TWO YEARS LATER

Jonathan's car pulled up outside the windmill and he killed the engine, taking a moment to enjoy the silence before he got out to confront the chaos he expected would be waiting for him. Instead of heading inside, he made his way around the side of the mill and into the garden where a young man spotted him immediately and made a beeline to ask him a question.

The usually empty lawn now contained two big trestle tables laid out at right angles on either side of the wishing well, one laden with food and the other with a makeshift bar. Fairy lights and lanterns had been hung around the trees to light the space when darkness fell later. There were a few tables and chairs dotted around if people wanted to sit to eat or chat, and plenty of space to mingle. In fairness, it wasn't as hectic as Jonathan had been expecting, and the guys from the local pub had it all in hand, the food having been delivered by a local chef while he'd still been in town. Thankfully, the weather was also playing nice with warm sunshine and only a handful of cloud wisps visible in the sky.

He glanced at his watch and figured he had about fifteen minutes before the others started to arrive, so he made his way indoors to do a quick tidy up because people would need to go through the house to use the bathroom. Picking up multiple items of clothing and shoes from the furniture and stairs, he made his way up to the main bedroom and then to the very top floor to drop all of his discoveries in an unceremonious pile on each of the beds, despairing that tidiness was not a virtue maintained by either of the Magellan females in his life.

It had been three months since Maddy and Sophie had made the big move across the Pond, and it had been a period of transition for all of them, not without its challenges, especially considering the limited floor space of the windmill. Jonathan had completely cleared out the box room at the top of the house which had been his bedroom as a child – the mill stones having been removed years earlier - but over the years had become more of a storage room, and that had allowed Sophie a space to make her own. Fitting in all of Maddy's belongings on top of his own had been an even bigger struggle and they'd each had to compromise on some objects in order to avoid total overcrowding in the small space. Although Maddy had sold all her furniture before the move, boxes were still piled up in the outbuilding where at some point they planned to undertake a full conversion to build a whole new living area; until then, they'd simply have to live with the space they had available to them.

They'd both known that the windmill would be their eventual home at some point in the future, but there had been some deliberation about where they'd initially settle, especially because Jonathan had spent as much of the previous year and a half in Washington as he could, so he'd got to know the city fairly well. It would have made sense to stay there, not needing to unsettle Sophie from her schooling or Maddy from her job, and being relatively near to Jonathan's parents in Philadelphia, everyone having benefited from that newfound closeness. But then, towards the end of a three-week visit to England over Sophie's school summer holidays, Maddy had realised just how much she'd missed feeling like she actually properly 'belonged' somewhere, and that feeling of homesickness refused to leave her on their return to the US. She worried that she'd then be taking away from Sophie exactly what she was trying to regain for herself, but Sophie had been the one pushing hard for the move from the outset, entranced at the idea of living in a windmill and close to both Selhurst Park and Wimbledon, not to mention getting to wear a school uniform. Maddy had tried to persuade her of the humdrum reality but Sophie had settled in easily on their trips across, and was absolutely thrilled when they'd told her that they'd be making the move permanently.

Maddy had also had to admit to herself that it was time to stop running away. She'd left England at the two lowest points in her life: the first after her mum took her own life, and the second after Jonathan broke her heart. It had taken her three years to make it back the first time around, without really having confronted what she'd needed to. She'd stayed away much longer this time and whilst she'd worked hard on herself in that time and was in a much better place than before, she'd also realised that in order to really confront everything else that was deeply buried, she needed to go home. The difference was that this time, she knew she'd have Jonathan's support to help her work through it all.

There had been one major wobble when the pair had been called on to solve a locked room murder on the outskirts of D.C. and their old bickering and oneupmanship had come to the fore. It had been quite a revelation for both of them to discover how much that dynamic of smug, introverted mystery solver and frustrated yet personable investigator brought out their bad qualities in opposition to each other. For the good of their relationship, they'd vowed to steer clear of collective mystery solving for the foreseeable future.

Doing a final sweep of the bathroom – just how many bottles of nail polish did a 10-year-old need? – Jonathan heard a car beeping as it pulled up outside, swiftly followed by an over-excited squeal, "Grandma!"

Sophie had spent the day at the neighbours, and Jonathan surmised that she must have arrived on foot with Anna and Martin and their daughter Lilah at the same time as the car pulled up containing Maddy and his parents. Sally and David had only flown in that morning, having taken the red eye overnight, and so far had only had the chance to see the adults.

Jonathan made his way outside just in time to see Sophie flinging herself at his mum for a bone-crushing hug, then repeating the same with his dad. He wasn't sure he'd ever get over the tightening in his chest at seeing how happy his parents were to have a grandchild to lavish with love and attention, having never thought they'd be gifted the opportunity. Catching Maddy's eye and sharing a smile with her, he knew she felt similarly, having never thought that her daughter would know what it was to have grandparents or any extended family.

Maddy made her way over to him and gave him a quick kiss. "Everything under control?"

He nodded. "Yep. They've done a great job. Let's get everyone into the garden before any more cars turn up."

As he spoke, another car drove up the lane and pulled in, revealing Adam and Charlie, plus an unknown blonde woman who looked very unlike one of Adam's usual conquests, leaving them to look inquisitively at each other.

The mystery was soon solved when they all said their hellos and Charlie introduced the woman as her girlfriend, Rachel. "Adam did tell you she was coming, right? I told him to ask if it was ok."

Maddy covered up for Adam's usual lack of attention and assured her that, of course, Adam had let them know and, of course, it was no problem.

"So how did it go today?" queried a grateful Adam to Maddy.

"I can't wait to read it," added Charlie.

"It went really well, thanks. Enthusiastic crowd," replied Maddy, then turned to Charlie. "I'll grab you a copy – there's a few in the car."

"Och, that's not what I meant. I'm happy to pay for it," said Charlie, horrified it looked like she was sponging a free copy of Maddy's new book.

"Don't be silly. At least I know you'll actually read it, unlike most of the so-called celebrities who were there."

In preparation for the big move, Maddy had taken a step back from writing as many in-depth articles as before, and she'd taken the opportunity to consider what she really wanted to do career-wise. She was in the privileged position of being able to write as many or as few articles as she wanted for the Washington Post, and they'd agreed that she could write British- and European-focused stories once she moved back to England. She'd also decided that, after years of good, old-fashioned journalistic graft, it would be nice to try her hand at fiction, and what better to write than an impossible crime mystery. With Jonathan on hand to act as her creative consultant for the mystery itself, she built up a cast of characters and used her experience of real-life criminals, police and bystanders caught in the crosshairs to construct her story world. Her wit and humour added an extra layer to the tale and the book poured out of her much more quickly than she'd anticipated. Once it was completed, Barry found that for the second time in his career as an agent – and with the same author, no less – he had a bidding war on his hands between different publishers.

The book launch earlier that afternoon had been a lavish affair at the Ham Yard Hotel with champagne flowing and a who's who of British arts media in attendance. The publishers had pulled out all the stops in anticipation of one of the year's biggest sellers, and Maddy's introduction and speech charmed everyone with her jokes and self-deprecation. Watching from the right-hand side of the crowd, Jonathan's brain had delivered a whisper of a memory from years before when Barry had told him 'she makes it look easy, but it hasn't been', and he was filled with admiration and pride for her.

When they'd realised that Sally and David's visit was going to line-up with the book launch, they'd decided to hold a small gathering at the mill after the event, inviting a few of their friends and family who'd been there earlier in the day, and others who hadn't. It seemed a perfect time to finally host a housewarming of sorts, albeit in a house that had been in the family for generations but had recently welcomed a couple of new members to the fold.

It wasn't long before Barry and Jason appeared, Barry having had to stay a little longer to schmooze with the last of the stragglers at the book launch. As soon as Sophie spotted them, she ran over to give them a hug and pulled them indoors to show them her bedroom and the rest of the windmill. Although Barry had heard and read about the mill, this was the first time he'd actually seen it in real life. He was happy to see that it lived up to his considerable expectations, and grateful to get the full tour from Sophie.

Two more sets of friends from the village arrived soon after, followed by a couple of Jonathan and Adam's old theatre colleagues, and the garden filled up with chatter and laughter, with soft music drifting from a speaker system that had been rigged up outside.

Sally was delighted to see her old friend Ingrid Strange arrive and rushed over to greet her, immediately falling into a deep conversation as if they'd only seen each other yesterday. Through their chatter, they made their way over to Jonathan and Maddy for Ingrid to say her hellos.

"Well, it's about time, you two," Ingrid reprimanded, with a gleam in her eye.

"Should have just listened to you in the first place, shouldn't we?" replied Maddy with an embarrassed smile, happy to see her still looking healthy and spritely after all these years.

"In general, the rule is that Ingrid is always right," interjected Sally with a smile.

"Well, unfortunately Jonathan didn't make that quite clear enough at the time."

"He always was a little slow on the uptake when it came to women," needled Sally.

"Yes, alright," replied Jonathan with an eye roll. "I've already got that message loud and clear, thank you. I don't need all three of you ganging up on me."

"And we got there in the end," placated Maddy, putting her arm around Jonathan's waist and giving him a squeeze.

"Your mum's been telling me about all these exciting films you've been working on?" queried Ingrid.

"Oh. Yes. Well, it came about after that big Las Vegas trick I set up for Adam. A few people got in touch wanting my input," Jonathan replied.

"He's being modest, as usual," interjected Maddy. "He could have had his pick of working with any magician in the world. And then Hollywood came calling, along with all these independent production companies. It's amazing."

Jonathan had to silently agree that it had all worked out very well indeed. He'd been worried that his first big illusion after his hiatus wouldn't garner much attention, or would be considered too passé, but it had grabbed headlines around the world, and the phone simply hadn't stopped ringing from that point on. Now he was in the enviable position of having an extremely well-paid day job as a magical consultant for high-profile films, TV shows and books, whilst also being able to dabble with his own illusions in his spare time, and he'd made it back into the elite inner Magic Circle in the process. He occasionally provided tricks and ideas to Adam, but he wasn't bound to him, and that was just the way he liked it.

Jonathan and Maddy slowly made their separate ways around their guests, catching up on everyone's lives and enjoying the relaxed party atmosphere coupled with the late summer sunshine.

While she was getting herself another drink Maddy noticed that Barry, Charlie and Ingrid had discovered each other's accents and were congregating together as the official Scottish contingent of the party, and she pulled Jonathan aside for a chuckle when she saw Adam trying to ingratiate himself without giving away his actual heritage.

"Time to put the Proclaimers on? Come on…" urged Maddy, leading Jonathan over to the group, "this is too good to miss."

Adam saw the calculating smirk on Maddy's face as the couple made their way over and swiftly staged an intervention on his own behalf before she had a chance to say anything.

"Here come the happy couple. Speech! Speech!" clamoured Adam loudly, joined quickly by Barry, oblivious to the magician's ulterior motive.

Maddy and Jonathan looked at each other as other voices joined in, and they realised one of them would have to say something.

"I've already done my speech for today," Maddy excused herself. "Your turn."

"Okay, okay," conceded Jonathan, wrinkling his nose then continuing under his breath as he reached an arm out to keep her in place, "but you're staying right here."

They turned to face the now assembled group and he was surprised not to feel too nervous to speak as he saw all the smiles in front of him; not a single face in the small crowd who he wouldn't want to be there.

"Hi," he started with a self-deprecating smile. "I'm terrible at this sort of thing, as you all know, so I'll keep it short. Thank you all for coming, it's great to have you all here and…uh…" Jonathan floundered and looked to Maddy for some help, and she took up the mantle with an amused eye roll.

"What he's trying to say is, it's lovely to have all of you here." She took hold of Jonathan's hand and gave it a squeeze as she continued. "From the first moment I came here all those years ago, this place captured a piece of my heart, and I can't quite believe I now get to call it home." She smiled gratefully at Sally and David, acknowledging the history of the mill. "You've all played a part in our journey, and we want you to know you're welcome here anytime." She glanced at Jonathan then continued with a knowing smirk. "Well, maybe call first. He's still a hermit underneath it all." That got a laugh from the crowd along with an indignant look from Jonathan, and she lifted her glass into the air. "Cheers everyone."

"Cheers!" called everyone as they raised their glasses towards the couple.

"To Jonathan and Maddy," called Adam, garnering a loud "About time!" from his new double act partner Barry.

At the same time as Barry spoke, Sophie and Lilah piped up cheekily from the side of the crowd: "And Sophie!"

"To Jonathan and Maddy and Sophie!" repeated the crowd with a laugh.

The party continued late into the evening, lanterns and fairly lights turning on as the sky turned from light pink to deep purple, eventually fading to black as the stars burned brightly.

When Sophie conked out on a picnic blanket around 9.30pm, Jonathan gathered her up and carried her inside to bed, being careful not to knock any of her limbs against the narrow staircases on the way up to the top floor. He laid her down before picking up the pile of clothes he'd dumped on her bed earlier, shifting them on to a chair for now. Instead of fighting a losing battle with pyjamas, he simply took her shoes off then covered her with the duvet, pressing a goodnight kiss to the crown of her head before going back downstairs to join the others.

Slowly but surely the numbers dwindled until the last hangers on Barry, Jason, Adam, Charlie and Rachel all said their goodbyes and headed back to the city to continue their night with more drinks. The one remaining waiter from the pub promised to come back in the morning to help pack up, and he headed off down the lane towards home.

Jonathan and Maddy sighed in unison as they sank down together onto the outdoor sofa, and there was nothing but the soft sound of music keeping them company as they enjoyed the calm enveloping them.

"What a day!" exclaimed Maddy, feeling both happy and tired at the thought of everything that had happened, starting with picking up Sally and David from the airport and not stopping until this moment.

Jonathan reached an arm around her as she leaned against him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Remind me never to listen to you again when you suggest doing two major events on the same day," he mused, feeling exhausted by all the human interaction he'd had to undertake in a single 12-hour period.

"Yes, alright Leopard Man. But imagine we'd had the book launch today and then still had everyone coming over tomorrow. That'd be worse."

"True," he admitted.

"Thank you though; I know it was a lot. You'll need some time to refill your introvert cup. Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed. "That reminds me. I got you something." She got up and walked over to one of the trestle tables. From underneath, she retrieved a bag with her publisher's name printed on the side. As she made her way back to him, she took the top book from a pile of many and handed it to him. "Just for you."

He took it from her and looked a little perplexed. "This is your book," he stated.

"Yes, I am aware of that. It's not the book, per se, it's what's inside."

He looked at it with a confused expression and she rolled her eyes, putting the bag and its contents down on the table beside them. "Open it," she urged him gently.

Jonathan opened the front cover, then at Maddy's insistence he flipped forwards two pages and saw the dedication that was written there:

For my comfy old sweatshirt, Jonathan.

Nobody does it better.

Surprise written all over his face, he stood up and took both of her hands in his.

Not too long after their Las Vegas trip, she'd admitted to him that she'd sung that song just for him at the karaoke in New York, and it had quickly become a joke between them. Any time she was frustrated with him, he'd say "But I thought nobody does it better?" On occasion it garnered a less-than positive response and a swift realisation that he had misread the situation, but mostly it helped to alleviate whatever tension there was and they both ended up laughing. Each of them would also play the song at random times at home, and whenever they heard the first piano notes playing out, they'd search each other out and slow-dance around the room.

"Comfy old sweatshirt?" he queried with a smile.

"You told me it was supposed to be a compliment," she replied cheekily.

"It was," he insisted.

"Well, that's alright then, isn't it?"

He shook his head incredulously with grudging admiration. "Only you would use a book dedication to try to win an argument 15 years after the fact."

"I would do no such thing," she said innocently. "It's a compliment."

He laughed then gave her hands a squeeze. 'Thank you," he said sincerely and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "For everything."

She smiled and pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his waist, closing her eyes and laying her head on his shoulder as his arms enveloped her. In all her hopes for their future back when they'd first reconnected, she hadn't dared to think that it could become this. This unbreakable trust, this absolute certainty, this forever.

"I love you," she said softly.

Not a day went by where she didn't tell him that she loved him, yet he still felt a jolt in his chest whenever she uttered the words. It felt more right than anything he'd ever known, and he counted his blessings every single time.

He knew there was no way that repeating those three little words back to her went any way towards communicating the depth of his feelings for her, but he supposed that until he could invent something which could show her just how much of his heart she'd captured, they'd have to do.

He sighed happily and tightened his hold on her. "I love you, too."