Valentina held out her hand to the boy, grinning when he confidently shook it.
‘You come and see me when you’re big enough to ride. I promise I’ll have a horse waiting for you.’
The boy’s eyes widened. ‘Really?’
‘My family has a long history of breeding the very best polo ponies, and yours has a history of producing the very best riders,’ she told him. ‘It would be a shame to break the tradition now.’
He beamed at Valentina, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
‘Gracias, Valentina,’ Felipe whispered. ‘You’ve made his day.’
‘You’re welcome,’ she said, leaning in slightly to him for just a second when his son turned his back, and knowing in her heart that there was nothing she wouldn’t do for Felipe’s family. In fact, she intended on finding a way to provide for them even when she was gone. Her greatest hope was that somehow she’d bring her family and his together once she was no longer here, on the land that she loved, with the legacy that she’d fought so hard for.
Once, she’d given up everything to fight for what was right, and her only wish was that her family would discover just how much she’d loved them, despite her absence from their lives. She might not be there when they pieced together what had happened, but her greatest hope was that they’d one day come to Argentina and fall in love with their birthright, to live full lives made possible by the legacy she and her father before her had left behind.
‘I love you,’ Felipe whispered.
She met his gaze. ‘I love you, too.’
For as long as we both live, for so many years to come, and for all the years we missed. I’ve loved you my entire life, Felipe, and I intend on treasuring every moment I have by your side.
32
PRESENT DAY
Rose sat cross-legged on the floor across from Jessica. They had takeaway coffee cups and the remnants of chocolate brownies between them, and they were surrounded by cardboard boxes.
‘You know when I said I’d come back and help you pack everything up, this wasn’t what I expected.’
They both laughed.
‘If someone had told me how my life would change even a few months ago, I would never have believed them.’ Rose had known there was little chance that her mum would beat her last round of cancer. She’d fought for so long, but they’d both known there was only so long she could keep going. But what Rose had never imagined was that there was happiness waiting for her after the darkness.
‘I feel like it’s been years since Mum passed,’ Rose said, as she reached for her coffee and took one last sip. ‘Sometimes it feels like I’ve only just lost her, and other times it almost feels like a lifetime ago.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Jessica said. ‘So much has happened in the last few months.’
‘I still can’t believe you came all the way here to help me pack,’ Rose said. ‘You didn’t need to.’
‘I came because I wanted to, not because I needed to,’ Jessica said. ‘And besides, I had another reason to come.’
Rose’s brow furrowed. ‘You did?’
Jessica grinned. ‘I wanted to meet Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome for myself.’
They both burst out laughing again, and Rose shook her head. ‘You’re coming to visit us in a few months in Argentina.’
‘You’re my best friend, Rose, I wasn’t just going to let you run away with a handsome stranger.’
‘What happened to following my heart and taking risks?’
Jessica waved her hand in the air. ‘I just said that to stop you overthinking everything. The truth is, I want to set eyes on the man myself before I let you go.’
‘I have this feeling that Mum would have loved him, you know?’ Rose said, seeing Jessica tear up at the same time as her own eyes prickled. ‘The way he looks at me, the way he treats me, it’s all she ever wanted for me. She used to say that the only man worth having was one who looked at you like you were the only person in the room.’
‘I remember her saying that,’ Jessica said. ‘In fact, I think she reminded me of that when I told her I was marrying Ryan.’
They sat a moment as Rose looked around the room, hardly able to believe that they’d almost packed up everything in the flat. Her personal belongings and some of her mother’s things were all being sent ahead to Argentina, but the rest was going into storage for now. She’d found someone fantastic to rent the flat for the next six months, and after that, she’d decide what she was going to do.
