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It broke something within me, and I came back home defeated. Later, I learned that it was just a friend I saw her with, but my pride back then was too strong to push through.
If I had known then what I know now, I would’ve followed Teresa to the moon.
If there is a heaven, I know she’ll one day be there, and I plan to spend eternity searching for her smile so I can have one more chance of forever with her.
It’s okay if Teresa and I are wrong about Alejandro and you. If you two don’t click, then that is okay. Don’t settle just to make me happy. I’m dead. It doesn’t matter what I think. But if there’s a slight chance that you’ve found a person who’s a true friend and makes you feel alive… If you feel more like yourself than ever before, then explore that feeling.
Don’t miss out on your forever on Earth, Yara.
Don’t let fear keep that from you.
I’ll see you later—but not too soon.
-Mr. Parker
P.S. Get out of your head. You’re doing great with the dog day care. I left it to you because I believe in you. Now, it’s time for you to believe in yourself.
CHAPTER 43
Alex
I couldn’t stay at the restaurant. The space buzzed with energy I wasn’t certain I could deal with. My mind got too clogged up, so I left and went home.
At least to the only home I’d truly known.
I walked into the house searching for Teresa, needing her love to get me through the hard parts of my current state. What I built for her, for her memory, was destroyed that night. That felt like a heavy weight sitting against my chest.
I sat in the empty house that was once a home to both Teresa and me, reading through the dozens of letters exchanged between her and Mr. Parker. I knew the letters existed because she told me about them before she passed away. What I didn’t know was that they spoke about Yara and me. I didn’t know that so much of what had happened over the past few months was all divinely planned out before I came into town.
Still, it was odd to see the actual letters.
When I reached the last letter in the bunch, it was addressed to me from Teresa. As I opened it, everything began to finally make sense.
Dear Alejandro,
If you’re reading this, that means Ana has delivered the letter to you. Good. It’s about time.
Have you read my diaries yet? And my letters from Peter, have you dove into those intimate moments?
Who am I kidding? Of course you have, you nosy bug. That’s a good thing, though. I needed you to read them so you could understand why I had to take you to Honey Creek across from that dog shop. I had to get you to understand that sometimes, you needed a guiding hand to find the happily ever afters. From what I’ve heard about her, Yara Kingsley is a good girl. That’s why I got you the dog—so you’ll be forced to be around someone good for you. If a friendship blossoms, then by all means, open up to her, Alejandro. You deserve good people in your life, because you are a good person. You deserve the ability to trust others again after so many have done you wrong.
I know life hasn’t been easy for you, my Alejandro. I know life has pushed you around one too many times, but within you is a fighter. Never stop fighting. Never surrender. And never give up on love.
And unlike me, don’t you dare let it slip away from you.
Hold on tight.
Love loudly.
I’ll see you later. (Much, much later.)
-Teresa
I sat there for a while, stunned by the words I’d read in her letter to me and her letters with Peter. This was a setup. All of it. They’d spent years sending letters back and forth between one another, talking about how much Yara and I would be the best of friends.
The whole idea of it was hard to wrap my mind around.
Those sneaky two planned for all of this to go down. I could only imagine Teresa giggling and kicking her feet about playing matchmaker in my life. The way they went into detail over it all felt so sincere, too. Reading their words felt like I was reading into a love story frozen in time. They knew they wouldn’t get another chance with one another, but they also believed in love so deeply that they tried to set up a simple friendship for Yara and me.
And…it worked. It worked a little too well.
I fell in love with her. I fell in love with every piece of her.
I needed to find her because I now knew home wasn’t the walls that I was sitting in. It was Yara. She was home to me, and I needed to be wherever she was.
