Epilogue

Six months had passed since Leah last saw Richie that night in the hospital. She felt as though she had cried a river in the first couple of weeks, the occasional thought about whether she had done the right thing creeping into her mind until she saw on the TV that Richie and Heather had announced they were back together. This, she thought, was proof that she had made the right decision back at the hospital and she used it as the power to get herself through it. No matter how hard she tried though, it was just impossible to push Richie far from her mind and most of all her heart. She felt as though a part of her was missing since she left him and couldn’t find anything to replace it so she turned to her work. She was now in the middle of a project with another company that was taking her across the world again which she was happy about as it kept her busy. She had noticed a number of changes in herself too, she was much more open about her past now and had even told her new partner Simon all about her experience with Richie and her past. It made their friendship easier as both knew where to draw the line in their conversations. On this particular day, Leah found herself in Arizona. The minute the plane had landed all she could think about was Richie. “What’s up with your face?” Simon had asked her. “You know that guy Richie I told you about? Well I need to do something while I’m here, I think it will help me get him out of my head for good. A kind of final goodbye,” Leah explained to Simon as she made her way out of the airport exit and into the first taxi she could see. It was a long trip through the night but she made it to Sedona just in time to watch the sun rise from the bottom of the hill to Richie’s house where he proposed to her.


As she stood there watching the sun create the beautiful view around her she was startled when she heard a man’s voice behind her. It was Richie. He looked just as shocked to see her as she did to see him. She hadn’t been expecting him up this early and thought it would be safe to come without bumping into him. Richie moved closer to her trying to work out what to say. Leah was speechless. “I can’t believe you’re here. I thought I was just a little nut’s by doing this. I should explain. I was in a little café in Dublin a couple of weeks ago and I heard this song called the Man Who Can’t Be Moved and I realised it was just how I felt,” Richie told her, which resulted in a mix of confusion and amusement from Leah who had no idea what he was talking about. He then started singing the song to her, making her think he had turned into a madman.

“Going back to the corner where I first saw you,
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag. I'm not gonna move,
Got some words on cardboard got your picture in my hand,
Saying if you see this girl can you tell her where I am,
Some try to hand me money they don't understand,
I'm not... broke I'm just a broken hearted man,
I know it makes no sense, but what else can I do,
How can I move on when I've been in love with you...

Cos if one day you wake up and find that you're missing me,
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
Thinking maybe you'd come back here to the place that we'd meet,
And you'd see me waiting for you on the corner of the street.”

“Well I didn’t decide to camp on a street but it made me jump on the next plane back here and put the idea in my head that if I came down here every morning at sun rise you would be here and you are,” Richie continued his crazy rant. Leah couldn’t help but smile at him. “You know Richie, that’s one of they crazy thoughts your supposed to keep to yourself. Tell the wrong person that and they’ll have the men in white coats lined up outside to cart you away to the funny farm before you can blink,” Leah laughed.


Letting the laughter between them settle, Richie turned to her with a more serious face. He was unsure of how to tell her about the past six months but started anyway, hoping she would listen. He explained about how he had agreed to give it another shot with Heather after much convincing. Jon and Dot had been against the idea from the start and they had even had a fight over it. He then told her of how when they were together it just didn’t feel right. Nothing was the same and after four months of trying at a marriage that just wasn’t meant to be, they ended it once more. Leah was surprised, she hadn’t read anything anywhere about them splitting up again. He explained how Heather had gave him her blessing to find Leah again after she realised they didn’t have the same love for each other as before and Ava spent most of the time they were together talking about Leah and asking why she wasn’t around anymore. “I spent most of the last two months trying to find you and it’s a really hard task to do. Every time I called your office they said you were out of town and I was ready to give up until I heard that stupid song in that café,” Richie told her. Leah explained that since she left him she had done nothing but work and had changed her mobile number. She then went on to tell him the reasons she felt she had left him for and her fear of not providing a family for him.


“The only woman in the world I want is you, Leah. I don’t care if we don’t have any kid’s but the chance of having them with you would be better than having ten with anyone else,” Richie assured her. Leah sat on the ground to take in his words, she had tears rolling down her face after what he had told her. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been at throwing away what she had with him. She wanted to start again but couldn’t find the words to tell him how she felt. She didn’t have the same gift of words the way he did and found herself laughing at the terrible ideas that had came to her head, “It’s cheesy but it’s true, home is where the heart is, and my heart belongs with you.” Getting over her laughter she decided that words weren’t needed, they had always spoken with their eyes. She got to her feet and pulled him in close as they shared an intoxicatingly passionate kiss. Pulling away, Richie asked, “What the hell were you laughing at?” This caused Leah to laugh uncontrollably once more before replying, “It’s too embarrassing to tell you.” Richie shook his head and chuckled to himself before taking Leah’s hand in his and they started walking. “Where are we going?” Leah asked him. With a smile, Richie pointed up to the house and told her, “Home.”