Free A Year at 32 September Way by Mary Ylisela Page B

she felt the wrought-iron work of her four-poster bed. Somehow, she’d made it into bed last night. She was in Verona, Italy now…not Portland, Oregon and not Seattle, Washington. She was here; she was alive.
    Sadness washed over her as she recalled how the repressed memories of Will and Anna’s deaths had assaulted her last night, no longer willing to sit quietly in the recesses of her mind. In an instant, her life, hopes and dreams had been taken away. For the past seven years she’d done everything possible to put the events of that day out of her mind, but she’d been unsuccessful. She’d buried her loving husband and her young daughter, so full of promise and life. She’d acknowledged that they were gone, but she just couldn’t face the fact that either of them was dead. For seven years, she’d run away from that truth by moving to a new home, burying herself in writing that was never completed and carrying on as if they’d simply gone away for a long, long trip.
    But there would be no more running away. A tear squeezed out between her closed eyelids as she realized the truth had followed her 7,000 miles to Verona and would never leave her alone until she accepted it. The two loves of her life, her dreams, her sun and moon, her entire world came to a screeching halt the day their car crashed. The phone wasn’t going to ring any minute, letting Carlisle know that they were on their way home. They weren’t going to have another baby someday, she would never teach Anna how to use makeup or do her hair, and she’d never help her daughter learn how to find a man as wonderful as Will.
    She was done running away from the truth. Carlisle felt overwhelmingly sad and relieved at the same time. She cried tears of mourning, tears of goodbye and tears of relief at unloading a heavy burden. “I love you,” she whispered to her memories of Will and Anna. “I love you so much; nothing can ever change that.”
    She heaved a loud sigh and continued, “It’s time for me to move on now. Please tell me it’s okay. I promise I’ll never forget you. Never. You’ll always be right here.” She sat upright in bed and placed her hand over her heart. A gentle breeze stirred the sheer curtains, prompting Carlisle to look over toward the window on the far side of her bed. A butterfly fluttered around the open window and came to rest in the flowerbox she’d perched over the windowsill railing. Moments later, another butterfly, a smaller one, joined the first, and they sat together opening and closing their wings in unison. They remained but a moment, before fluttering above the windowbox and flying away.
    Carlisle brought her hands to her mouth and, at once, smiled and cried. “Goodbye Will, goodbye Anna. I will always love you.”
    ***
    Eva smiled as she slid the pan of lasagna into the oven. It was Marcello’s favorite. She’d often prepared food for herself but never really considered herself much of a cook, unlike her mother, who could turn anything into a gourmet meal. Hopefully, the lasagna would taste as good as it looked. It was a special surprise for Marcello, who would be getting out of the hospital today.
    They’d had a rough start in Verona. Eva had come with such high expectations, but they’d quickly been squelched when Marcello became indisposed following his accident. She felt guilty sometimes, but she wasn’t quite sure if she should believe that he’d truly been in an accident or not. He was so hard to read sometimes, on and off like a light switch. But now they’d be together again, and it was a chance for a second start. Eva intended to grab it with gusto and had spent the entire day tidying the apartment, finding the wine, cheese and bread she knew Marcello loved, and preparing the lasagna. She’d even bought a bouquet of the pink roses he always brought her and placed them in a crystal vase at the center of the kitchen table.
    She glanced toward the bookshelf at the other end of the apartment. There