Chapter 19 - One Last Goodbye
Titan died when Leo was sixteen.
Quietly.
In the garden.
Leo stayed beside him until the end.
Salvatore stayed beside Leo.
No one spoke for a long time.
Afterward, they buried Titan beneath the oak tree.
Carmine cried and denied it.
Nora cried and did not deny it.
Tommy placed the dog’s old collar beside the grave.
Leo held the Saint Christopher medallion.
“I wouldn’t be here without him.”
Salvatore put an arm around his shoulders.
“Neither would I.”
That night, Leo asked to visit Elena’s grave.
Not the fake grave.
Her real one.
Nora had arranged a private burial years earlier in Pennsylvania.
They drove together.
Leo placed flowers on the stone.
Salvatore stood several steps away.
Eventually Leo walked back.
“You can talk to her.”
Salvatore looked at the grave.
“I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“Try.”
Leo went to the car.
Salvatore remained.
He stood in silence.
Then spoke.
“You were right.”
Wind moved through the trees.
“I hated that about you.”
A faint smile.
“I found him.”
His voice broke slightly.
“Or he found me.”
Salvatore looked toward the car where Leo waited.
“He’s better than both of us.”
He swallowed.
“I’m trying.”
For a moment, seventeen years disappeared.
He could almost see Elena laughing.
Almost hear her say that trying was late, but acceptable.
When Salvatore returned to the car, Leo said nothing.
He only handed him a tissue.
“I’m not crying.”
“Carmine says that too.”
“Carmine is a liar.”
“Runs in the family.”
Salvatore laughed.
May you like
And for once, grief did not feel like punishment.
It felt like proof that love had existed.
