"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." Marcel Proust
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Bonus Epilogue
Three Years Later
November 1820
"I cannot believe you did that."
Eliza was quite used to her husband's irritation, especially when it was directed at her. Tom Buckley could be counted on to let his wife know when he was certain that she had made a mistake. Eliza could be counted on to completely ignore him. And they loved each other anyway. It was what made their marriage work.
Eliza wasn't sitting. Her rear was a little tender. She hadn't felt it so much the night before when she had been a cup and a half full of rum. But she felt it this morning. However Eliza would not give Tom the satisfaction of knowing that she was sore. "Everyone else was doing it," she retorted. "You had done it, too, only twenty minutes before me."
Tom rolled his dark eyes and glared at Eliza. He was standing across the cabin from her, leaning against his desk as he folded his arms across his chest, the chest which now bore two fresh swallows in honour of the miles that she had spent at sea. Tom still collected Eliza's sailor tattoos on his own person as he would not allow her to.
Echo had brought out the ink and the needle the night before to add to the crew's collection, and Tom had received his as he usually did. But after he had gone in to tend to their children, Eliza had indulged a little, and had convinced Echo to give her a tattoo as well. Echo had made himself scarce that morning, as to be seen by Tom when he was in such a mood was to have a death wish.
"I am furious at you," he snapped, still glaring at her with a hard expression.
"Really, is that any different to any other Monday?" Eliza retorted, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
"For God's sake, Eliza. You're incorrigible. You'll be the death of me." Tom shook his head and turned his back on her, slumping down into his chair and pulling out his captain's log.
Eliza was still grinning, knowing that he wouldn't stay angry for long. He never could. He would call her names, like he had done for years, but she knew that every time he called her incorrigible, or inept, or frustrating, or infuriating, it was just Tom's way of saying, "I love you for some Godforsaken reason."
She skipped across their small cabin and leaned her head down on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. His unruly dark hair and the stubble on his jaw tickled her cheek.
"Captain's Log: Monday November 20th, 1820," Eliza began, deepening her voice. Tom's pen froze as he listened to her. "My wife did it again. She proved to me why she is terribly wonderful in every way by getting a tattoo of my name on her backside. I absolutely love them both. My wife and her behind, that is." Eliza turned her face towards him and kissed his cheek.
"Is that supposed to sound like me?" Tom muttered, though Eliza could hear the softening humour in his tone. "I certainly can't start clogging my log up with notes about how wonderful my wife is as I do have a very serious reputation to maintain an –" Tom suddenly froze. "Hold on a moment ..." Tom pushed away from his desk and stood up abruptly, so much so that Eliza stumbled backwards. He turned on her and his black eyes narrowed. "The tattoo is where?"
Had Eliza neglected to disclose that little detail?
"Well, I figured since you have my name on your finger that it was only right that I have your name somewhere as well," Eliza protested, placing her hands on her hips and hooking her thumbs under her belt.
"God help me, she'll drive me to madness," he muttered under his breath. But Eliza could have sworn that there was a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
Tom still did not smile often. His stern or stoic expressions were a habit that was hard to break, but when he did smile, it was at her or their children.
"Come here," Tom commanded, though a smile, a wicked smile did appear.
"No." Eliza grinned darting away from him. "Update to the November 20th entry!" she cried as she jumped up on the bed when Tom lunged for her. "My wife is –"
"My wife is infuriating!" Tom interrupted as he stepped up onto the bed, the weight of them both standing upon it making their footing unsteady. He lunged for her again and Eliza yelped, laughing, as his arms encircled her waist and pulled her down on top of him, so that her back was lying against his chest. He held her tightly, and she felt a puff of his breath as he blew her hair away from his mouth.
Eliza laughed as she squirmed against him, but Tom's grip only tightened. "She is infuriating, but I love her anyway," she finished for him.
"Mmm, if I must," he acquiesced, and she felt breath against her neck as he uttered, "Do you mean to tell me that you dropped your breeches in front of my men?"
"Just Echo," Eliza whispered back, her cheeks hurting from smiling.
Eliza felt his hand lower to her belt, and with one swift motion he had it unbuckled.
"Show me, Eliza."
***
The air really was freezing as it was late November, and Eliza was thankful that while at sea she dressed like a man. It was so much easier to keep warm without a skirt billowing about her ankles. Of course, now she wore clothing that fitted and was made for her, and not her husband's breeches which were a foot and a half too long for her.
Eliza rubbed her hands together as she and Tom emerged from the cabin and overlooked their crew working on deck.
"This does not mean that I approve of your behaviour, Eliza," Tom murmured under his breath as he draped his arm around her shoulders and cuddled her close into his side. He dropped a kiss on top of her head.
Eliza grinned, craning her neck to look up at him.
Tom smirked when he saw her expression. "Wipe that smile off your face. You haven't won."
"I beg to differ," Eliza countered. "I wonder what I shall have put on me next."
Tom's grip tightened. "Don't test me," he warned slyly, leaning down to gently press his lips against hers.
"Papa!"
Both Tom and Eliza jumped at the cry of their eight-year-old son, Thomas, and all teasing vanished. Eliza had memorised every tone, every cry, every shout that either one of her children could make, and Thomas was terrified. What on earth could have happened?
Thomas came streaking up the deck, closely flanked by Tom's seventeen-year-old younger brother Ned, who was now Tom's first mate aboard the Eliza Lee. Lissy, their three-year-old daughter came toddling along behind them with absolutely no sense of urgency save to follow her brother.
Tom and Eliza tore down the steps as Thomas leapt into his father's arms. "Papa! Mama!" Thomas panicked, panting, his green eyes wide with fright.
"What on earth has happened?" Tom asked desperately.
By then Lissy had reached them, too, and Eliza seized her for a sense of security. "What's the matter?" Eliza asked Ned, who, too, was panting at the base of the steps.
"Lissy threw her hat overboard!" Thomas cried, as though he had just accused his sister of a capital crime.
"Yes, and the damned fool nearly went into the ocean after it!" Ned added, shaking his head disapprovingly, though Eliza could see the fear in his eyes. "I practically caught him mid dive!"
Eliza paled at the vivid image, and all manner of guilt filled her stomach for asking Ned to watch over the children that morning. What if Thomas had gone overboard? What if he'd drowned? Oh, the thought made her want to be sick right there on the deck. She couldn't even imagine it.
"What is the matter with you?" Eliza cried at her son. "You would risk your life for a hat!" She wanted to shake him senseless.
"It's bad luck!" Thomas retorted, looking to his father for confirmation, and for an ally.
Thomas idolised his father and believed Tom could do no wrong. Eliza knew that she was second to Tom in their son's eyes, and it was definitely because of the bond they had created together during the time they were at sea without her. Eliza certainly didn't begrudge her son's choice. She rather thought Tom was quite special, too.
Tom was very soft with their children. Eliza could never have imagined that she would be stricter parent, but then she supposed that she had more of her mother in her than she thought. Tom wanted to be entirely the opposite of what he had grown up with, and so he indulged Thomas and Lissy. It was hard to spoil them aboard a ship, of course, but he enjoyed having fun with them. Eliza was often the one to spoil the party whenever it was time to bathe.
But Tom would not be on Thomas' side when it came to endangering his life. He was certainly as pale as Eliza believed that she was. Tom placed his son on the deck and knelt down in front of him, looking him in the eye.
"Lissy was being a brat!" Thomas stressed, continuing. "She threw her hat overboard. You know it's bad luck, Papa. You know it!"
Eliza could imagine that Lissy thought she was being entirely funny throwing her hat away as she didn't like how the ribbon tickled her underneath her chin. Lissy's brown eyes peered at Eliza all innocent-like.
"I don't care," Tom said sternly, holding Thomas' arms at his shoulders.
Thomas' eyes filled with tears. Eliza could see how worried he was about this, and how seriously he took the superstitions that he had learned during his time at sea. Thomas had saltwater in his veins, much like his father, and Eliza knew it wouldn't be long before he found his way under Echo's needle. Tom had only been a few years older than Thomas was when he had received his first tattoo.
But it was at times like these that she seriously resented the silly beliefs of the crew. Eliza had been at sea some years of her life now and had certainly seen enough instances of bad luck without a catalyst. She didn't believe in luck, though she could never say that out loud.
But Thomas did. He took the crews' word as gospel.
"Papa, it's bad luck," Thomas' voice cracked on his words, and Eliza's heart broke in a different way.
"It means we are in for a long journey," Tom replied calmly, "and we are but two days from Plymouth. The bad omen is mitigated with the good omen in front of me."
"What do you mean?" sniffed Thomas.
"You were born at sea," Tom lifted Thomas' chin with his index knuckle. "A child born at sea is the best of omens. The very best of good luck. While you are on board, Thomas, we have good luck."
Eliza knew this to be a true belief. Though she could not understand how the harrowing pain she had endured giving birth to Thomas in the middle of an ocean with a nervy sea captain husband as a midwife could be considered good luck. Thomas' birth had been celebrated by the crew as a blessed good omen.
And, she would grant them, they had been favoured by good winds and weather for the remainder of that journey.
Thomas believed every word, and Eliza could see him immediately relax as the fear of bad luck left him. "It'll be alright, then?"
"Yes, it'll be alright," confirmed Tom, rising to his feet, though he kept his hands on Tom's shoulders. "Go to jump overboard again and I'll throw you over my knee and give you an almighty hiding. You won't be able to sit down for a week." Tom did not feel the need to lay down the law often, but here was an obvious exception.
Thomas' face fell as he nodded in acceptance, and Eliza could see his teeth clench. "Is Lissy going to be punished? She's the one who started all this."
"Lissy didn't just give your mother and I a coronary," countered Tom. "Get on with your chores, Thomas. Go on," he urged
Thomas glared at his little sister, before turning around and running off back down the deck. Thomas and Lissy got on well, beautifully well, when they were not bickering. Both annoyed the other, but they did love each other. Really, Lissy was quite like Eliza, and Thomas was exactly like his father.
"Thank you for watching out for them, Ned," Eliza said gratefully.
"I'm just glad I caught him," Ned replied, clearly shaken. "He was right about to go over, no caution whatsoever."
"I'll be having words with the men about what they tell my son," muttered Tom angrily. "Thanks, Ned. Get on with what you need to do."
Eliza adjusted Lissy on her hip, the little girl no longer an easy weight to hold for someone Eliza's size. Tom took Lissy from her and Eliza was grateful to shake out her arms as he placed the toddler on his own hip, supporting her weight on his forearm.
"You need to stop winding your brother up, madam," Tom told Lissy sternly, before he ruffled her unruly dark hair.
Eliza never could do anything nice with it. Lissy's hair was much like her mother's, only much darker. It curled and went every which way while they were at sea. It was only when Mrs Banes got a hold of her that Lissy looked like a proper little girl. Eliza was certain Mrs Banes would have conniptions if she ever saw Lissy running about in dungarees as she did every day. Lissy never wore dresses unless she was in England, much like her mother.
Eliza leaned on Tom's arm and sighed as she watched Thomas kneeling down on the deck at the other end of the ship, bucket and scrubbing brush handy, as he set to work. He was such a hard worker, a passionate crewman at only eight years of age. He was going to grow up to be a terrific young man. Lord, she loved him, and she was so very proud of him. She might even tell him that once her heart had settled down.
"What do you think an appropriate punishment would be for throwing a hat overboard, Tom?" Eliza asked her husband. "Head duty?"
Tom chuckled, giving Eliza a wicked grin. "Head duty is reserved only for stowaways," he replied in good humour, "and a wife who gets on her husband's nerves."
Eliza pursed her lips. "Who is this other wife you have? For she cannot be me. I have never once vexed you."
"You're infuriating," Tom declared, "but I love you anyway."
***
Eliza never tired of seeing the Plymouth harbour come into view. It meant home. It meant family were near. Of course, she would not trade her life for anything; she loved spending time at sea. But there was something special about coming home after a long journey.
Lissy had spent two out of her three years of life at sea. Eliza wondered if she even remembered Plymouth ... or her grandparents. At only three years old, she doubted it.
When Mrs Banes had learned that Tom and Eliza planned to take their family back out to sea once Lissy was a year old, she had been most put out. But Tom had been prepared with a gift to soften the blow, and there she was, docked in the harbour.
Louisa had beaten Eliza Lee home. Tom had purchased a third ship two years ago, making his a small fleet. She was christened Louisa, and would not be called anything other than that, as two of her granddaughters, and namesakes, had been nicknamed.
Mrs Banes had been thrilled.
The sight of home settled Thomas' still anxious nerves. Despite being assured that all would be well, and believing that he, himself, was good luck, he still held a grudge against his little sister for throwing her hat overboard. Eliza hoped arriving home would allow him to forgive Lissy, who was, after all, only a three-year-old who thought that vexing her brother was good fun.
Eliza had changed. Her poor mother would not cope if she saw Eliza in a shirt and breeches. There would probably be many on the Plymouth dock who would not cope at the sight of a woman in something practical. She was now wearing a dress, a plain, grey garment with a thick, woollen coat overtop to keep out the chill. The temperature seemed to have dropped, which, of course, meant that winter was coming to England.
Already navigating the steps and the ladders of the ship were made a nuisance by the presence of a skirt.
"Ionie isn't back yet," Tom murmured, surveying the dock, and the men prepared the ropes to moor the ship.
"Jackie can't be far behind us," replied Eliza, before feigning a gasp. "What if someone aboard the Ionie threw a hat overboard, too?"
Tom rolled his eyes. "Hush," he scolded.
"Mama, you look strange!" Thomas announced, joining them, and thankfully not hearing Eliza's joke.
Eliza laughed as she grabbed a fistful of her skirt before letting it go. Lissy reached up, asking to be picked up. Eliza obliged.
"Doesn't she?" agreed Tom. "Breeches suit Mama so well."
Tom went to shout another instruction to his crew, but as he did, Eliza felt his hand very purposefully brush against her rear. She jumped, not expecting it, and watched as Tom smirked, giving her a wink, before leaving her with the children.
Once the ship was moored and the ramp installed, Eliza, Thomas, and Lissy were the first three to disembark down onto the dock. Even after all the years at sea, Eliza still suffered with terrible sea legs, and it did take her a long while to become steady on her feet.
Thomas was a natural. He would grow up to be a seasoned sailor, just like his father.
After giving instructions to the crew about the unloading of the cargo, Tom joined them on the dock, and they all together walked towards Tom's third ship, Louisa.
Louisa appeared to have been in Plymouth at least a few days, as there was no unloading of goods to be seen. Eliza would wager that her entire crew would be in the tavern getting good and drunk, just as she knew Tom's crew would be doing in a matter of hours.
All except her captain, who took his role just as seriously as his mentor did.
As they reached the ramp of Louisa, Tom cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Eggs!"
After calling a few more times, a young man emerged from his cabin and arrived at the railing, looking down at the direction of where his name was called. Eggs was certainly no longer a boy and had been given the responsibility of captain when Tom had bought the ship two years earlier. But sometimes it was hard for Eliza to believe that Eggs was no longer the fourteen-year-old galley boy whom she taught to read aboard that very first journey.
Eggs jogged down the ramp to join the Buckley family on the dock, greeting Tom with a handshake, but Eliza would accept no less than a hug. "Glad you made it home safe! It's good to see you all."
"Well, we nearly didn't because of Lissy," Thomas said, irritated, "but luckily I am a good omen."
Eggs frowned, before looking up at Tom and Eliza questioningly.
"Thomas, you are standing on land. We are all safe. Your sister did not intentionally try to harm us all," Eliza said firmly. "Cut it out."
"Actually, we are standing on a dock, not land," Thomas retorted.
"Oi," snapped Tom, "backchat your mother again and you'll be on head duty, stowaway or not."
Thomas cleverly silenced.
"Sounds like quite a journey," Eggs surmised. "You have your hands quite full."
"Oh, yes," confirmed Tom, snaking an arm around Eliza's shoulders, "Eliza Lee is quite a handful."
***
After speaking with Eggs for a while, and hearing the facts and profits of his journey, they returned to Tom's ship to ensure that the unloading was running smoothly. With Ned having everything under control, the decision was made to walk the mile to the Banes residence.
Both Thomas and Lissy had run on some fifty feet ahead, and Tom and Eliza walked behind them.
"Do you suppose Thomas has forgiven Lissy?" Tom asked, taking Eliza's hand.
"I don't know," replied Eliza, smiling. "Perhaps he would feel better if he called Lissy inept and demanded an apology."
Tom chuckled. "He'd probably also enjoy it if Lissy was sentenced to head duty without having any idea of what it entailed."
Eliza elbowed Tom in the ribs, which only made him laugh louder. Tom released her hand, wrapping both of his arms around her shoulders and kissing her temple as they walked.
Eliza didn't care if it came from teasing her, or from a really clever joke, she never tired of hearing Tom's laugh. When she heard him laugh, it calmed her. Knowing that he was happy, that he was finding humour in the world, brought her a sort of peace that she wouldn't trade for anything.
Thomas knew the way. What a savvy, young navigator he was. He led them all the way to the Banes' front door, and had it open by the butler by the time Tom and Eliza arrived.
Eliza felt the anticipation rising in her chest as she knew her parents were near. She did not need to wait long before she heard a squeal of delight coming from her mother.
Mrs Banes appeared at the top of the stairs and screamed all the way down them, practically throwing herself into Eliza's arms. Eliza hugged her tightly and enjoyed the feeling of being held by her mother.
"Oh, you're home. You're home!" cheered Mrs Banes as she pulled away, only to cup Eliza's face to look at her properly.
Mrs Banes had not changed at all, save for, perhaps, a few new lines at the corners of her green eyes.
"Oh, look at you! Look at these freckles! You are so tan!" she gasped, her thumbs brushing across Eliza's cheeks. Eliza half expected a critique or an admonishment, but instead, Mrs Banes gushed, "How beautiful you are. Oh, my Eliza!" she cried, before hugging her again.
"It is so good to see you, Mama," Eliza said sincerely. "I've missed you."
"Grandmamma!"
Mrs Banes pulled herself away from Eliza and hugged Thomas. "Look how tall you are!" she cried. "I hardly recognise you! And Lissy!"
Eliza and Tom exchanged a coy smile. She knew it killed Mrs Banes to use their pet name for Lissy, but she did it anyway.
Lissy was a little more reserved, but she did hug Mrs Banes in seeing that her family trusted her.
"You are quite the little young lady," commended Mrs Banes, though she glanced back at Eliza. "But what is she wearing?"
Eliza might have been able to change into a dress today. Lissy, however, was not so easily persuaded. Like her mother, Lissy preferred the freedom of breeches.
"Dungarees, Mama. She wouldn't change today."
"Well, it just so happens that I bought the most darling little dress in ..." Mrs Banes stopped herself, before looking to Tom. "I'm sorry, Tom, how rude of me. How are you? It is good to see you. And not a grey hair on your head after wrangling these three for months."
"Quite alright, Mrs Banes," replied Tom.
"Where is Papa?" asked Eliza. "I would have thought that he would have come running when he heard you scream."
"Oh, your father grows deafer by the hour," replied Mrs Banes dismissively. "Selective hearing, if you ask me."
Eliza giggled, knowing full well that her father was capable of tuning his wife out whenever she babbled on about something, he considered nonsensical. She had witnessed it for years. "Is he in his study?"
Mrs Banes nodded. "Go on then," she encouraged.
Eliza left Tom and their children with Mrs Banes and she took to the stairs, hiking up her skirt so that she could climb them two at a time. She ran towards her father's office and just as she came to the door, she was visited by a memory of arriving home so many years before, when she had first returned from her adventure in the Caribbean.
The Lord knew that Eliza's heart belonged to everywhere. She was not meant to be a settled woman, or a typical wife keeping house. She had not the talent nor the patience. If that had been the sort of woman Tom had been seeking, then she would have made a terrible wife. But that did not mean that she did not love home, her parents, and especially her dear papa. Mr Banes had always been Eliza's ally, and she adored him endlessly.
Eliza opened the door to her father's study and found Mr Banes slouching in his chair, his nose buried in the newspaper. The desk was in disarray, with stacks of books and papers surrounding him like a fortress, but he liked it that way. The bookshelves in the study were an ode to his favourite authors, as well as his family. He displayed miniatures of both Eliza and Katy, trinkets, knick-knacks, and ornaments that he had collected over the years. It was his space.
"Did you miss me, Papa?"
Mr Banes could hear perfectly well in that moment. Eliza mused that he had not learned to tune out her voice. Mr Banes lowered his newspaper immediately, and she was greeted by the crinkled, yet cheerful face of her father.
"Eliza!" he cheered happily, abandoning the paper and rising from his chair a little stiffly to make his way around the desk to greet her. "Eliza, my girl. Come here to me." He opened his arms, and Eliza did not need to be asked twice.
Eliza flew into her father's arms and hugged him tightly, inhaling the familiar scents of peppermint and cigars, the latter of which would have him scolded if Mrs Banes caught him.
"I have missed my Eliza," Mr Banes murmured softly, kissing her forehead.
Eliza smiled. "I have missed you, too, Papa."
They walked together back down the hallway and towards the landing, where they could hear Mrs Banes' voice as she spoke to Tom. In looking over the balustrade, Eliza could see that Tom and lifted Lissy up onto his shoulders, where she had wrapped her arms around his forehead. Thomas was happily holding Mrs Banes' hand.
It was quite a sight, and one that brought a tear to her eye. It did not take much to remind her that shortly after she had returned to her father's study after her first adventure, Tom had broken her heart by sending her away. But whatever had happened, whatever pain had been experienced, Eliza wouldn't trade it for anything.
Sights like these, where her husband was happily entertaining whatever her mother was talking about while simultaneously holding their child on his shoulders, were precious.
"What adventures have you to tell me of?" Mr Banes asked. "Did you get up to anything exciting on this latest voyage?"
Tom's ears seemed to prick up at Mr Banes' question, and he looked up to the pair of them on the landing. He grinned wickedly at her. "You know Eliza, Mr Banes. She finds trouble wherever she goes."
Eliza leaned over the balustrade. "Adventure," she corrected. "I find adventure wherever we go."
"And I'll always follow you," Tom replied, his smile softening. "After all, someone has to be there to get you out of trouble ... er, or your adventures," he added teasingly.
Eliza arched an eyebrow, and Tom offered her a wink. "You're incorrigible," she stated with a smirk, using his favourite word for her.
Tom grinned. "I love you, too."
-----
I hope you enjoyed coming back to visit Tom and Eliza!! I lovedddddd writing this for them, and getting back inside their heads. This book is my personal favourite of all the ones I've written, and they make me so happy. So, I'm so glad that this book was the one you chose to receive a bonus epilogue in honour of my 10 year anniversary on Wattpad.
10 years. Can you believe it?!
I am so beyond grateful to each and every one of you. Whether you have followed and read for years, or you just found me last week, I thank you! Without you, coming and spending time with me each week, journeying back in time with me, supporting me, commenting, voting, everything, without it, I would have given up a long time ago. My ideas would just sit in notes app on my phone never to be written. So thank you for giving me a voice. I mean it.
The below is what I wrote on my actual anniversary on November 20. I want it here as well <3
I want to take you on a little journey back in time. Picture this: it's November 20, 2011. Little Laura is 17 years old, just finished Year 11, in high school, and messing around on the App Store on her Samsung Galaxy (hated that phone). She loves to write. She's done it for years on the family computer, saving documents under ambiguous titles so her family doesn't discover them. She's written one full length book in her time. She was 14. It was terrible. It will never see the light of day. She loves romance, particularly historical romance, and she adores Jane Austen. She sees this weird orange app that says: "Wattpad: Millions of Stories", and she thinks, "Hey, I like stories". She downloads it.
At first, she thinks it's like iBooks. She doesn't realise these books are written by normal people like her. Until she reads a story that isn't finished she realises that people are actively posting their work. She gets her old COMPAQ laptop out (the one that is missing an 'm' key) and looks at Wattpad on a desktop for the first time. There she realises that she can post some of her own work. And she does. She starts writing and posting.
She works at an amusement park that summer, and she checks her phone constantly, silently freaking out when her first story reaches 100 reads. And slowly, very slowly, she gets better, and people start to follow along, and she continues. She finds a community of people who love the same kinds of books she does. She continues still, writing books she wants to read, filled with romance and drama, FAMILY above all. She loves writing about families. She loves to create beautiful families.
In 2012, she writes her first historical series, the "Regency Series". She's super proud of it, even if future Laura knows it could be better. In 2013, she begins a story called "The Accidental Duchess", and this is the first book of hers that really takes off. People love it, and she's never felt so confident in her life. She adds five more books to that series. Over the next few years she writes "The One Series", "The Kensington Series", "The Banes Sisters Series", and now she currently writes "The Ashwood Series", with a few stand alone books in between.
In ten years, she has written over thirty books, and she has felt your love on every single one of them.
And that brings us to now. 10 years. 10 years we've spent together. I hope you know that it is YOU that has kept me here. Without YOU I would have given up a long time ago. My books, my ideas, would just be another scribble in my notes app that would never get written. I thank YOU from the very bottom of my heart. Whether you've been here with me since I was 17, or you just found me last week, thank YOU!
Thank you for your endless support, your willingness to follow me wherever the inspiration took me. Thank you for filling my books with so much positivity. Thank you for being here for me. Thank you for lifting up a girl who really had no confidence at all, and making me feel like I'm talented, like I can contribute something to this world. I want to cry every time I read a comment saying that my books have brought someone joy, or comfort, or anything in between.
If I've made you smile even once over this past decade, then that fills my heart with joy. I truly do feel like you and me are friends. I've been rambling on in my author's notes for a decade now, continuing on our conversation each chapter, and I feel like we know each other. What you see is what you get. I'm a hopeless romantic who will keep writing so long as you want me to.
Thank you for 10 years. I love you all xx
So, let this little chapter be a small gift in return for everything you've given me. I hope you enjoyed it.