Til You Come Back to Me Again - A Love Story

Chap- 18

 

Eighteen

The Story Is Starting to Hurt

We spent the next morning walking around the grounds, taking in the beautiful gardens. The lush trees were over a century old, and there were over one-hundred-fifty varieties of flowers. The grounds were covered by blooms in an array of colors and was the perfect setting for weddings. The lilies and roses were Katia's favorite.

We made our way around back to view the 500,000-gallon swimming pool. I read that in 1947, Esther Williams used it when they were there filming a movie. At the moment, there were only a few people in the massive pool, but by the end of the day I knew it would be full.

After lunch, we took a bike ride to see some of the sites around the island. Katia was experiencing a little pain, but she managed it with Tylenol and ibuprofen.

We stopped to see Fort Mackinac. It had been the sentinel of the Straits of Mackinac for over two-hundred years. The guides were dressed in period costumes and we got to see cannon and rifle firing demonstrations. There were fourteen original buildings, and all were filled with settings for the period. We toured the exhibits and watched some of the videos.

The next place we went was to the butterfly conservatory. It was an all glass conservatory with lush plants surrounded by hundreds of butterflies fluttering around in special greenhouses while soft music played in the background.

"This is so awesome!" Katia said, holding my hand as we sat and watched all the different colors and breeds of the fascinating little creatures.

"It is pretty amazing."

She sighed, taking in the glass sections surrounding us. "You know, I read a book about a woman who had a near-death experience, and she said that in heaven the colors are even more vivid and beautiful than they are here. I'll bet the butterflies there are brilliant looking."

I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice caught and I had to wait a moment.

"I am sure you are right, amore." I was unable to say more. She turned and smiled lovingly and I knew no other words were expected or needed. I kissed her hand, holding it against my heart as we took another moment to look before getting up to leave.

* * *

That evening after we had dinner, we went back up to our room and watched Somewhere in Time. Katia said that since we were there, it was only fitting. This time I had a video cable with me, so we hooked my computer up to the television and watched it.

But this time, as I viewed the movie while holding Katia close, it was far more emotional for me. When we came to the part where Richard was showing Elise all the features of his 'decade old' suit and pulled out the dated penny that drew him back to the future, taking him away from Elise, I literally felt my heart break. And by the end of the movie when Richard was lying in his hotel bed dying of a broken heart, tears burned my eyes. I quickly blinked them away, not wanting Katia to think I was turning into a blubbering idiot. Then I heard her sniff and felt her tears wetting my shirt. I said nothing, just tightened my embrace, wishing I could take her into myself and keep her with me always.

After a moment, she sat up and smiled. "Tomorrow we'll go and see the gazebo and stables, okay?"

Caressing her cheek, I smiled back and said, "Okay."