Page 92 of The Gathered Fragments of Us
He led me off to the side of the entrance, to the bench where I spent my mornings reading and thinking. But even the bench area had been transformed. What used to be packed earth was now a small patio of the same wood-grain pavers, creating a defined seating area that felt intentional and beautiful.
I settled onto the bench, still overwhelmed by the transformation. The fairy lights in the trees above cast dancing shadows across the new patio, and I could see the careful thought that had gone into every detail.
He held my hand and said, "look down."
Chapter 36: Forged in Iron
~Felicity~
I looked down at the pavers directly in front of the bench and saw it—an iron plaque embedded seamlessly into the concrete. In the soft glow of the fairy lights, I could just make out the elegant engraving:
"You are my heart, my life, my one and only thought." (ACD/C)
I stared at it for a long moment, tracing the letters with my eyes, then looked up at him with a puzzled smile. "ACD/C?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face, but unable to keep one of my eyebrows from raising. "Is this like a play on lyrics? 'Thunderstruck' or something? God, okay—please don't tell me you put an ACDC lyric in the garden and are going to say it's because you were 'thunderstruck' by me. That may be taking it a bit far."
He threw back his head and laughed—like a full-on-belly-laugh. I couldn't help but laugh a bit—mine a little more awkwardly. Fuck, he better not have put a lyric from Highway to Hell or some shit in my garden. "Love, the ACD/C stands for Arthur Conan Doyle/Caden," he said, his eyes bright with mischief. "Honestly—I couldn't resist the play on the letters."
Nowthatwas funny. "You are an absolute dork," I said, laughing. "I'll admit, though, it's a good play on the letters."
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulled me in close and kissed the top of my head. He pulled back and settled beside me on the bench. "But the iron plaque—that's for our sixthanniversary. Iron is the traditional gift, and I wanted it to mean something more than just a piece of metal."
My heart clenched as the memory came flooding back. "Last year's anniversary. The one where you had to leave town at the last minute."
"And I sent you flowers from an app with a note saying we'd celebrate when I got back." His voice was heavy with regret. "But when I got back, there was another crisis, then another project deadline, and we never did celebrate. I let it slip away like it was just another day."
"But it did matter," I said quietly, my arms crossing over my chest, defensive at the memory.
"It mattered so much. Every anniversary matters. Every milestone we reach together matters." He wove his fingers into the hair at the nape of my neck, massaging as he played with it. My posture released a bit and, while my arms stayed crossed, my body leaned unconsciously into his hand.
"Iron represents strength, Felicity," he said. "The strength to weather any storm. The strength to build something that lasts. The strength I should have shown our marriage instead of letting other priorities get in the way of the important moments."
I leaned forward slightly, his hand dropping to my shoulder, as I read the quote again in the dancing light. The words seemed to shimmer with meaning—not just Doyle's words about love, but Caden's promise embedded in permanent iron at my feet.
"Your one and only thought," I said. "And now it's literally set in stone," I gestured to the plaque. "Well, iron and concrete, but you know what I mean." Pausing, I added, "The real question, Caden, is whether it's true. And whether you can keep up with it—or will you fall back on bad habits again?"
"It. Is. Forever." He said it with firmness. He believed it. Truly. Now, I needed to as well. His next words did a lot to help me get there. "No matter what storms come, no matter what distractions try to pull us apart, those words will be here, and they will always be more than just words. In this place that you created, in this space that saved you when I didn't, these words will be marked for all time. But in my heart, in my words, and in my actions, they will be demonstrated for all time—one day at a time."
The quiet took over then. A moment for both of us to reflect on the words he'd spoken aloud.
Sometime later, Caden spoke.
"You know, I came in that night, that anniversary, rushing to get out and save the high-rise project. I remember seeing how amazing you looked, and I hated to leave you. Hated to have to run up and pack a bag." He turned to look at me. "It's something I've been thinking about—how in certain circumstances, different choices could have meant the difference between your feelings of being forgotten and the possibility of you being part of it all."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, hindsight is twenty/twenty, but I think about how I could have asked you to come with me. Sure, I would've been stuck in a conference room early the next morning, but I see now what a lost opportunity it was for us—for you to see how much you were still in my heart. And for you to see firsthand the work I was buried under. I could have involved you and included you in what I was going through."
He blew out a breath. "I could have booked us first class, gotten us champagne, taken you to a fancy restaurant as soon as welanded—made a weekend out of something that was painfully exhausting. Let you in. So much of my mindset was focused on putting the fire out that I didn't realize I was just transferring the fire from work to our marriage."
Caden's face crumpled. "God, Felicity. I'm so sorry. I can picture you in that dress—it was blue and had little flowers on it, I think. You looked so beautiful, but sad."
I was surprised he remembered. "You noticed what I was wearing?"
"I did. And your hair was up in that big fancy bun on the top of your head." His voice broke slightly. "You looked beautiful. You are beautiful."
I felt something shift inside me at his words. Not just that he remembered, but that he'd truly seen me that night—even in his rush to leave. "I'd spent two hours getting ready," I admitted. "I kept thinking maybe if I looked perfect enough, you'd find a way to stay."
"You were perfect. You are perfect." He cupped my face gently. "And I'm so sorry that I made you feel like you had to compete for my attention."
