Everly had her life all planned out. She was going to marry Brad, her best friend since second grade, her high school sweetheart, and soulmate. He was a baseball prodigy and planned to play for the New York Yankees one day, which was perfect because...
On the last day they had in England, Keaton told Everly there was an important place he wanted to take her before they left. He wouldn't tell her where they were going but he said to dress warm because it was outside.
They got in his silver Aston Martin and drove a few blocks away to a small stone church that looked extremely old. Keaton pulled into the drive of the church and drove past it, parking outside a little cemetery with a wrought iron gate and fence surrounding it.
He reached into the backseat and pulled out a bouquet of flowers she hadn't noticed before and said, "There's someone I want you to meet."
He opened up his car door and came around to her side and took her hand, leading her through the gate. Everly just walked with him in silence because she wasn't sure what to say. He led her through the headstones to the back area where there was a 6 foot tall, large, fancy grey headstone that read 'Diane Louise Ashcroft - Beloved Mother - Gone but never forgotten.'
Keaton bent down and swept the snow away from the bottom of the stone and cleared off a few rocks that weren't supposed to be there. He placed the flowers in the small metal vase built into the front of her headstone and said, "Hi Mom. There's a very important person here with me that I want you to meet. She got to meet Dad so it didn't feel right that she didn't get to meet you."
Everly bent down next to him and laid her hand on the stone and felt her eyes burning with tears.
"Her name's Everly Sutton," Keaton said, looking over at her and laying his hand on top of Everly's. "You would have loved her so much Mom," Keaton said, hanging his head and letting out an exhale. He raised his head and looked over at Everly again, saying softly. "I know I do."
Seeing the pain in his eyes broke her heart and made her love him that much more. She gave him a pained smile and felt tears welling up in her eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some pictures, handing one to Everly of a beautiful woman in her early 30's with long, wavy blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She was stunning.
"This was my Mom," he said. "Diane."
"She's beautiful Keaton," Everly said with a smile. "I can see a lot of you in her. You have the same eyes."
"Yeah," he exhaled, looking down at her picture. "I really miss her. I wish you could've met her Everly. She was a great Mom. She had the quickest sense of humor and she was so smart and strong. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and let people know what she thought. I thought she wasn't afraid of anything. She was invincible ........ until she wasn't," he said, swallowing hard.
Everly rubbed on his back to comfort him as they both knelt in front of the grave, looking at some other photos he brought. One was of Keaton and his mom when he was about ten years old and she had on a turban and looked very skinny and pale.
"This is the last picture we took together," he said, handing it to Everly and she looked at the face of that ten year old boy and he looked so heartbroken that she ached inside. She couldn't even imagine losing her Mom at that age. She rubbed on his back and laid her head on his shoulder, comforting him as they knelt there in silence.
He reached out and laid his hand on the stone again and said, "I love you Mom. I miss you so much," letting out an exhale and then he slowly stood up, reaching down and helping Everly to her feet. They headed back to the car holding hands without saying a word. Somehow she knew he didn't feel like talking, so she didn't press him.
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