Pieces of Your Heart

Carry Your Heart

It took Elodie six months to sort through everything Ian had left her. He had given her everything; all of the remnants of his short life were now her responsibility. She let his family take what they wanted, but kept his vinyl records, his guitars and leather jacket for herself. With a blessing from Jerry and Patrice, she put the beach house up for sale and found herself an apartment in the city. Although she loved that house and all the good memories it held, she needed to part ways with all of the sadness within its walls.

Ian's parents were overjoyed when they found out they were to be grandparents again, and offered to help in any way they could. Knowing that the blood of their late son was running through the veins of a child was comforting in ways they couldn't put into words.

Elodie resumed her position with the San Francisco Symphony, and also began teaching private music lessons out of her apartment. Late that summer, she gave birth to a little girl; she named her Joy Makayla Kennedy.

One lovely autumn day, just after she had put the baby down, there was a knock at her door. Elodie quietly went over to answer it and saw a familiar figure standing in the doorway. Noah smiled at her, his green eyes full of warmth.

She shook her head. "What's going on?"

"Don't be mad," he said. "Your friends told me where to find you. I thought about calling first, but there's something I have to say and I wanted to tell you in person."

"Ok," she said. "Come in."

Noah followed her into her living room and sat down across from her.

"Elle, do you remember the last time we saw each other? You know, that day at the Ferry Building?"

She nodded slowly. "What about it?"

"I lied to you."

"What do you mean?"

Noah sighed. "I told you that I was seeing someone else, that I had been for a long time. That wasn't true."

Elodie shook her head. "Ok. Why? Why did you tell me that if it wasn't true."

He paused. "You showed up wearing his jacket. And when you talked about him, I could see in your face how much you loved him."

She bit her lip. "Why does any of this matter? That was a long time ago."

"It matters because I've never stopped loving you. I wanted to tell you that day, I had made up my mind to fight for you, to make it work somehow; but as soon as I heard you talk about him, I knew you weren't done with him. So I lied to save face. It was stupid and it was cowardly, and I have regretted it since that day. But I'm telling you now."

"Fine," she said, slightly annoyed. "You lied, you told the truth, ok great. It was nice to see you."

"Elle, wait a minute. Look, I know I've screwed things up between us, so many times. I know I hurt you and I'm a fool for asking for another chance; but I do hope you can forgive me one day."

"Noah, I don't know what kind of trip you're on, but I have to tell you, I have a daughter now. I have a daughter and I finally have a life that I'm proud of. And I've come to realize that I don't need to be with some guy just so I can feel ok about myself."

Noah was dumbstruck. "You had a baby?"

"Yes."

"Are you with someone, did you get married?"