“I like the idea of a rock garden but it’s too much for me, like I’d never be able to build it right and if I try I’ll get it so wrong that all I’ll end up with is a pile of rocks.”
“A pile of rocks isn’t so bad. It’d be possible to move just one at a time and place each one carefully and let it sit for a while before you decide where the next one has to go. You don’t have to get it right all in one go.”
“If I move them one at a time, I’ll end up with something that wasn’t planned.”
“It wouldn’t be an exact replica of the original plan. It would be a conglomerate of thoughts and experiences that meshed into something beautiful — just by moving one rock at a time and allowing for adjustments to be made when things didn’t work the way you thought.”
“I was scared,” Mike’s voice trembled. “It was so perfect, everything I ever wanted, and I was terrified of making a mistake that would change everything.”
I looked at him incredulously. “But that’s exactly what you did.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
He was sorry. Sixteen bloody years and he was freaking sorry. I nearly let the anger take me again. It had been so long, I’d come to rely on the anger to get me through each day. Some days, it was the only thing that stopped me blubbering into my pillow all night, but it was time to let it go. To let go of everything I’d been holding onto for the last sixteen years.
I started the car.
“Where are we going?”
I didn’t answer. It wasn’t a long drive and when I pulled up in front of my house I turned to Mike. “Will you come inside?”
Mike opened his door slowly and stood beside the car, his mouth hanging open in his surprise. “You built our house,” he whispered.
“I promised I would.”
“And you always keep your promises.”
I nodded.
“Do you remember the only promise I made to you?” Mike asked.
I stared into his brilliant eyes, hardly daring to breath. Hardly daring to believe.
“Remember I told you I didn’t make promises because I thought they were too easy to say and too easy to break? I made you one promise on the day we moved in together,” said Mike.
“You said that no matter what happened, you’d love me forever,” I whispered. Tears streamed down my face. For sixteen years, I’d thought that promise had walked out the door the same day Mike did, but a tiny part of me had held onto it because it was the only promise he made and I needed that spark to get me through each day.
“I told you I’d let you know when I changed my mind.”
My breath caught. Was this the day he was going to tell me? After all this would he tell me he wasn’t going to love me forever?
“I still feel the same, Eli. It didn’t matter what I did, or where I went, nothing changed that one thing. Nothing is going to. I don’t know if you want anything from me anymore or if you don’t, but I’m not scared of the things I was once and I want to be yours again. I want to build another life with you.”
“You bastard,” I hissed. “You think you can just walk back into my life after sixteen years, build a house, say you’ll always love me and expect me to take you back?”
He remained silent and I humphed. At least he’d learned something in those years. I let the quiet engulf us as my mind spun with all the possible responses I could make, but I knew which choice I would be making. I’d always known. It didn’t matter how long he stayed away. It wouldn’t matter if he left again — although that would break my heart — just like the last time. For me, nothing had changed. This time I’d make sure he stayed.
I reached out and grabbed his hand. “Come inside and look around. We need to decide which one we’re going to live in.”
“You know, we could build a new one just for us. With a rock garden.”
“A rock garden? I thought that was just a pile of rocks.” My heart began a steady thudding in my chest. Was Mike saying what I thought he was saying?
“That’s all it would be without you.”
“This isn’t going to be easy, Mike. There’s a lot to forgive.”
“It can’t be more difficult than staying away for so long. I was a fool, Eli.”
“I know you were, and don’t think I won’t remind you of that.” I smiled and waited for his response.
“God you haven’t changed at all. I can just imagine what you’ll be like at eighty. You won’t let me get away with anything, will you?”
“You’ve got that right Mr soon-to-be-unemployed-CEO. I don’t suppose you’ve learned to cook at all because I work long hours and I love my job.”
“I’ll take a class. Right after I buy this dinky little company I have my eye on.”
Eight years later
“When are you going to do something about that pile of rocks in the back yard, Eli? It’s been there since you moved in.” Quinn peered out the kitchen window to the back garden.
“It’s not a pile of rocks. Those are the rocks for our rock garden.” A warm, sappy feeling bubbled inside me as I looked at the pile under the tree in the yard.
“But you never build it.”
“That’s not true,” said Mike as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “We’ve moved one rock every spring.” He pointed to the back corner of the yard where seven rocks sat, carefully positioned exactly where we wanted them. “These things take time and I don’t want to get it wrong.” He kissed the side of my face and whispered. “Never again.”
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ISBN: 978-0-85799-074-7
Title: In Another Life
Copyright © 2013 by E.E. Montgomery
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