Neither of them asked where she was going. Eventually, she left for good. No big blowout. Just a packed bag and a note on the counter. Mark didn’t chase her. He simply turned to Lucas that night and said, “We’re going to be okay.” On a bright spring morning, Lucas visited the cemetery with Emilia. She had a sunflower; he brought fresh daisies.
They knelt in the grass side by side, comfortable in the silence. “She’d be proud of you,” Emilia said after a while. Lucas smiled. “Thanks.” They walked home afterward, laughter finally returning to his voice as she teased him about his messy handwriting and he told her she should run for mayor of the cemetery.