s okay to love.’ I’m sure my smile is unbearably romantic. I don’t care. If a woman can’t be soppy on her wedding day, then when can she be?

‘To family,’ Cora adds. ‘And all the ways it completes us.’

‘To family.’