Page 151 of Last Letters to Ara
I’msohappy that you’re living, really living and that you’ve found love, just as I wished for in my last letter.
I love yousomuch, Ara, more than I could ever put into words.
May we meet again in another life.
Love,
Dad
The tears begin falling in earnest.
They fall for my dad, and they fall for Theo.
Somehow, I always knew.
My legs begin moving before I make the conscious decision to do so. I gather my skirts, running for the door. I run through the hallway, down the steps, through another hallway before bursting through the door to the groom’s suite.
Theo jumps, taking in my tear-streamed face and the letter in my hand. His tuxedo shirt is still mostly unbuttoned, tie dangling untied around his neck. His hair is styled to perfection, not a curl out of place. If I wasn’t on the cusp of something so major, with his disheveled appearance and the Regency-styled room as his backdrop, my mind would be descending into some dirtyBridgertonplaces.
“What’s wrong?” Worry touches Theo’s face, whether for my well-being or for the contents of the letter I’m not sure.
Everything clicks. How Theo just happened to show up at that airport after my dad’s funeral, how he found me at the diner the next day, and the emotions he fought to hide at the mention of him. “You knew my dad?”
Theo nods, somewhat reserved.
“You were hisfriend?” My voice cracks on the last word.
He nods again.
“And you were there with him?” A small sob escapes me at my next question. “At the end?”
Theo closes his eyes only to slowly open them again, as if to clear the images which just flashed in his mind. “I was there until his very last breath.”
My hand clasps over my mouth, trying to quiet my sobs. Emotions and thoughts war with each other for my attention, raw with shock, but there are two words more important than all the rest. “Thank you.”
The tears won’t stop now, and for the first time Theo lets his tears for my dad fall, for me to see. One foot after another I bring myself closer to him, until I’m pressed against his warmth and in the comfort of his arms.
“You don’t hate me? For keeping it a secret from you?” Theo’s voice is broken, like he truly believes this could have changed the outcome of today. I realize then, when I entered his suite the way I did, he assumed the worst. That keeping this from me has been eating at him.
“Theo, it wasn’t your secret to tell.” I pull back, looking into his soul as more tears spill from our eyes. He reaches up with his thumbs, wiping mine away. “You were there for him when he needed someone the most… when Icouldn’tbe.”
“How much did he tell you?”
I hand Theo the letter, letting him see for himself. His eyes drift over the words, eager to consume every single one. The moment he reaches the part about friendship, he moves to the settee placing his face in his hand as he reads, trying to keep himself together.
When I read the letter, I knew that they had been close, my dad had never mentioned having a friend before. But seeing the way Theo feels about getting a little piece of my dad? I know that their friendship ran deep in the short time that they knew each other.
Losing hope of keeping even an ounce of my makeup intact, I squeeze in next to him, wedging myself under his arm so we can read it together.
Again.
And again.
“I wanted to tell you so many times, but he’d never given me any exceptions or conditions of when I could and Icouldn’tbreak my promise to him.”
“You did the right thing, Theo. He trusted you and you never broke that trust. It meant something to him, and it means something to me.” Theo pulls me closer and I go on. “Knowing that you knew him, that someone else misses him? It makes me feel less alone, because I’m not the only person who knows what it’s like to lose him.”
“You haveneverbeen alone in this. He loved you… more than anything.” Theo shakes his head. “I’d never seen that kind of love before, and I don’t think there is anything in this world which could have kept him from doing everything he could for you.”
