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There are photos of her gazing at the caves in Mykonos, her staring into the ocean on the sky deck, a snippet of her on the phone in her office when she wasn’t looking. Hundreds of little moments I stole from her, thinking I wouldn’t get to experience the joy of having a lifetime with her.

I’m so glad I was wrong.

“Will you take me back, my bewitching, beautiful Olive?” I ask, a clamoring rising in my chest.

“But you shouldn’t be in a new relationship now, right? At least for a year. I don’t want to derail your progress,” she whispers.

I shake my head. “You make me stronger, Olive. And we aren’t new, are we? We love each other. We’ve gone through things no couple should ever experience. But we’ll take it slow. I just want you by my side again…if you’ll still have me.”

Her breath hitches and her small frame trembles. This time, it’s not from laughter.

Please take me back, Olive. We’re stronger together.

She runs and throws her arms around me.

Her nose digs into my neck as I wrap my arms around her, relief flooding my insides.

I’m probably holding her too tightly, but I don’t care. This feeling—her warm weight, her sweet cotton scent, the way her face fits perfectly in the crook of my neck.

I never want to lose it.

“I love you, Olive. I love you more than anything in my life. I love you so, so much.”

“I love you too, Rex. I’m so proud of you,” she whispers and pulls back to look at me. “And I’ll be by your side. This journey you’re on…you aren’t alone.”

Her fingers trail over my hair, which I know is due for a cut, then to my freshly shaven face—I didn’t want to look too shabby in front of her parents.

She doles out a watery smile, and I grin. Damn butterflies are flapping their wings inside me.

“Will you do something with me?” she asks.

“Anything.”

Olivia nods. She picks up a lighter, sparks a flame, and lights up the edge of the envelope before putting it back into the metal canister.

My chest pinches when I see the quiet grief on her face as she stands.

“For Mia?” I ask.

“Yes. It’s a letter—a farewell to a chapter. It’s long overdue.”

It’s time for me to let go too.

I pull the marble out of my pocket and toss it in the canister too.

Her eyes widen and I say, “It’s time for me to let the past stay in the past too. The marble won’t melt, but the sentiment is the same.”

We stare at the flames together, watching the letter burn to ashes, tendrils of dark smoke wafting into the air.

“I never explained to you why I was burning photos for Mia in Las Fallas, did I?”

“No. But I have an inkling.”

I did some research a while back, and it turns out in her heritage, the living can give the dead gifts by burning them. Those gifts are usually made of paper, but tradition dictates once they are burned, the dead will receive them like real objects to use in the afterlife.

“I think it’s a beautiful sentiment.” I link our fingers together, and she leans against me. “I bet your sister appreciates it.”

“I hope so. I’ll always miss her, but I won’t live in the past anymore.”