My senses on blissful overload, I drank in the sights and sounds around me like they were nectar. Now that I knew what it was to belong to a real family, there was no way I’d ever give it up.

I smiled at Troy. He shook his head, but smiled back before tucking into another fishcake. It would take a while, but we’d be OK – both of us. All of us.

Why? Because we were friends. We were family. We had each other. And, more important than all that, we had love.

And, when you got right down to it, nothing else mattered.

THE END

Acknowledgements

Well, here it is, the final book in the Noughts & Crosses series. It has been a bittersweet experience writing this one, knowing that there will be no others. It has taken over twenty-one years to produce six novels and three novellas all set within this world, a task that has been at times frustrating and painful, but also cathartic and rewarding. When I sat down to write the first book in the series, I had no idea how my story would be received. I had a certain story arc in mind – the lives of Callum, Sephy and their daughter Callie Rose – which I naïvely thought would fit into one book. When the first book was published and Callie had only just been born, after due consideration, I reckoned the story I had in mind would take three books to tell. It was definitely going to be a trilogy. But when Checkmate was written, Tobey Durbridge insisted I tell his story too and so the trilogy turned into four books. Real world events inspired what I thought would be a fifth and final novel, only for five books to turn into six! With the novellas, that’s a nine-book trilogy!

Writing novels is, by its nature, a solitary affair, but I didn’t do this alone. So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped me over the years to bring the story of the Hadleys, the McGregors and the Durbridges to light and life.

This includes but is not limited to Ruth Knowles, Wendy Shakespeare, Jane Tait, Francesca Dow, Annie Eaton, Sue Cook, Philippa Dickinson and all the editorial staff – past and present – who have given so generously of their time and expertise and who have accompanied me on this journey.

Huge thanks to my agent Hilary Delamere for always having my back.

And thank you to all the production staff, art designers, marketing, PR and sales staff who worked on the production and promotion of the Noughts & Crosses series, with a special shout out to Harriet Venn and Lauren Hyett.

Thank you to Fruzsina Czech and Jan Bielecki for this latest iteration of striking book jackets and to all the other book-jacket artists and designers who have worked on Noughts & Crosses over the years.