Sometimes Moments (Sometimes Moments, #1)(85)

That smile he’d noticed faded as she looked down at the cherry blossoms in her hands. “I miss him. I can feel him with me, but I turn around and I’m alone.”

“I’m sorry he didn’t get the chance to tell you, Peyton.”

She picked up a loose cherry blossom and threw it with the wind, watching it fly. “He tried to tell me,” she said. “He also left me, thinking it was going to be better.”

“I know it sounds kind of cliché to say this, but I know he’ll always be with you, Peyton. He loved you more than you realise,” Graham said.

She only nodded in agreement.

Peyton gazed at the sight of people starting to make their way to the car park to head off to the lunch Mrs Reid had planned. Peyton wouldn’t attend, and the Reids knew that. She had seen them when she’d first arrived at the funeral house. The look on Mrs Reid’s face had broken Peyton’s heart. It hadn’t just been the look of a mother who had lost her only child. It had been the look of knowing that someone who had loved her son had lost him, too. His parents had arrived in Daylesford in a matter of hours the day he’d died, but they’d never crossed paths. They had been quick to take their son back home to the city.

“It’s time you left Daylesford, Graham,” Peyton finally said.

“What?”

“It’s time. One of us has to make it out of this town. Callum was right. There is something beautiful outside of our town, and for you, it’s Mads. You have to leave that farm and be with her. Your dad will be okay. I will visit him daily if I have to.”

This time, Peyton saw understanding flash in his eyes, and then he nodded.

“Give me some time to find someone who can mind the farm while I’m in the city. I can work from home, but I need someone to do the manual work. This goes two ways, Peyton. It’s time you left Daylesford, too,” Graham said.

It was her turn to nod. “Once the hotel is built and I get things on track, I’m going to see the world.”

A proud smile developed on her best friend’s face. “Where first?”

Peyton glanced at Callum’s grave before she looked back at Graham. “Austria. I’m going for the both of us.”

“That’s beautiful, Peyton.” Graham looped his arm around hers. “Ready to say goodbye?”

Peyton shook her head. “Never, but I’ll try.”

She took a shaky step towards the freshly covered grave. Then she swallowed hard at the sight of his headstone, his name carved into the stone.

When she reached Callum’s final resting place, Graham set the lavender on a clear spot, the countless flowers proving that he was a man loved by many.

“You loved her right, Callum. I’ll take care of her for you and I’ll keep her out of trouble. You’ll be missed, mate. Thank you for Madilynne. Thank you for making Peyton smile and laugh again. And thank you for coming back for her,” Graham said before he took a few steps back to give her some time with him.

Peyton set the bundle of cherry blossoms on top of his headstone and sat on the wet grass. As she stared at his name, her heart ached to see it mark his grave.

“I miss you. Words can’t express the pain and misery I feel. I love you, and saying it over and over again will never bring you back. I get why you didn’t tell me. I hated and loved that you didn’t. I get why you left the first time. Your mother said you wanted to leave once you found out about your tumour because you didn’t want me to see you suffer. And I also get why you left the second time. Graham’s right—you loved me right, Callum Reid. I promise to live a good and happy life for the both of us. Life is never fair, but you taught me it’s what you do with it because life is purely a cluster of sometimes moments. When they’re grouped together, they are the beautiful forever moments of your life.

“Thank you for our sometimes moments, Callum. They were beautiful and unforgettable. They are my forever moments. I like to believe that we were living the forever the universe was depriving us of. We made it to forever, Callum. And forever had never been so beautiful than when it was you.”

There were no tears. The reflection of their love and time together had her smiling lightly.

“I made it out of Daylesford. I didn’t get far, but I got past the signs thanks to Jenny. She misses you. So does Mads and Graham. But I miss you the most. I’m trying to live a happy life, but it’s been hard since you left. But you left behind reasons for me to keep going and find happiness in what I have. We had a love that most people will never experience. I’ll visit you in my dreams when I’m not in the city. I love you always. This isn’t me saying goodbye forever, not when I can see you and feel you in our sometimes moments,” Peyton said as she stood up.

She stared at the cherry blossoms her uncle had helped pick from her tree. They were beautiful and bright pink, a symbolism of him.

“Goodbye, Callum, my love.”

Peyton spun around to see Madilynne and Jenny talking to Graham. When they looked at her, Peyton smiled. They were her family. People who supported her through every loss and every pain she experienced. What she did from now on was for them and Callum.

“There’s somewhere I want to go before we head back to town if that’s okay?” Peyton asked once she walked to them.

“Wherever you want to go today and any day of your life, we’ll get you there,” Jenny said, a tear running down her cheek.