Page 145 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

The change in him was sudden but oh so welcome!

“I love you. I love that you’re there for me. I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said.

Martha was wrong. There was no reason to be worried he was holding it in.

He was letting it out now. And much sooner than she’d thought.

“You did, but you’re allowed. We do or say things in those moments that we can’t control. I worried that if I came over I might have hurt you. It was for the best.”

Even if it didn’t feel that way last night.

“Neither of us would have slept last night. I didn’t do much anyway and there was no reason to keep you up.”

“We could have been up together,” she said. “I’m beat. I don’t want to tell you the amount of caffeine I had today.”

“I probably don’t want to know,” he said, then inched back. “Sit.”

He moved the box closer to her and she reached in, pulled out the photo on top. A wedding photo.

“Her dress is beautiful.”

“It was. She was stunning that day.”

She touched Luca’s body in the picture. How handsome he looked in his tux.

Jealousy was a horrible emotion in this moment, but she couldn’t control it.

“You look just as good.”

He laughed lightly. It sounded like it was a true sound and not forced. “Thanks.”

She swapped it out for another photo. “Can I ask why you’re going through things?”

“It’s time to pack it all up,” he said. “Not to get rid of it. Just not have it sitting in a corner with me dreading what is in it. I can do this now. I’ve moved on more than I thought. I think this is the final step. I took all the pictures of her off my phone too and put them in a file on my computer.”

She turned sharply. “You didn’t need to do that. I don’t care.”

“Ididneed to do it,” he said, his fingers brushing her hair back. “I had to do it for me. It was time. Just like it was to take my ring off five months ago. I’ve got someone else in my life. My memories of Zoe won’t disappear, I know that now. I don’t need these crutches to keep her alive.”

He didn’t seem too upset with his words.

He didn’t seem as if it was a fact he was reciting.

It was as if he’d... healed.

Even after what happened yesterday.

“Five months,” she said. “How is that possible?”

“No clue,” he said. “What happened yesterday hurt, Gabriela. The pain was sharp and brutal, but not fatal. Not for me. It can’t be. You brought up the loss of hope. Last night, that is what it was. But today, I realized that I found you. If that isn’t hope,then I’m not sure what is. And keeping all these things out.” His hand waved around. “Even in a box, they are still a reminder. It’s a reminder that I wasn’t ready for that hope. That’s not true anymore.”

“I think we found each other,” she said, smiling, putting the picture of Zoe back. She didn’t need to look at it anymore. She had what she needed in front of her. “On this island. I always said I didn’t believe it, but I guess I have to. It’s that fate thing.”

“I’m not sure what it is, but it’s given me that hope back.” His finger traced her jawline. “I don’t know what tomorrow brings.”

“It brings me right back here after my shift,” she said almost leaning into his touch.

“I hope so.”