The sun was shining and the sky was blue... in her mind, it sounded like an old song she knew. This, though, wasn't an enjoyable song. This was real life, HER real life. The conversation with those people - she refused to call them her family, had been hurtful but yet, oh so very annoying. The only consolation? She'd never had to see them again. The solicitor Tom had engaged had been efficient, competent and every bit as ruthless as she'd hoped. Now, inheritance intact and safely under her control, she had a new life. A new life that needed the closure of an old chapter to fully enjoy.
Tom, of course, had been every bit as amazing as she'd ever hoped he could be. From the moment he'd floored Steven to this morning, when he'd brought her breakfast in bed.
Truthfully? She never wanted to see Angry Fighting Tom again. The way it made her feel, though? She would never stop holding THAT close.
Protected, loved, cherished, valued. All the words that she would never have imagined applied to her. Now she knew her memory would never fully return, Jack Grant had been right about that, she wished her so-called family had also stayed as a blank void.
They hadn't - and neither had the fact that her parents had died both in reality and in her heart. Their premature demise causing this whole debacle in the first place. But they weren't, in fact, her parents, were they? So now, on this bright Monday morning, six months, and a lot of soul searching later, she'd - they'd - come back just once more. This time, to say goodbye.
"Do you want me to come over with you?" Tom interrupted her thoughts gently, laying a hand on her arm. She shook her head, taking his hand and pressing it to her cheek. She closed her eyes and took a breath before she answered.
"No, no thanks. I need to do this alone. Not because I don't want to be with you, darling, but because I don't want to share YOU with them. They don't deserve it." she sounded more harsh than she actually felt. Tom shook his head with a small sigh. He could see the veneer of self-protection coming down again over her beautiful eyes.
"It wasn't their fault, love. They didn't ask to be killed." he said softly, aware that he was on dangerous ground. Through the months the only thing they'd disagreed on - in his head because he would never have voiced it to her - had been their motives in not telling her. He just had to try and keep her from spiralling into a hatred that might end up consuming her.
She looked at her hands, gripping the flowers she'd bought on impulse at the service station half an hour ago. "I know. Sorry. I'm all over the place. One minute, I hate them, the next? I miss them. Turns out, I never really knew them. Or my so-called family." she paused and looked at him, "but I have my own - real - family now. Us and your parents and your sisters. Especially your sisters," she smiled and reached over, kissing his cheek. "I'll be ok, I just need to do this. I won't be long."
As she climbed out of the car, stiff from the extended journey the previous day, Tom watched, eyes full of concern. She'd hardly shed a tear after the initial confrontation, instead channelling the hatred of these so-called siblings, who seemingly resented her beyond reason, into the need to start again. Rebuild her life anew. Was that healthy, he wondered. Should she really deny the feelings that were obviously raging? Only time would tell, but whatever happened, he would be with her. He would always be with her.
Eve walked slowly over to the plot. It was a well-kept cemetery. Neat grass, neat shrubs, neat headstones. The very epitome of monied chic. Everything that her 'family' seemingly stood for. Everything she now despised. She took a deep lungful of the autumn air, fresh and clean and purifying. Slowly, she felt the hatred dissolve and fade away into the clean blue air. Somewhere, she heard the honking of geese as they flew south to their other - winter - life. Looking up, she saw the dark triangle of dots as it passed overhead. Pointing the way. For them. For her.
She walked across the grass, her expensive silk covered black heels sinking in, ruining them and making her wobble a little. She didn't care. She would probably never wear them again. They were, like many things, her old life. Searching the lines of sleeping granite blocks, she counted. Knowing which line, she proceeded to walk along it, reading each stone. Who these people had been? What had their lives amounted to? Who missed them?
Then, she saw it. Large and black, like something out of one her amnesia fuelled nightmares. The headstone was black and shiny with fancy gold lettering - very, very ostentatious. Nothing like she would have chosen. She didn't choose it though, did she? They did. As she read it, tears pricked her eyes. The usual; their names - Anna and George Winters, dates, a 'touching' quote , the list of grieving family they left behind. Just one thing was missing.
Her.
They had left her off the list of children. A final slap in the face. She'd never existed.
After a moment, she smiled. Actually smiled. She was free, finally totally free to begin again without any remorse. She laid the flowers on the grass in front of the stone, feeling lighter than she had in a very long time. For a moment, she paused, her fingers tracing the lettering of her mother's name. A mother that it seemed had supposedly loved her enough to lie to her face for the whole of her life. Whatever the intention, it had been the rock Eve's love for her, perished on.
Her father? Well, now she knew he wasn't. He could go to hell. She stood up, her hand trailing along the cold black granite as she did so.
"Goodbye, Anna." she whispered. Bending down, she closed her eyes and kissed the top of the stone then turned away. She knew she would never come back. This wasn't her life anymore. This was the life of Eve Winters, the dirty family secret. She would never again be that woman. As she looked at the impossibly handsome man with the ginger blonde hair and ocean eyes watching her from the shiny black sports car, she knew she had a different end to her story. No, end wasn't the word. Sequel was more like it.
She'd lived one life, and the universe had given her what they called a 'do-over'. She wasn't going to waste it. Being rich, being independent, being a 'high flyer' had in the end, gotten her nowhere. Being someone's love, now THAT was far more rewarding, in every way. As she straightened, she rubbed her back and smiled. Very rewarding.
Arriving back at the car, Tom was leaning against it, waiting arms outstretched. He gathered her to him and hugged her gently. "You ok, darling?" he asked softly, kissing her. She nodded and hugged him back, resting her head on his chest, savouring his warmth and closeness.
"Yes, I am now. You might find it hard to believe, but I think they understand. I'm never coming back Tom. This was it. The final goodbye."
"Really? After all you've been through?" he asked, looking down at her with a frown. "Don't you want to find...?" he paused unsure what to call her mother. "Reclaim what's yours? And I'm sure she'll be waiting for you. You've been missing out on things for such a long time. Surely there will still be lots to say? To sort out? When all this has... subsided?"
"No, Tom. Some things are just beyond repair, no matter how much we might want to fix them. And no, I will NEVER ask them. When I needed them most, they pretended I didn't exist. Now, I have nothing I need from any of them. I have you, darling, and I have..." she patted her stomach, distended now beyond any hope of concealment. "When the time comes, they can find out along with everyone else. They are nothing to me. Just as I am nothing to them, it seems."
He hugged her, looking over her head towards the headstone where the small bunch of flowers lay. His eyes were filled with tears of sorrow for what she had lost - and no small amount of pride for who she had become. She was stronger than he could have ever imagined. He kissed the top of her head and pulled back, "Come on love, time to go home."
She smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Tom, thank you for being my knight in shining armour, my voice of reason, and my friend. My love, of course, but above all? My friend. Even when you thought I may not want you, may not have a life that could include you, you stuck by me. For that alone, I could love you forever, but we're not alone, are we? We have each other, and we have Little Jack." she giggled as he screwed up his face.
"Gracie! I told you, Princess, it's Gracie!" he booped the end of her nose with his finger, "and as your Prince, I command you to provide me with a Gracie!" they laughed for a moment, then he fell serious. "Darling, you do know that I honestly don't care what we have as long as they - and you - come through it healthy. Family, that's what's important.
I've come to realise with all you have gone through that I have been spoiled, in a good way, all my life. Even though Mum and Dad split years ago, they remain a constant in my - now our - life. My sisters, no matter how much they abuse and tease me, I know they love me and have my back - sorry - our backs." he looked at her, the tears now trickling down his cheeks. "I love you, Eve, more than I can ever tell you. I will spend every day of the rest of our lives, " he winked, and she smiled, "proving it to you."
"I know, darling, and I will always love you too." was all she said. It was all she could say. Words failed her as she too dissolved into tears. In the autumn sunshine, they stood, hugging and crying with love and relief, the door to the past finally closing.
Or so they thought. It turned out it wasn't quite shut.