Luke looked up at Pete and shook his head.
“No you did the right thing.” He sighed heavily. “I know she needs help.” He looked at Pete evenly. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure she gets it.” He slapped his palms against his knees before he stood to his full height and leaned down to grab the envelopes. He held them up to Pete. “Thank you.”
Pete nodded and stood as well. “No problem man.” He followed Luke towards the door. “When are you going to let me finish your piece?” He asked him.
Luke looked down at his arms and stretched them out before turning them slightly. His inner right forearm had the outline of a warrior with wings symbolizing Jake’s fall from the greatest battle of his life. Pete still had to shade it in. His left forearm had his daughters name scripted across it, Ava Rose, which was complete. He glanced up at Pete. “I’ll be in touch maybe next week.”
“Sounds good. Oh, and good luck with the Cara situation.” Pete said as Luke waved a hand above his head and walked out of Riverdale Ink. He was going to need a miracle not luck, he thought as he made his way to his truck. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call her. The date stared back at him and he froze in his tracks. Today was the day she was supposed to marry Jake. He threw his phone onto the seat of his truck and slammed his palm against the roof trying to figure out what he should do. It was no use, he was fucked.
*
Cara Sloane made her way up the steep green grassy hill in the cemetery. Her feet walked robotically up the incline to the willow tree that sat perched on top of the hill. The two most important people in Cara’s life now rested eternally a couple of yards away from one another. Her mother, who had died when she was just a young girl and the only man she ever loved. The man she was supposed to marry on this day.
Jake Lanza had become her whole life. Still, she wondered how she never noticed all those years they had been best friends, that, she had been in love with him. That was just another regret to tack onto the list. Had she not been too frightened to take that leap and let him know she wanted more than to be just his friend, they would’ve had more time. She could have been standing in front of his headstone as his wife and not just his fiancée that held him as he left this world.
Cara stared at the headstone with bloodshot eyes. It still felt surreal to her that he was gone, and all that was left was the stone in front of her.
“Today should’ve been the happiest day of our lives.” She said flatly. “Instead, I’m talking to your tombstone, wondering for the love of God, why I am still here?” She looked up at the clear sky. She had never questioned death when her mother had passed, but now it was all she could do. “I know you’re at peace and I should be thankful for that, but I can’t be. I never realized what a selfish person I was. You were suffering and all I could do was keep praying that you wouldn't leave me."
She paused for a moment, then glanced back at Jake’s headstone and lifted her bare left hand. “I’m not wearing your ring anymore. Your sister and Nick are engaged. They’re really going to get married; you always said they belonged together.” She frowned and let her hand fall to her side. “I guess seeing them so happy and on the brink of a wedding made me feel a little ridiculous. Sam’s wearing a ring that is full of promise and represents the future, when all mine did was represent the past and something that will never be. I will never be your wife.”
She let out a shaky breath that she seemed to be holding in. “I guess that’s what it meant all those times I dreamt of myself getting married. In my dreams I never saw who I was marrying; there was no one there waiting for me at the altar.”
She kneeled before his head stone, not caring that the ground was moist and her jeans would surely stain. She reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a black leather bound journal. Her fingertips grazed the cover before she averted her eyes back to his stone.