Time's Forbidden Flower

by Diane Rinella

  Oh, God. Anna, why? All so Donovan wouldn’t be alone?

  Donovan hears my puking and dashes in to check on me.

  I can’t face him.

  “Poison!” I holler between heaves, my brow sweating. “Poison!”

  “What?” Donovan kneels beside me, pulling back my hair and feeling my forehead.

  I can’t tell Donovan. He would never be able to live with himself for bringing Anna into our lives if he knew.

  Again I hurl.

  Donovan needs to leave before I break down.

  “Food poisoning,” my voice rushes out. “Go to the drug store. Get me something.”

  “Lily, I can’t leave—”

  “Go!” I scream, my head dipped down into the bowl so I can’t see him. For years he protected me from a horrible truth, now it is my turn. My shock helps me ward off emotion until he drives away. Hugging the toilet, I hurl and scream.

  Chapter 62

  Twenty-nine Years Later

  “Mmm…” I mutter, waking with a demure stretch, as gentle kisses tap on my neck. Though I am now eighty-six years old, the heat of Donovan’s passion still has my knees buckling. If it weren’t for this sofa supporting my butt, my rear would hit the floor.

  Smoothing my hair, and thus comforting my soul, he places a paper tiara saying, “Happy New Year” on my head. On the coffee table in front of us sit two flute glasses and a bottle. “What’s with the tiara? Is that sparkling cider?” I ask.

  “Yes, and before you go asking more questions, tonight I am rewinding the clock to the New Year’s Eve when I stood you up. I’ve spent my life trying to make up for all the misery I caused, and this is the last thing on the list.”

  “Donovan, that was more years ago than I care to admit. I’m long past that pain.”

  “This isn’t about letting go of the past, it’s about embracing the present. I thought I had no idea what to say that night, but the truth is, I was just nervous about admitting it, so… Lily, as crazy and as wrong as this is supposed to be, I’m in love with you. Each morning when I see you, my faith in the world is renewed. When you pass by, a tingle enlivens me and makes me want to be a better person. The warmth of your smile comforts me throughout the night no matter what my troubles. You have always been the one person who loves me for whom I am, and I truly hope that when we are old, you are still sitting on the sofa with me, loving me as much as I love you. Happy New Year, Lily. You and me, forever.”

  “You and me, forever.”

  Birds sing as the sun gazes through the bedroom window, greeting a new day. Donovan curls tightly around me then jerks back in horror of my cold and lifeless body. Looking down upon him, I witness his realization that attempts to revive me are in vain. My heart gave out a moment ago, and I have been fighting my natural instinct to move into the light, needing to convey one last time how deeply I love him.

  Sorrowfully, he cradles me in his arms, then turns his eyes heavenward—locking with mine one final time. “I’ll find you again, Lily. I promise.”

  We will be together again, Donovan. Through all of time you have been my light, my guardian, my love. I will plead our case so that we will no longer be enslaved to misery.

  We’ve had thirty-four glorious years together, and although they have been lived in the shadows, they have been nothing short of phenomenal. With my final thoughts as Lilyanna Beckett-Eccles, I drift away from my grieving love.

  I force my spirit down the hall one last time, drifting past the photos that line it—photos of my happy childhood with Donovan, the amazing life Christopher and I shared, Graham, Antonia, and Sunshine’s wedding pictures, their children and grandchildren, and all the love that surrounded Donovan and I in my final years. At the end of the line sits the two halves of the infinity symbol we carved into his old bedroom floor, reunited. Though this life had its rocky moments, I want to forever cherish every heartbeat.

  The pictures fade from view as I am drawn deeper into an enrobing white light. Before me a welcoming figure emits warmth and grace. He spreads out his arms, and my drifting ceases as his face becomes clear. My darling Christopher embraces me as only he can. “Hello, luv. I’ve missed you terribly.”

  Again I am filled with the warmth of his love and beauty. “All this time you have waited for me?”

  “Of course. As soon as I left my earthly body the memories flooded back. I spent hundreds of years stealing you from him. I'm not going to stop now. Come on, luv. Enjoy what we’ve got for tomorrow never knows.”

  Epilogue

  On this warm summer’s day, something in the serenity of the clear, blue sky makes me long for the crashing waves of the ocean.

  A moving truck cruises past as I walk home from the library. It’s likely the people who bought the house across the street. Hopefully they don’t have any bratty kids like the last ones did. Then again, I could use the baby-sitting money.

  The truck stops where I anticipate, followed by a sedan. A middle-aged couple exits the car, looking tired yet anxious to start their new life. Stopping in front of the house, they lock their arms around one another, looking ahead with dreams of the future. I want to be like them someday. Actually, I think I once was. I’ve been having some really strange dreams lately. Sometimes they make me lose sight of what is real.

  A slightly battered sports car parks behind the sedan. From it emerges a heart-stoppingly handsome young man of about my age—tall, dark haired, and completely gorgeous. Though he looks to be athletic, nothing about him screams that he is a pathetic jock. A grade-school aged girl with a family resemblance bounces out of the car and runs to the couple, seemingly their parents.

  I capture his sight. I know you.

  Of course you do. You would never forget.

  Automatically we walk to each other, forsaking his beckoning sister. “Hi,” he says. His green eyes pull me in to a field of eternity.

  “Hi. You must be the new neighbors.”

  “Yeah, I’m Brayden. The brat is my baby sister, Cammi. She drives me crazy,” he says, rolling his emerald orbs while blinking them in pleasant annoyance.

  “I’m Amara,” I offer. “Are a—are you still in school?” A gentle breeze blows tresses of hair across my face. Brayden tucks it behind my ear, threading it through his fingers as he goes.

  “Yeah, I’m entering my senior year. You?”

  “Me too,” I reply, suddenly realizing that a boy I’ve never seen before touched my hair as if he has done it a thousand times before. “I guess we’ll run into each other a lot.”

  Brayden’s sister runs toward him, screaming, “Come on, Brayden. Dad says you get first pick of the rooms, and I want to know which one I get.” Cammi yanks on Brayden’s arm. She’s cute, but his patient smile is a little forced. “I hope I get the one that looks onto the backyard.”

  “Ok, I’m coming,” he tolerantly replies. Cammi runs back to her new home with anticipation. “She can have the best room in neighborhood as long as mine is sound proof. Nice meeting you, Amara. I‘m sure Mom will send me over soon to borrow some eggs or something,” he says with a wicked smile.

  Now that gives me an idea. It’s time to make those chocolate-mint brownies I’ve been craving. Something tells me I have the recipe to steal Brayden’s heart.

  Coming in 2014

  A fantastical romance involving a girl, the music that fuels her, and her Ouija board.

  Rosalyn can’t catch a break. While all she needs is love, what she gets is ridiculed for her eclectic wardrobe and eccentric music collection. The only person who gets her is Antonia, her roommate who constantly charms away anything male before other girls can bat their lashes.

  One fateful night, Rosalyn bewitches Niles, a stylish man with an offbeat personality. While her friends view Niles as Mr. Right, Rosalyn thinks he is Mr. Right Off His Rocker. Niles may possess her Top Five Characteristics Of A Perfect Man, but his critical flaw is a deal breaker for pretty much anyone.

  Rosalyn’s hormones cyclone into a frenzy upon sum
moning rock deity Peter Lane back from the dead. When she falls for the deceased idol who seeks her help in avenging his death, how much farther off the deep end will she go to satisfy her heart?