Waking up--
She was asleep, leaning against the tree. A wisp of hair, playfully pulled at by the wind, slid in front of her face. She looked so peaceful, just as he had always dreamed of her being.
Stepping forward, Saavedro bent down in front of her. He could hardly breathe for fear that she might blow away, be an illusion.
Gently he unclenched one of his sweaty fists and reached his hand towards her face. Brushing her skin lightly with his fingertips made his heart race faster.
He watched as her chest heaved up and down in the deep breaths of untroubled sleep.
She was sleeping untroubled like he had been unable to for years. Untroubled...
Quickly he withdrew his hand. She could sleep peacefully, did that mean that she could forget him? That she could go on living as she had before unlike him who had lived in torment?
Saavedro stared at her face in agony, begging for some sign that she still cared. She was older, had more lines about her eyes, about her mouth. But that was from age not grief.
He choked back a sob; he must not wake her. Yet, as if somehow she sensed that something was wrong, her brows creased faintly and her mouth twitched downward.
Hope flooded his heart. Maybe, maybe she still did care! Maybe because of their daughters she had been forced to remain strong, to give them hope. Could it be that her grief lay buried in her heart only because she wished not to trouble her children?
Again he reached out a hand and stroked her sun-warmed hair. It was so soft and, though greyed, still as beautiful as ever.
Tamra, his lovely Tamra.
He did not want to disturb her but, oh!, his heart would explode if he did not. There was so much that could have happened in twenty years though; she could have forgot, stopped loving, could hate him or even remarried thinking him dead and gone forever. If that had happened he could never keep on living. She was everything to him!
He could walk away, let his imagination decide for him! Always envision her waiting. He could go on dreaming...
No. He must know.
Stretching out his hand for the third time he brushed her face with his hand, firmer this time but still with total adoration.
"Tamra..." he said just loud enough to wake her.
Slowly her eyelids fluttered open and she focused upon him.