Roxanne lovingly placed her hand over his while he composed himself.
Tim continued. “Even after all these years, every morning when I wake up, the first thing I want to see is your face.”
That was it. Roxanne couldn’t hold back any further. She felt the shuddering deep within her chest, as it worked its way up. The sobs came out, no matter how hard she tried to keep them in. She had held them in for far too long.
Tim and Roxanne just held each other while she cried. She cried for Tim, and for their life together that was about to be cut way too short. She had been doing her best to keep it all together for Tim and for their daughters. She just couldn’t do it anymore. She was defeated, and it was going to take a long time…a very long time before she would be able to move on without Tim.
Shuffling their way into the chapel, quite a few of the residents of Wildflower Island attended the funeral, though many had never even met him. The table perched up front with the powder blue table cloth was in stark contrast to the bland chapel. It was decorated all in beiges and browns. The chapel was used in a variety of ways on Wildflower Island. It was more of a multi-purpose room than what one would normally expect for a church service. Most funeral services on the island were held in that room.
The table also contained flowers, trinkets that friends and family left there, and of course, a large photograph of the person they were there to say goodbye to. All eyes were on that photograph, as there was no casket.
During the service, everyone sat quietly, thinking about the life that was cut way too short.
Eliza Porter sat in the front, all alone, the grief for her son was evident on her red, puffy face. Marshall was in prison and was not allowed to attend Zachary’s service. Roxanne Carmichael, who had been sitting near the back with her girls and Frankie, walked up to the front. All eyes shifted from the photograph of Zachary to Roxanne. Every attendee that day had heard the story about Zachary’s death, subsequent cover up, and the harrowing experience Piper, Mary, and Frankie had all gone through. Their curiosities were piqued as they watched Roxanne quietly walk to the front, deliberately avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Roxanne couldn’t bear to watch the young woman attend her own baby’s funeral all alone. No mother should ever have to do that. Roxanne sat down next to her. Eliza looked up at Roxanne, gratitude filling her eyes, as she took her hand. Roxanne smiled ever so gently in response.
There was no gathering of mourners afterward. Eliza had not thought to put that together. She wasn’t even the one who planned Zachary’s service in the first place. A group of her friends, with Cecily leading it, collected the funds and made all the arrangements.
While everyone was milling around and saying their goodbyes, Mary walked up to the table alone. It was all she could do to not fall apart in front of everyone there. She knew they might not understand such a strong reaction from the young girl that didn’t even know the real Zachary, only having met him a few short times.
Mary reached into her pocket and pulled out the little stuffed blue elephant and looked at it in the palm of her hand. It had been sitting on her bedroom dresser since the day at the ferry dock when the boy dropped it. She knew that the little one they were mourning that day, was not the same boy that had dropped the elephant. But she did know that it belonged to the actual Zachary first. Smoothing down it’s blue fur, a drop of Mary’s tears landed on the toy. She didn’t bother trying to wipe it off. Mary laid the elephant on the table, in front of the photo of Zachary. She didn’t know if it would be buried with him, or what exactly would become of it, but she wanted to make sure it got back to him somehow.
Roxanne had been watching her daughter from the back of the room. Though they were all upset about the death of the little boy, Mary seemed to be taking it harder than the rest. Mary, the sensitive twin, as Roxanne called her. It was something that she had always loved about her.
Once everyone said their goodbyes, the Carmichael family headed home to see Tim. He had been much too weak to attend, and no one expected anything else. Cecily had stayed behind to take care of Tim, while the rest of the family attended for Eliza’s sake.
Because of Tim’s weak and degrading condition, his doctor stopped by a few times every week to check on him. The news never changed as Tim got closer and closer to his final days. The entire family and staff of the Wildflower Inn were in pain. They all loved him and couldn’t bear to watch him waste away. But it was Tim’s choice to stay home. He didn’t want to die in a hospital, all alone. He wanted to be surrounded by those he loved.
One late Saturday afternoon, the sky appeared bruised with a purplish hue. Roxanne and the girls sat in the cafe, waiting for the doctor to complete his examination of Tim. They knew Tim’s time was coming to a close, so no one dared leave the premises. The four of them sat, mostly in silence. No one was in a mood for conversation. A stillness seemed to settle over the ocean as the sky darkened even further.
“Excuse me.” The doctor broke the silence on the cafe deck. “You all should come in now.”
The look on his face said it all. No one made eye contact as they all stood up and walked silently toward Tim’s room. It was a solemn procession. When they reached their destination, the four of them stood around his bed, while the doctor stood just outside the door, not wanting to intrude.
Tim looked around the room at Roxanne, Piper, Mary, and Frankie. Roxanne had helped him sit up in his bed prior to the doctor’s arrival. Even in his sitting position, it took a considerable amount of effort just to keep his eyes open and to draw the ragged breaths that emanated from his chest.
“Why are you…all looking…at me…with those sad…faces?” Tim managed to choke out.
Mary was the first one to respond. The tears flowed freely as she ran over and sat on the bed next to her father. She leaned over and tenderly wrapped her arms around Tim’s frail body. Tim stroked her blonde braid that hung down the length of her back. Without waiting for an invitation, Piper and Frankie joined Mary on the other side of the bed and wrapped their arms around father and daughter.
Roxanne, who had already said her goodbyes to her husband, stood back and watched the scene. Without realizing it, tears were streaming down her face. It broke her heart knowing that the girls would spend the rest of their lives without their father.
It seemed as if the entire population of Wildflower Island attended Tim’s funeral. Due to all the people that loved him, and the crowd expected, it was held in the main town square of Sea Cove. Tim would have been shocked at the sheer number of people who attended and who expressed their love and admiration for Tim Carmichael. Roxanne couldn’t have been more proud of the impact her husband had made to the island.
Roxanne’s mind drifted off into a faraway memory as the service was held. She thought of the day she and Tim had sat on the beach together. They were young again, and neither had wanted to leave the other. They stayed sitting in the soft sand together that evening until the warmth had left the air and they snuggled up together under a blanket. Neither of them could pull themselves away from the moment. Even as dark descended, they stayed and watched the play of moonlight on the water.
Roxanne smiled to herself and wrapped her arms lovingly around her daughters.
THE END
Author Note
I hope you enjoyed reading Thorns on Wildflower Island. I have loved writing this series.
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Michelle
The Many Lives of Ivy Wells
Ivy Mystery Series - Part 1
CHAPTER 1 Preview
As I pulled the front door open, I gasped. There he was, right in front of me. His dark hair was shorter than I remembered. But those eyes. Those steel gray eyes. Those would never change. A shudder ran up my spine as I stared back into those eyes.
“Hi Ivy, Baby. Happy to see me?”
He was smiling at me and it was the creepiest thing I have ever seen. If Freddy Krueger himself had been standing there, it would not have been so chilling. Simon was a whole other monster.
As he started to look down at the children, I tried to slam the door in his face and began yelling.
“Kids! Go upstairs right now to Hunter’s room. Lock the door and stay together!”
Both of the kids hesitated as they looked at the man standing before them.
“Now!” I screamed as he shoved the door hard, causing me to slam into the wall next to the door. Stars floated around my vision. Luckily I was only stunned for a moment though. I shook the cobwebs from my mind, because I knew that I needed to act fast.
“Go!” I yelled again.
Hunter grabbed his little sister’s hand and the two of them ran up the stairs as fast as they could. I didn’t have time to confirm that they had reached their destination. I had to attend to the man standing in front of me.
That’s when Simon grabbed me by the throat with one hand. He yanked me away from the wall and toward the kitchen, holding me up high, so that my feet barely touched the floor. Luckily for me, Simon was not squeezing the air out of me as he did so, because I was no match for his strength. He had biceps that I don’t remember him having. The man had been busy while we were away.
I knew that I needed to do something to get out of the impossible situation that I had found myself in. If I didn’t act quickly, I was going to die. That was inevitable. Simon would have no qualms about killing me right then and there.
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Thorns on Wildflower Island Page 16
