Incomplete

by L. A. Fiore

  Tilly couldn’t hold back a sob, even wanting to hear him admit it, it broke her in a way she knew she’d never fully recover. Days ago, she had been so sure of where her life was heading, eager to get there, and now, she was saying goodbye to someone who not only claimed her heart, but someone she liked, a friend she knew she was going to miss every day for the rest of her life. Regret lay ahead for her too because she knew she would look back on this, and always wonder what would have happened had they held on...a part of her wishing that they had.

  “I don’t regret it. Not a second.” She bit back another sob, her voice cracking. “I’m going to miss you.”

  Gage sucked in a deep breath through his nose, his shoulders slumped when he let it out. His eyes moved to Tilly. “Fuck, I’m gonna miss you,” he admitted, and his own sob broke from his throat. “You’ll always hold a part, Till, always,” he said through a broken voice.

  “You’ll always have a part of me, a piece of my heart that is only yours.” Her voice thick with tears. “I’ll always wonder,” she whispered, “but I’ll never forget.”

  Gage laid a hand over hers, holding it to his heart, looking into her eyes. Tears fell down his cheeks, he had no words. He took in the woman who entered his life so unexpectedly and knew he had to let her go. Not only did he know, but inside, he needed to give his all to the one woman he truly loved. His wife. And even though it would take him a while, maybe even a lifetime to clean up the mess he made, he would. He wanted to. Because the grass on his side had always been green. “I love you,” he whispered huskily through the pain. Dropping her hand, he started walking backward toward the door. “Remember, Tilly, you are perfect the way you are, don’t forget,” he said, his back hitting the door, his hand moving to the handle, the other rubbing the tears on his cheek.

  She wanted to hold him, but she knew if she did, she’d never let go. She wanted that, to hold onto him and face whatever came. A part of her knew she should. That she should fight, but she didn’t. She’d told him once that if he was hers, she’d hold on with both hands. The sob ripped from her throat because she was letting him go. He was leaving, walking out of her life. Her voice loud when she spoke her last words to him. “The grass truly was greener.” Her voice broke when she vowed, “I’ll never love anyone like I love you.”

  Gage forced a smile, leaving it there as he turned the knob on the door, opening it, his eyes to hers, as he slipped through. When he did, he left a piece of his heart with the woman in the stairwell. With tears streaming down his face, he tried his best not to look back. He succeeded.

  EPILOGUE

  Luke had been better than he’d vowed. There was love and laughter in their home. Pictures covering the walls of all the new adventures they’d shared as a family, Candice in many of them. The newest picture was of Justin, a big smile on his face, class of 2025...a Boston University graduate. Tilly hadn’t just found happy, she had found love, true love with Luke. It had been there all along, but taken for granted, and not just by him. She had been so ready to throw in the towel that she hadn’t allowed herself to see Luke. Like he had said, the distance that had grown between them had tainted her vision too. She hadn’t allowed herself to acknowledge that what she thought she found with Gage, she’d had all along with Luke.

  They were going away, a second honeymoon. She’d been packed for three weeks. He wouldn’t share where they were going, but every night, when he came home from work, he surprised her with another clue. Wherever they were going, it was tropical and required little in the way of clothing, though she suspected that had more to do with his plan of keeping her naked for the duration of their trip. A plan she could fully get behind.

  She looked over at Luke, his breathing even and deep. Climbing from bed, she walked downstairs, stopping at the pictures on the wall. A lifetime through snapshots, a life worth fighting for, a life worth sacrificing for.

  Every once and a while, she’d see something, smell something, and he would be there. Those four months rolling through her head like a movie. All the things they talked about doing, the life they planned on having. She believed things happened for a reason. She believed Gage and she had found each other when they had because they had both been at a crossroads. Eager to see if the grass was greener, even believing at the time that it was, but what they shared, as beautiful as it had been, it wasn’t built on the foundation that she had with Luke. They didn’t have the history, the memories, or even the story...one that could be hard and painful at times. She knew he had that with Heather, seeing her at the hospital, the pain and devastation, he too had something to fight for. They both had just needed the reminder.

  She walked to her office and settled behind her desk, taking a moment to look at the handblown vase covered in violet and fuchsia flowers, one she always kept filled. She no longer worked for Kenny. She needed to let go of that last link to Gage. She now did freelance graphic design work for businesses—logos, marketing materials. Sometimes, she dabbled in landscape design, but that was just for her.

  She pulled open the drawer and retrieved the long slim box. Opening the lid, a smile touched her lips. She never wore it. Had only worn it on the day he’d given it to her. What she thought would be the first of countless gifts from Gage turned out to be the only one she’d ever receive. She traced the etching, the words she knew by heart. For as fleeting as their time together had been, they had given each other what they had needed, and part of that was learning that nothing in life comes easy. It was more than that lesson though for Tilly. She had truly loved him, a part of her still did.

  She turned on her computer, selected the folder Friendly Words, the drawing she made appeared on the screen. Reading the words, remembering how she’d felt when she drew it. She knew she needed to say the words she hadn’t been able to say. She needed to say goodbye. Her finger hovered over the delete key, memories of Gage moving through her mind. He hadn’t just given her love, he had made her see herself, made her want more for herself. Without him, she wouldn’t have found her husband again. She wouldn’t have found her happy ending. She knew from his Open Space page that he had found his with Heather. Their time together wasn’t a story, it wasn’t even a chapter. It was a footnote, but one that had profoundly impacted them both, one she’d remember always, another beautiful and poignant snapshot in her life.

  She dropped her hand; like all the other times she’d tried to say goodbye, she couldn’t. She had found her husband again, but Gage owned a piece of her heart. He always would. She closed the folder and gently tucked her bracelet back into the drawer. She left her memories in that room and went back to bed, curling up next to the one who owned the rest of it.

  _______________

  Gage laced his fingers with his wife, something he found himself doing more than he ever had, touching her any chance he could. When he did, Heather looked up at him, smiling, knowing just why he did. Because he loved her, he was truly and deeply in love with his wife. She forgave him seven months after the accident. Coming to him one night, explaining that she hadn’t helped their situation at home, in their marriage, trying to find her own happiness in a career, while pushing everyone aside to do just that. A career she gave up shortly after they reconciled and began doing the books for Sutherland’s Landscaping. It hadn’t been an easy road to travel down, to get them to where they are today. But they both worked at it, fought for their marriage when they should have had all those years ago. But sometimes, life takes you down a path unexpectedly. No rhyme or reason why. And sometimes, people are lucky enough to find a gem, something that shines in their life, waking them up when they didn’t even realize they were sleeping. Tilly did that for Gage. Came into his life, casting a light bright enough for him to see what he had all along. She would forever hold a special place in his heart. A small piece of him would always love her, but what he realized during his journey is that as much as he loved her and thought he needed her, what he really needed had
been standing by his side the whole time.

  “You ready?” Heather asked her husband, turning to face him and straightening his bow tie.

  Gage took a deep breath through his nose. He wasn’t ready. He’d never be ready to let go of his little girl. But knowing how happy she was. How happy Austin made her and what a good man he was, yeah, he was okay with walking his daughter down the aisle. He nodded and grinned at his beautiful wife. “I’m ready.”

  She reached up, not having to go far in her heels, and laid a kiss to her husband’s lips and whispered, “I love you.”

  He squeezed their interlocking hands and spoke softly. “Forever.”

  Later that night, at his daughter’s wedding reception, he sat in the corner, watching everyone move around the gardens of Cairnwood Estates, laughing, talking and dancing to the music. Jesus, this wedding cost him a mint, but it was worth every penny seeing the smile glued to his daughter’s face. He’d get her back, asking for grandkids once she and Austin stepped off the plane from their honeymoon. The familiar strains of a song started. Gage’s lips tipped up and into a wide smile. It was Tilly’s favorite; one she would sing on long road trips they’d take. One that he had on his playlist because it made him smile.

  Those thoughts brought him to now, and in this moment was she happy? As happy as he was. At one time, he knew she was, didn’t have to think about it because his wife had given him that. It was one day, years after the affair, that she caught him sitting in the new garden he had designed in the backyard, staring off into the distance. Without words, she handed him her tablet, and open on the screen was Tilly’s Open Book page.

  “I know you need to know,” she started gently. “Not because you need or want her back in your life, but because you are a good man, Gage Sutherland, and want what’s best for everyone.” She gestured to the tablet in his hands. “So, you take the time you need, and when you’re done, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  Gage looked through her photos, her posts, got caught up on her life. She was happy. That was all he needed to know. He walked into the kitchen, handed his wife her tablet back. If he’d had any doubt, that very moment he knew he had made the right decision to fight for the one he loved the most, and that was Heather. Because no one would understand him like she did.

  Her hand landed on his shoulder. “You okay?”

  His eyes drifted up and to the blue loving ones looking back at him, pulling him back to the reception, to his family. “Yeah, baby, I’m good.” And… he was.

  Heather jerked her head to the dance floor. Gage nodded, rose and took her hand, leading them to the middle. He pulled her close, both holding onto each other tightly as they turned another page in their story.

  _______________

  Tilly and Luke were together for thirty-two more years. He died at seventy-four, surrounded by his wife, his children, his seven grandkids and his two great grandkids. They were just shy of celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Tilly lived another ten years, staying in the home she had created with her family. She often could be found in her back gardens, by the waterfall, surrounded by her flowers. When she died, she asked to be buried with only three things—her wedding ring, her mother ring and a bracelet her children had never before seen, white gold with three hearts. The words etched on them…

  The grass is greener

  The sun is brighter

  Flowers smell sweeter

  _______________

  It had been a week after Gage had buried his wife. The years they’d spent together were blissful and full of love, laughter and adventures with their four grandchildren and one great granddaughter. He pulled the gray bin from the bottom shelf, his back aching as he did. Dragging it over to the bench, he sat down and opened it. Pushing aside the signed documents of when he sold Sutherland’s Landscaping to his son-in-law, he grabbed for what he wanted. Hammering a nail into the wall beside the window that looked out into the garden, he placed the picture on the nail and stood back. He read the words on the drawing Tilly had given him all those years ago and he…smiled.

  About the Authors

  The Beautifully series...

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