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Hunter helped the two kids out of the back of the car.
“Oh my gosh, haven’t you two grown.” I kneeled down and gave Oliver and Grace a hug. “Hello, guys, I’ve missed you.”
“Where did you go, Aunty Layla?” Grace captured me with her big blue eyes.
“I went to the jungle!”
Oliver gasped. “The jungle? Did you see any snakes?”
As Hunter led Sophia into the house, Oliver and Grace gripped my hands and bombarded me with a dozen questions.
Hunter started the barbeque and as the kids played with Luna, Sophia and I caught up on our year apart.
“I can’t believe you went to the Amazon without telling me,” Sophia said.
I glared at Hunter; he’d obviously told her. “What?” He shrugged. “You didn’t tell me either. Sophia and I compared notes,” Hunter said.
I scowled at him. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d try to stop me.Andyou, Sophia. I knew you wouldn’t want me to go.”
Sophia frowned. “No, that’s not true. I’d support you no matter what you planned to do. “Do Mom and Dad know you’re back?” Sophia asked.
“Not yet. I wanted to have a few things sorted before I saw them. You know, like a job, and where I’m going to live. You know how they worry.”
“They’re still going to be mad at you. They thought you were in Brazil,” Sophia said.
“Well, technically, I was in Brazil. Just in the Amazon Jungle region.”
Sophia chuckled and gave me a ‘good luck with that’ look. “Why did you go to the Amazon Jungle? What did you do down there?”
As Hunter kept our glasses topped up and looked after the barbeque, I told Sophia about my research trip.
“A burn ointment? Oh, Layla, don’t tell me you did that because of what happened all those years ago.”
Sucking my lips into my mouth, I nodded.
“You crazy woman, you risked your life because of that? Because of me?”
“Because of what I did to you.” I indicated toward her left leg, which was still covered in nasty, red scars that looked about a month old, not fourteen years old.
“You didn’t do anything to me. It was a silly accident.” She reached for my hand and squeezed. “You need to stop this before you kill yourself. I have never blamed you for what happened, so there was no need to forgive you. All I want . . .” She swept her hand toward the kids who were running around on the grass with Luna. “Allwewant is you in our lives. That’s what matters, Layla. Not some ointment.”
“Well said.” Hunter filled our glasses with more champagne.
“Don’t you start, mister. You’re still in trouble for organizing this without my knowledge.”
“Don’t be mad at Hunter,” Sophia said. “Because of him, I have my sister back in my life and my kids have their aunty. We’re a family again.”
I grinned at Hunter. “Yes. Yes, we are.”
As the weight of my relief lifted from my shoulders, I knew I’d found the man of my dreams. A man who knew me, who understood me, and accepted me.
A man who would support me no matter what I did.
As long as it didn’t involve wild trips to the Amazon Jungle.
THE END