My Heart Is Yours

Chapter 99

After dropping off the keys, they headed straight for Central Park stopping only at the diner they ate at the previous night to buy food for their whole day stay at the park. Richard was also able to borrow a guitar from the son of the owner, who also remembered him.

The park was around 2.5 miles long and half a mile wide. A loveliness in green that greatly contrast the grayness of the city. Central Park has different sections. Park goers would have a variety of activities to choose from.

Richard knew that Maine had enjoyed her walks when she was younger. It might have been the company she kept before, but those walks did help her out when she had a heart condition. So, they entered by the Great Hill Central Park where a cement pathway was being used by a lot of people in the park. They kept a slow pace, Richard's hand in Maine's, their fingers intertwined.

Richard told stories about his younger days with her as they leisurely walked the cemented path. Maine was just happy with the company and just happy being surrounded with nature for once. She found out he usually took walks there, especially during the time Alden died. He usually retraces the path he and his brother took when he went to visit him. Everytime Alden was mentioned, Maine tightened her hold on his hand. It made her remember her short walks with Alden years ago. And now, she was experiencing those moments with Richard. Both of them looked at each other and laughed, knowing that they were thinking of the same person and the same events, only in different locations.

"You and Alden loved taking walks?" Maine inquired when they stopped by the North Meadow to take a short break.

Richard nodded and said,"it was one of those things we loved to do together. We rarely go out to the mall except when we needed to buy something or maybe watch a movie. We either took walks or go biking around the village when we're in Laguna. So when you guys were taking your walks, Rich really enjoyed that. It wasn't a chore for him at all."

"I wonder what it would have been like if the three of us took those walks together," Maine wondered.

Richard frowned and replied, "that would have been a very painful sight for me. I would be seeing you with Rich, and you would have been his girlfriend. You wouldn't be mine."

"Why do you think that?"

"He liked you," he explained. "He asked permission to court you back then, did you know that? It would have been an obvious path to take. You knew him more. He knew you first."

Maine cocked her head to the side and looked at Richard's sad face. She slowly approached him and reached out to wrap her arms around his waist.

"If Alden hadn't died," she started. "I would have met you that summer, right?"

Richard just nodded but said nothing. He just stared back at her, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, keeping them from holding her.

Maine continued, "I would have found out back then that you were the one who was singing to me. I would have ended up with you anyway."

Richard's brows furrowed with confusion but he still kept silent. Maine reached out with both her hands to cup his cheeks.

"My Home," said Maine. "It had always been you. I didn't know it back then so I was confused. But I know in my heart that I would still choose you over Alden."

"Why?"

Maine sighed as she tried to make him understand.

"Remember that first time you sang to me?"

He nodded and replied, "you weren't feeling well. You said you might be getting a cold. Rich begged me to sing for you that time."

"And you sang 'Everytime I See You'," she said with a smile. "That time I thought it was Alden who sang for me. It got me confused. I mean, he's my bestfriend and I do love him, but I knew that I was never in love with him. Whenever I see him face-to-face it was like nothing's changed. He was Alden. My Alden. My ever reliable bestfriend who got me addicted to 'Harvest Moon'. But whenever he sang, I felt different. I look forward to talking to him on the radio more because there would be a huge chance that he would be singing for me. I knew then that I was in love with the person singing to me."