Giving in to Temptation

Chapter 48

A few days later
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The weather is a little nippier than she thought it was so she used her free hand to wrap her grey coat around herself as she walks up the small hill.

Her other hand clutched her case tightly and the single white lily as she finally reached her destination.

She stood there under the tree for a moment, looking at the bed of flowers surrounding the grey stone protruding out of the ground.

She bites her bottom lip hard, looking away for a second before she carefully got onto her knees.

She set the case down and swallowed hard as she twirls the flower for a few minutes before she finally looked at the gravestone that reads. Josette Laughlin-Saltzman, 1972-2014, Friend, Wife, and Mother.

She placed the flower in front of it and placed her case to the side. After gathering her thoughts she brought her fingers to the gravestone, tracing over the word mother."Hey mom." She says softly.

The sound of the wind whistled and she set her chin on her knees."I've um been doing well in the MD program, aunt Elena says I'm a natural while Professor Vardemus always wants to see improvement." She chuckles at that.

Her hand drops to the grass and plucks at it,"Of course my grades are up and I'm pretty sure I have a good shot at valedictorian." She can practically feel it but she knows a lot can happen before graduation.

She watched a lady bug crawl for a while before she spoke again."Lizzie is doing good too, she's having relational issues," She chuckles,"but she's just unsure of what she wants. She's come a very long way from where she used to be, she's a lot healthier."

A slight frown tugs her mouth down as she thinks about her twin."It only gets bad... around this time." She says quietly.

She'll never forget when they were fifteen, Lizzie was screaming in the kitchen, breaking plates and bowls, anything she could get her hands on. It was around this time of year and her parents could only calm her down by holding her while she cried, which lasted for hours.

"Today she usually stays busy until late afternoon, then she cries before she pays you a visit with flowers. Dad will too if he hasn't already." Some more whistling followed from the wind and she buttoned up her coat in response.

Her eyes glance upward toward the cloudy sky, 'looks like it'll rain soon.'

"We all like to grieve in different ways and times." She continued,"Dad is going to look through photo albums for a while before he drinks a small cup of whisky, that's usually when he starts crying."

She watched a couple of birds fly by and enjoyed the natural noises of the area. It keeps her rooted and in the moment, her eyes eventually cast back down to the grass.

She watched the lady bug come across another lady bug and it seems like they are communicating in some way.

She pursed her lips in thought before saying,"There's also this girl I've been wanting to tell you about." She says softly, blushing lightly at the thought of her.

She twirled a loc of her hair as she thinks of the auburnette."She's extremely pretty, nice, intelligent, and talented." She smiles before her lips go thin,"She's also very closed off... she lost her mother too and I'm pretty sure she lost her father as well."