Here it is you guys. The end. I hope y'all have enjoyed reading about Suzi and Judd's love story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

The song for this chapter is Broken Together by Casting Crowns.

Judd's wedding band was the last thing for Suzi to place back into the box before she let it drop into the gaping hole that was to become the only grave he would ever have. Just as she did so, she saw the funeral home men drive up. They were coming back to bury her husband's "remains," and her work here was done.

She wanted to say something else, or do something else. Something was missing – something felt unfinished. But Suzi's logic reminded her Judd was gone now… and there could be nothing else.

The loss she now felt was profound, and the anger she had used as a protective shield had turned out to be made of cardboard after all.

When Frank came back for her a few minutes later, he seemed to recognize a change. She could tell from his expression that he noted the desperate, unfiltered pain in her eyes that had been so guarded before, but he was kind enough not to comment on it.

Frank had always been kind. After the divorce had happened, he and Alice seemed to make no judgments whatsoever about the situation, simply lending their support to her and Judd separately. Their mutual friends seemed to be just sad for them both, and Suzi knew that, with the Barnes', the sentiment was genuine.

A year after the divorce was when Frank lost Alice to cancer. Suzi forever regretted that she had been so wrapped up in her own pain that she hadn't even realized that Alice was so sick. If she could have done one thing over since then, she would have pushed past the pettiness of trying to avoid all the people she considered to be more Judd's friends than hers and offered her time and care for Alice Barnes. But, as with almost everything else in Suzi's life, the realization had come too late.

Suzi rode home in Frank's car with her forehead against the window, her eyes closed. The grief she was experiencing was dizzying.

"Suzi… I'm gonna be checking in," he finally spoke for the first time. "I'm worried about you being alone."

For once, Suzi didn't even try to put up a front. She was worried about being alone, too.

"This kind of thing, it's… bad enough when you have no regrets. Alice died right in the middle of a good life together for us. Some would say that's the worst kind of loss, but… me, I tend to think yours might be worse. You and Judd didn't end out so well. And I know you must be feeling some kinda way about that. Just know, it's okay if you do."

Fresh tears spilt down Suzi's cheeks as she kept her eyes shut tightly against the world.

"… I know you didn't want me to talk about this earlier. And if you want to stop me now, it's okay." Frank hesitated, in case she chose to stop him right there. "But just so you know, Judd wasn't ever the same guy after the divorce. He turned a little cantankerous, a little bitter. And I know it wasn't just about losing your boy. It was about losing you, too."

He turned down the road to her town house, and continued to speak in measured, even tones. "What you said is right. Judd cared entirely too much about the railroad. It's easy for guys like us to bury ourselves up to our eyeballs in our work, and push down things like pain and… not being able to measure up when it comes to some of the things that matter. And Suzi, you mattered to him. The guy was a friend for almost thirty years, if I knew anything about him, it was that—"

"Why did he try to stop that train, Frank?" the question spilled out as the back of Suzi's throat was beginning to hurt from holding back yet another sob. "Did they really ask him to? Or was he just… that d*mn suicidal?"

Frank glanced over at her, seeming a bit surprised, yet moved at the same time. "… You know, I don't… know for sure, Suzi, but I think they asked him. I wasn't there, you know, I was out on my own run. I know Galvin always has his mind on asking somebody else to jump in there and do his dirtiest work, but I don't know if Judd offered to do it this time, or if he was picked. Either way, you know the higher-ups and all their ways of cutting corners, even in an emergency. I guess to them, if it didn't work, Judd was replaceable enough." He gave a bitter chuckle.

Suzi finally released the sob, which choked her as she replied. "He wasn't replaceable to me."

They rode in silence. Frank reached over and took her hand companionably.

When she was finally able to speak again, they had been sitting outside with the motor running for nearly fifteen minutes. "… Can you believe they tried to call me to tell me this awful thing? They didn't realize I already knew. But you would think there would have been the decency to send someone over personally. Hell, I know we were divorced, but…" she trailed off.

Frank's brow furrowed. "They called you to try to tell you that? Did you pick up?"

"I didn't see the message until later. My phone told me there was a two and a half minute voicemail from the office at AWVR, and I can only assume they were letting me know I could come pick up the charred remains of my ex-husband, although wait." Suzi let out an unceremonious, biting laugh. "There weren't any."

Frank seemed to be distracted by something, staring off into the road for a moment. "Suzi, when did they leave that message?"

"I told you, the morning—"

"No no, I mean what time exactly."

Suzi peered over at him, not sure why this mattered, but she found herself fumbling for the phone in her purse again. Taking it out, she found the voicemail icon. "They left it at 9:02am."

Frank looked over at her. "I remember what time Judd died, Suzi. I guess maybe you don't, because everything's kind of a blur for you right now, but… I know when I found out about it from Connie Hooper, it was just after ten thirty."

It took a minute for Suzi to register this information.

"They weren't calling you to tell you about Judd dying. I think… maybe you ought to listen to that message before you just delete it."

Something about Frank's words caused her an odd sensation to skitter across her nerves. "Who…?"

Frank kept eye contact with her. "I don't know. Just listen to it."

It was just before going to bed that night that Suzi took her phone back out and stared at it a long time. She wasn't sure what it was about Frank's statement and the realization that the message couldn't have been left regarding Judd's death that had her feeling a mixture of emotions – fear, nervousness, and… hope? Hope for what?

After taking a deep, shaky breath, she punched in the voicemail code, put the phone to her ear, and waited.

She heard nervous breathing that practically mirrored hers on the line before she finally heard his voice. Suzi bit her lip hard.

"Hi Suzi. It's uh… it's me. I know there's a chance you've blocked my number, so I decided I might have better luck if I called you from the phone at work. And I've got some time before I head out because they've closed down the main line for some reason this morning, so…"

Suzi found herself pulling the covers snugly around her as she listened to Judd's voice. She closed her eyes and pretended that there was no phone between them. Only him.

"You've been on my mind lately, a lot, so I wanted to call and just see how you were doing. I was talking to one of the guys at work yesterday about things you can't find anymore in stores, and believe it or not, I got to thinking about that Bubble Gum ice cream we used to get when we were dating, remember that..? I think it was Baskin Robbins who made it? The whole idea sounds God awful to me now. Not sure I could ever stomach it again, but it sure enough brought back the memories."

She heard him chuckle.

"Sorry I'm kind of rambling here, but I guess… I got to thinking about calling to tell you I've thought a lot about Ezra, too. Especially this morning."

He'd taken another deep breath.

"A new conductor started on 1206 with Frank: a Colson, and I, uh… gotta admit, I wasn't too nice to him. It's been bugging me anyway how many older guys they're letting go and how many kids they're bringing on over here, but something today just got to me about that guy walking up to us like a cocky little son of a b*tch. Well, and I mean, maybe he wasn't really even all that cocky. I don't know, when I really think about why this one pissed me off so much, I was thinking how, if anybody ought to be rising up to take my place, it ought to have been Ezra. You know in just a few years, he'd maybe have been coming into work with me. Getting signed on at AWVR himself, maybe even starting out as a conductor. That's how a lot of guys get started now. Anyway, life isn't fair and we know that, but I guess because the past has been on my mind so much lately, that kid coming in here today just really set me on edge."

Suzi pressed her other hand tightly over her mouth as the hot tears she swore she was out of began to fall afresh.

She heard Judd chuckle again though, a sound which helped lighten her heart. "But I gotta tell you, he gave the grief right back to me. Kinda how Ezra probably would have. You know, with my temper and yours both, he would've been a life wire by now. Keeping us on our toes, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm glad he's working with Frank, I don't have the patience anymore to deal with these kids coming on."

At this point, Suzi began to notice a subtle increase in the ambiance behind Judd's voice. Other muffled voices were talking excitedly from somewhere in the background of the call, and she was hearing doors opening and closing. Her brow furrowed as she clung to her focus on his words.

"Listen, Suzi, I… know I was a jerk toward the end. I think after everything happened it just sucked the life right out of me. I know it did the same thing to you. But it's been awhile now, and… I can safely say, after I left home, it only got worse. Now, there's just nothing left for me, it doesn't feel like. Nothing but railroad, and that used to be enough. But you know, now I'm starting to think… maybe that's not enough either. And I know it's asking a lot, but I figure it sure can't hurt to just try again to see if you might want to talk sometime. Go get something to eat, I mean even if it's just as friends. It doesn't ever have to be like it used to be. I hear A&W still has a mean Coke float."

Suzi found herself letting out a chuckle, in spite of the tears.

"… 'Cause I've decided I'm going to see if I can go ahead and retire early. It was a nice long run with the railroad. They've been good to me here, and I know I have a lot of years ahead of me I could still stay on with the company if I make it that long without getting sh*t-canned, but… I don't know, I think really what I'd rather do is just sit back awhile. Lay low, maybe spend some time with you. They can have this job, there's plenty of guys who want it. So I'm gonna talk to them today about it—"

He paused, and Suzi opened her eyes. She heard one particular muffled voice grow louder and closer, obviously telling Judd something.

"Okay, well I gotta go, boss just told me that punk up at corporate, Galvin, has a job for me. There's been a lot of noise outside the office, something's going on and I guess I need to find out what. Thanks for… just listening to this, if you made it this far. Maybe I'll hear back from you, maybe I won't, but either way, just know that I…"

She heard him paused again.

"…Well I think you know. Bye Suzi."

The message ended. Suzi let the phone slide out of her hand, tuning out the operator prompts to save it, delete it, forward it...

"Judd, no. You shouldn't…" her throat was burning, but she pressed on, as though telling him this now could actually have changed something that happened days ago. "You shouldn't have gone. You should have left right then and come home. Come home to me, please. You have to, I can't do this…"

That's when Suzi felt the floodgates fully open, even worse than before in the graveyard, and engulf her, sucking her down into a haze of grief.

It lasted for hours. Or was it days she stayed in bed sleeping, and not daring to move when she was awake for fear of shattering into pieces? It was like losing Ezra all over again, only worse in a way, because this time she was alone.

Most of the time. Other times, she felt someone was with her, only she wasn't sure who or how.

But there were the dreams. Chaotic, nonsensical dreams that caused her head to throb. Until the last dream came that offered refuge from the storm in her heart.

She was sitting by the lake in North Brewster, wearing jeans and a white top that looked and felt so familiar. John Mellencamp was playing from somewhere, and she was keenly aware of the fact that she was waiting on someone.

That's why she wasn't at all surprised when she felt him sit down beside her.

They didn't speak at first. She just wanted to sit still, at her favorite place on earth, and feel his presence.

"Ezra's even more beautiful than I remembered him being." She felt Judd take her hand. "When it's your turn, you know we'll be here. We can show him the boats together."

Suzi finally tried to turn to look at him, but by then he wasn't there. The lake wasn't either. The music stopped, and the breeze was no longer blowing. But another voice had started now.

"Suzi? Suzi, wake up. Wake up, do you have any idea how scared out of my head I was?"

She opened her eyes and saw Frank's face as he leaned over her. "I had to practically kick the door in. God, Suzi, what were you thinking? I shoulda never left you here by yourself."

She blinked a few times as he came into full focus. "Frank?" she surprised herself at the strength in her own voice.

"Yeah?" Frank kneeled down next to the bed and took her hand.

Suzi smiled, feeling so much appreciation and fondness for her friend and what he had gone through to take care of her – not just for her sake, but for Judd's. Because he was right. Judd wouldn't have had it any other way, and she knew that now.

"How about we go down to the lake? I want to tell you a story about something that happened a long time ago."

One month later…

"I dunno, she's just… different." Frank grinned. "I never really knew I could feel that way again for anybody after Alice, you know? But Connie, she's… she's something. And it's pretty amazing she'd agree to let an old goat like me into her life when she's got the pick of the whole AWVR joint."

Suzi laughed as she got out of Frank's car. "Oh come on Frank, you're hardly anybody's old goat. What about all this stuff that tells us forty is the new twenty? And fifty… well, would be the new thirty then."

"Oh no. Wouldn't go back to thirty if you paid me. Been there, got that over with," he smirked, taking some boxes out of his car before stopping to look up at the apartment building they stood in front of. He turned back to her, giving her a kind smile. "So you sure you're ready to do this?"

Suzi took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I am."

Frank had the key to Judd's apartment. She followed him up some stairs and down a few open-air hallways, pausing for him to unlock the door to number forty-seven. Tentatively, she stepped inside as he opened the door for her. Looking around at all Judd's things made her chest feel tight for a few moments, as she was afraid it might. But this time, Suzi allowed the feelings to come.

She knew it would be hard for a while. She would cry herself to sleep for many nights to come. But somehow Suzi knew that grieving Judd was the last gift she could give to him. She had been such a proud woman for so many years, and if she could go back, she would have been more humble. More willing to work harder on her marriage when it began to fall apart. But it was a waste of time to think of such things now. For the time she had left, she would love the memory of her husband, savor the bittersweet moments of their marriage, and be ever grateful that they had the time they had together.

And that – in the end – she had his heart.

"Alright, you start in the bedroom there, and I'll start here in the living room. Come get me if you need me, okay?" Frank gave her a concerned look.

"I will. I promise, Frank."

"I figure when we're done, we'll have about an hour or so to kill before meeting Connie for dinner. You're not gonna bail on us, now, are you?"

"No, I'll be too hungry by then," Suzi chuckled. She took a box and made her way into Judd's room.

The first thing she noticed was a picture of the two of them on his dresser. She recognized it as the one they had taken themselves with an old Polaroid during the year they dated. Judd was grinning smugly at the camera as he held his free arm protectively around Suzi's shoulders. She had been laughing about how out of focus she'd known the picture would end up being.

And it was. But that made it even more of a beautiful memory.

Suzi smiled and looked toward the window.

"I love you, Judd Stewart."

But she realized he already knew that.

Opening a drawer, Suzi began to carefully fold up his flannel shirts.