Dirty Beautiful Rich Part Five (4 page)

Chapter 5

1 Year Later
             

              Julie should have known that Damian wouldn’t take her one year challenge on like most people. He’d found the leading grief specialist in Ireland and commissioned him for one year. Damian had been adamant that it be a heterosexual man because he’d read about emotional transference and didn’t want to muddy any waters. Sex, he claimed, was in everything and when discussing something so vulnerable, he didn’t want to feel dependent on any woman but Julie.

              She’d been amazed at his honesty and loved that he’d decided to be careful. It was a good sign for the future. Damian Fitzgerald didn’t take anything for granted. He hadn’t seen the therapist twice a week as Julie requested. They’d met every day and somehow, Damian had convinced Margaret and Alanna to meet monthly in Dublin for a family session. Julie hadn’t sat in on those until the last four months. The Fitzgeralds had needed time to heal on their own.

              The therapist had traveled with them for one year. They’d been to Moscow, Paris, Athens, Bangkok, Tokyo, Brisbane, Los Angeles and now they were in Rome.

              Out of all the cities they’d been in Julie loved Rome the most. It wasn’t because of gelato, or gorgeous clothes, or ancient monuments that brought tears to her eyes in their majesty. It wasn’t just because they’d gotten married this morning on the Spanish Steps. It was because here, in the eternal city with Damian by her side, she finally felt as if she was at peace. As if finally she’d come home.

              Since her parents had died, she’d felt adrift. Alone. But now, she’d found a new family and nothing could have made her feel more joy.

              Julie didn’t doubt that Damian’s demons would ever be gone. But now, he knew how to cope with them rather than shove them in a dark cave deep inside himself. Now, she knew how to help him when he was tempted to do so.

              And Julie? The part of her that had always been hungry to break out, the confident, strong woman who had barely been able to survive the last torturous months after her mother’s illness and death had come to light.

              Her laptop went everywhere with her and she’d just scored a three book deal with a major publisher. The deal would be enough money to make her financially independent of Damian, a rarity for a writer, she knew.              

              Over the last year, jet setting the world, sailing on yachts, and seeing how wildly the other one percent lived, Julie had come to one conclusion. No matter who you were or where you’d come from, life was full of peril and without finding peace with one’s self, life wasn’t worth living. But if you could find that peace and find someone to celebrate it with? Oh. . . What wasn’t possible?

              Julie smiled and slipped her hand into Damian’s as they walked toward the Coliseum, the ancient building that dominated the Roman night.

              She no longer believed in princes and fairly tales.  She didn’t have to. Julie drew in a deep breath and lifted her chin, ready to meet whatever life sent her way. After all, she’d found something so much better than an end. She’d found a new beginning.

The End