The crowd erupted into whoops and applause. When the din died down, Dan cleared his throat. ‘And, speaking of the rest of the world, I want to thank Bill’s daughter, my recently discovered sister, for making the longest journey of all to get here. Your presence means a lot to me.’

I followed Dan’s gaze to two women standing in the front row. Stacy and her wife, Roxanne, had flown in especially to be part of today’s proceedings. It was the first time either of them had been to Australia, but it wasn’t the first time we’d met. A year ago, Dan and I had flown to San Francisco. It was my first overseas trip without my children, my first Christmas without them. I’d been terrified about leaving, but it had been Adrian’s turn to have them anyway and they’d promised they’d manage without me if I brought back plenty of presents.

Which I did, and they were right, we’d all survived just fine.

I had the time of my life with Dan in San Fran and really got along well with his sister. Stacy was a lot like him—quietly funny, not materialistic, with a very nurturing nature. Over the past year or so, I’d also come to know Gemma and Ben quite well. When the truth about Dan’s parentage had come out and Stephen Emerson had threatened to disown him, Gemma and Ben had shown their true colours.

And it turned out those colours weren’t bad at all. They’d basically threatened their father right back, telling him that if he cut Dan off from the family business, he’d lose them both as well. I’d thought it a risky bluff, but it worked. At least in that Dan hadn’t had to choose between the job he loved and the island he adored. Not that Stephen and Apinya had come to show their support today. They had to be the only locals of Ragged Point not here—even Jedda had braved the seas to come—but perhaps I couldn’t blame Stephen for that. If Adrian had had an affair while we were married, I probably wouldn’t want to celebrate his mistress or her achievements either.

Speaking of my ex-husband (yes, now well and truly official), I’m pleased to report he’s doing well. He started counselling just after Payton’s accident, gave up the grog and was spending quality time with his children once again. He’d even bought a second-hand road bike for Sax and the two of them now went on regular rides. Of course, he’d hoped all these things would make me change my mind about us getting back together, but once he finally accepted this wasn’t going to happen, he moved out of Brad’s and into a small three-bedroom duplex not too far from our family home.