How does one move on from losing the love of their life? That’s what Andrea wanted to know. Every year on the same day, she took off work and spent the day at the cemetery. She packed a picnic lunch and sat on his grave, talking to her late husband, Ted, who was taken from her too early.

Ted was the love of her life. A man who swept her off her feet when she’d just about given up on love. Andrea’s life changed the day she met him, and was destroyed the day he died. Ted was riding his bicycle to work one morning and someone spilled their coffee on their lap. The driver swerved, not paying attention to the road as the hot liquid burned through his clothes, and struck Ted, killing him instantly.

In that one moment, everything Andrea dreamed of vanished. Along with her hopes and her heart.

Four years later she was sitting on his grave, sharing her life with the man who wasn’t there to hold her hand through the hard days and kiss away her tears. She promised to love him forever and knew she’d never find another who would make her feel the way Ted had.

“I love you,” she said, kissing the headstone that marked his resting place. As Andrea turned to go she startled, shocked to find a man standing nearby, watching her. But more than his presence, what shocked her was that she recognized him.

“Keith?” she asked hesitantly. She’d only met the man once, at Ted’s funeral. Still, there was no mistaking his tall, muscular frame and piercing blue eyes. He was the polar opposite of his childhood best friend, where Ted was shorter, nearly Andrea’s height, and thin, Keith was big enough that people backed away as he approached. Even at the funeral Andrea noticed his chiseled good looks and air of confidence, but standing a few feet from the man, alone, he was even more overpowering.

“I didn’t mean to intrude,” he said, his deep, rich voice wrapping a soothing balm around her forever shattered heart.

“It’s okay. I was just going to get dinner.”

“How long have you been here?”

“After breakfast. I spend the day with him every year.”

Keith nodded as if it made perfect sense, something no one else in her life had ever understood. Her parents had pushed her into therapy after the first year passed and she still hadn’t moved on, but especially after they found out she spent the day with her dead husband.

“Do you remember me?” Andrea asked, unsure what to say to the man she’d never really spoken to. For as close as Ted and Keith had been as children, when Keith moved away from their hometown, and Ted’s life moved forward with Andrea, the two didn’t see each other. In the six years Andrea and Ted were together, Keith had never visited, not even for their wedding.

Keith nodded, not saying a word, just staring at her. His eyes seemed to drink her in, cataloguing each of her features as though he’d never get the chance to look at her again.

“Where are you staying?” Andrea asked, growing more nervous with each passing second they stood watching each other. No man besides Ted ever had the ability to make her nervous, but the butterflies were impossible to ignore as she looked over the impressive man before her. He’d always seemed familiar to her, but was sure it was because of all the stories she’d heard of their childhood, not to mention the pictures Ted had of the two of them.

“I got a place,” he said gruffly, not giving any more details than he had to.

“You’re welcome to stay with me if you need somewhere to stay.”

A single shake of his head betrayed his finely crafted indifference. “Not a good idea.”

“You’re Ted’s best friend. Why wouldn’t you stay?”

“Because you’re Ted’s wife,” he answered, as though it explained everything.

Andrea heard the pain in his voice but wasn’t sure what caused it. “I’ll go so you can spend time with him. It’s nice to see you again. If you need anything while you’re in town, you know where to find me.”

Keith nodded once and watched as Andrea brushed off her jeans and walked to the car parked in front of his. He hated feeling the way he did, which was why he’d gone to see his best friend, but he couldn’t stop the desire he felt for the man’s wife. When Andrea got in her car and pulled away Keith turned to the grave she’d been sitting at, facing his best friend for the first time in over a decade.

“I’m a miserable fucker, man. I want nothing more than to bring you back and here I am fantasizing about your wife. I hate myself, but God dammit, I’m in love with her. The moment I saw her again I knew I had to make her mine. And now, four years later, I still can’t get her out of my mind. I know she doesn’t know who I am, but I want a chance to tell her. That’s why I came back. I need to tell her who I am, Ted. I need to be with her. And I need to know you’re okay with it.”

Keith ran a hand through his silky, brown hair. He meant to get a trim before he moved back, but he never made the time. The edges of his hair brushed the collar of his black t-shirt, but he didn’t care anymore. The only thing he cared about was finding a way to tell Andrea that they knew each other, and to convince her to give him another chance.

“She’s still in love with you,” Keith told the headstone. “She’s as devoted as she ever was. I had her for a night, a night she doesn’t even remember, and you had her for a lifetime. I need her, man. You know I do. I pray you’re okay with this. I can’t stay away any longer. I won’t.”