She stands there in all her glory, my Sheridan in her beautiful wedding gown a sad smile dancing on her lips. Her eyes shift away from mine as I study her, wishing I had arrive a mere five minutes earlier to the wedding; then I could have spared us both from this pain and become her husband, not Antonio. But I was too late then and it’s far too late now. All I can do is stand here and watch her greet the guests, sipping champagne and ignoring the looks in the eyes of those around me. Every single one of them pity me, wish they could have helped me, but none stepped forward then and none have the nerve to near me now. Not that I want them to, I wouldn’t know what to say if they did.

My sister places her hand on my arm as she walks by, trying to give me the strength to make it through this, but it’s not enough to help me survive. I turn my attention away from Theresa, who is now talking to one of Julian’s children, and once again resume gazing at my beloved. I see the was she looks at me when she thinks I am not paying attention; I know she is thinking of me every time she is forced to speak to my brother. That’s why I have to do everything necessary to help them have the life they deserve as a married couple. That’s why I have to leave Harmony and Sheridan, going to a new place where no one will ask me how I’m doing or how I can possibly get by without her. Because the truth is I can’t and staying here is just as unhealthy for me as it is their marriage.

Sheridan leads Antonio to me and he has this twinkle in his unseeing eyes. His mirth causes feelings to stir in me that I couldn’t name if I tried. Deep down, I want to hate him for taking her away from me, but he had originally been the one to bring her back. It’s our own fault that Antonio had never learned the truth. We should have been honest from the start, but we weren’t. This is a terrible ending to our romance.

My eyes are pinned on Sheridan, but she simply looks at the floor. I can’t decide if I want her to look at me or to continue avoiding me this way, because right now I don’t know what to say to her. My mind can’t even fathom what’s going on and I can’t believe that I could have lost her when I had been so close to making her mine. The numbness in my head is the only thing keeping me from totally breaking down.

“Luis, I have a request for you,” Antonio catches my attention and I realize he had been speaking for quite some time now. I don’t know what he’s been saying, but I can tell by the look on Sheridan’s face that it was something about her.

“Sure, bro, anything,” I try not to look at Sheridan, knowing that the pain there will be more than I can bear. She didn’t want this, neither did I, but neither one of us ever said a word. She never even showed up last night for our wedding. We could be long gone by now, but instead she is his bride.

“Dance with my wife,” he took Sheridan’s hand, felt around for my own and placed it in my grasp. The electric I felt shook me to the core. “I can’t show her the time she should be having and she deserves it on our wedding day.”

“I-I don’t know,” I swallow hard. I don’t know how long I can last with her in my arms knowing that eventually I have to return her to my brother’s side. And yet, one look at her and I know that I want nothing more than to hold her to me.

“Please.” He seems so hopeful that I can hardly say no, so I don’t.

“All right,” I concede and lead Sheridan out onto the dance floor. Taking her into my arms feels so right that it’s hard to remember she’s not my wife but my brother’s. I want to remember this moment: the way the light hits her hair, the scent of her perfume in the air, the feel of her in my arms and the fabric of her dress against my skin. Her eyes meet mine and I can read the love and devotion she has for only me. “Finally a Lopez-Fitzgerald,” I tell her nonchalantly, masking my true feelings with a smile.

“The wrong brother,” she replies, glancing at Antonio and then turning back to me. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

“Maybe it was,” I sway to the song leading her in our final dance. I don’t know where the words came from, but I think them over for a minute and realize it could be true. We might have been meant to end this way. “Maybe we were supposed to lose this time, Sheridan.”

“No,” she shook her head. “I won’t believe that, Luis. I can’t believe we’re destined to be with other people for the rest of our lives.”

“Doesn’t much matter what we believe, Sheridan. I just hope that this is everything you’ve dreamed of because I would hate it if you were miserable,” I tell her. “I love you too much to know you were suffering and you deserve to have your dreams come true.”

“You make it sound so final,” her eyes began to tear and the sight of the liquid pooling in her eyes caused pain in my heart, “like we’ll never be together again.”

“It is final, Sheridan, you are with Antonio until death do you part,” I look over at my brother, the lucky son-of-a-bitch. I don’t know how he managed to steal Sheridan from me, but he has and now she’s going to be with him for the rest of their lives. “But I wouldn’t change a single moment of my life thus far, Sheridan. I would have loved you even if I had known that it would end with you in his arms and not mine. I’ll cherish every moment we shared.”

“Luis,” she whimpers and I gulp.

“I made a decision before, when I was watching you. I’ve decided that I can’t stay here anymore; I can’t watch you be in his arms and have his children until he no longer lives. I’m unable to love Beth the way I should, so I can’t possibly marry her, but I also can’t be here and continue to love you when you are with my brother.”

“Wh-what?” she places her hand against my face and with a sense of urgency turns my head so I look into her eyes. The feeling of her palm against my cheek is warming and wakes a part of me that has become dormant since learning that she married my brother. It’s energizing, but not enough. “What are you saying?”

“My bags are packed from last night when I thought we were eloping. I thought we could go somewhere new for a while and let everyone here cool down. We could have started a life anywhere your heart desired, but you didn’t show.”

“No, you didn’t come! I was there until this morning, Luis, and I thought you didn’t want me anymore, that you’ve chosen Beth.”

“I came this morning. Last night I passed out and the second Hank showed up we rushed over. You weren’t there and the secretary…”

“Lied for me,” Sheridan shook her head. “I can’t believe it. So close.”

I nod. “And yet so far. That’s why I have to leave tonight, Sheridan. My bags are in my car outside and after this song is over; I’m leaving Harmony. I’m leaving you.”

Her voice catches in her throat and her tears begin to slide down her cheeks onto her dress. I want to brush them away and erase their tracks from her beautiful skin, but I’m unable to lift my hand to her face and clean it of the moisture. She looks everywhere but at me, trying to think of something to say before the song ends. We both know the final notes are coming and she rushes to speak at first it is soft, but finally it grows louder.

“I love you,” she tells me, thinking it will change my mind.

“And I you,” I reply as the song winds down. Of All the memories we have and all the dances we shared, this one will mean the most to me always. Sheridan and I have finished our last dance; have marked the ending of what could have been a wonderful life together. Now, it’s bittersweet memories of things we let die by not being honest with the people in our lives. We didn’t cherish what we have when we had it and now it’s gone. Another story of regrets and yet I find myself reliving each moment with nothing but the love and sweetness each deserves.

I slip my hand from hers, stepping backwards. “I should go. Better if I get out of here now while everyone else is otherwise occupied. They won’t know I’m gone until tomorrow.”

“No,” she cries. “Please don’t,” she begs, reaching for me. “Stay. There has to be a way to work this out, Luis.”

I move away from her hand and head for the door. I can’t reply to her because it’s far too hard for me to look back at her now. If I do I might never make it out of here and everything I need to do, all my plans, would be ruined. As I touch the brass knob, I feel her grab arm. “No! Luis! You can’t do this, you can’t stop loving me.”

“Don’t you understand, Sheridan? I can’t stop loving you; I wouldn’t want to even if I could. From the moment we left until last night, I couldn’t possibly change one thought, one emotion I had. I love you, I have loved you from that first day and damn it though I was stubborn, I still felt it inside. We are and always will be soul mates, true loves, people that belong together. I will love you until I take my last breath and that will never change.”

“Then why leave?” she questions, her heart breaking.

Looking over her shoulder I see Antonio with my mother, both lost in conversation. He’s looking pale and weak, but still there’s a light in his eyes that even a blind man like he could see. It’s love, pure and true and she may not have the same feelings for him, but that doesn’t change what he feels. I can’t be the man to take that way from him. “Because he loves you too and he has a right to be this happy, even if I have to suffer. He’s my family, Sheridan, and he might not have been here when things got hard, but he’s here now. He deserves your attention as his wife and with me gone, he’ll get that.” Pausing for a second, I add, “Blood is thicker than water.”

“But I love you, Luis, and I can’t stop no matter how hard I try.”

“Nor I,” I kiss her cheek chastely. “Remember one thing, Sheridan.”

“What’s that?” she sniffles.

“That I would have loved you anyway, even if I knew that today would have been the day I watched you marry another. I still would have loved you and I still would have wanted you as my wife and the mother of my children.” I quickly leave, closing the door behind me softly. For a moment, I watch through the window as she cries, but then she rises and returns to my brother, putting on that same sad smile she’s worn for the last few days.

Climbing into the car I drive off to my new life in a new town. No matter where life leads I will remember her and hold her in my heart. She is and forever will be the only woman I love. My Sheridan: the woman of my dreams. Sadness fills my heart, tears pool in my eyes, but I don’t stop the car for a second. If I could have seen the future on that fateful night when she crashed into my car, I still would have loved her. She still would have loved me too; I know that now.

As my car leaves the limits of Harmony, I reiterate one more message through my heart to Sheridan. I know she can feel the love, but I want her to remember it always.