Memories of running around the tree as a kid with my brother assault me. We were happier back then, not a care in the world. How can things change so much in a decade? I know it’s a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not really.
My eyes widen when a shadow moves, a man pushing off the trunk of the tree. I squint against the sunlight as he steps toward Kim, pulling his sunglasses off his face before he wraps his arms around her. Her tinkle of laughter floats on the air and back toward me.
It’s not until then I realize there’s only us left, and everyone else has gone.
Kim and the guy separate before she says something to him and he looks over her shoulder, zoning in on me at the same time Dad places his hand on my shoulder.
“Home. Now, Liliana.”
I can’t talk, can’t concentrate when the guy is staring at me. He may be thirty feet away, but I can feel the tension rolling off him.
He looks mean. His shoulders are bigger than any I’ve ever seen before and he towers over Kim, but not in the way my father towers over me. It’s protective, not out of anger and control.
Who is this guy? And why is Kim talking to him?
He widens his stance and crosses his arms over his chest before Kim places her hand on his arm, pulling his attention away.
As soon as he looks away, I suck in a breath.
“I won’t tell you again,” Dad growls.
I turn to face him. “Yes, Father.”
Stepping away, I spin around, but both Kim and the guy have gone.
LUKE
I sit staring at the waning sun, the colors in the sky fascinating me. Every memory watching this skyline from the exact same spot has been happy. I can’t sit here with the poppies surrounding me without feeling like my mom is with me.
This is our place; nothing can change that.
Her laughter whispers around me, her smiles reflecting off the stems of the flowers. I can almost see her dark-blond hair wafting in the wind from beside me as we run through the path she created between the flowers.
I feel my lips lifting into a smile the longer I remember her and the happiness she radiated no matter what was happening.
I don’t allow anything but happy memories to consume me in this field. Sadness and pain surround me in every other walk of my life, but this sea of red is for joy only. How ironic.
Standing up when the sun starts to lower, I check the time on my watch adorning my wrist and see I have ten minutes to get to Kim’s house. I still don’t understand fully what she was trying to tell me with her secret look on Sunday, but I’ll go along with it for now… at least until I find out what her game plan is.
My legs burn when I make it across the field, and I can’t help but look back to the other side, seeing the back of my house and the light coming from one of the rooms. I know he can’t see me from here because I’ve spent countless hours staring out of his office window that looks out onto the field. There’s also been just as many hours turning away from that same window when everything overtakes me and I can’t push myself into my happy place.
Taking a deep breath, I pull my jacket further around me, warding off from the chill that sweeps across the field. Breaking out into a small alley, I walk through it before stopping at the end and turning left. Passing three houses before I get to Kim’s, I sometimes wonder if this is why Mom loved this field so much because she could quickly get to Kim’s house.
It’s been such a long time since I came here, but that last time I remember like it was yesterday. I wish I would have done more—said more—but what are you meant to do as a twelve-year-old kid?
As I push open the small, black metal gate, the squeak of it surrounds me, forcing me back into that day—the day my mom took her last breath on this earth.
Looking up at the sky, I pray and hope she’s up there watching over me. But that thought depresses me even more, because if she is then why does she allow it to keep happening? Can you love and hate someone at the same time? Because that’s how I feel. She left knowing what would happen, yet she didn’t have the strength to stay. Not even for me.
“Lily?” I snap my gaze to the light-blue front door, seeing Kim standing and watching me, a soft smile on her face. “Are you going to come inside or stay out there all night?”
I chuckle, shaking my head as I shut the gate behind me. “Sorry, I was caught up in…” I trail off, not wanting to tell her what I was thinking, but she looks at me knowingly.
“The last time you were here?”
I walk up the path lined with flowers, taking the two steps up to her front door as she moves back. “I… yeah.”
Closing the door behind me, I then slip my ballet flats off, my feet sinking into plush carpet. It’s been so long since I felt it under my feet, being so used to the wood floors at home that I can’t help relishing the feel of it between my toes.