“We never felt good about this marriage,” Marge chimed in. “There were a lot of questions which were unanswered.”
“Like what?” Anne said.
Marge turned and looked to Ralph for help.
“Like why Clint, such a young man, would take out such a large insurance policy, just before a new marriage. It’s not par for the course.”
“I told Clint to tell you he was doing it,” Cindy said. She had enough, and stood up. “I never wanted the policy. I told him not to, but he said he wanted to protect me, in case anything ever happened. Clint was like that. Very protective.”
“You don’t have to tell us who Clint was,” Marge said.
“Then why do you have all these questions?” Cindy said.
“We’ve heard different stories about what happened on the island,” Clint’s father spoke up suddenly.
“From who?” Cindy asked.
“From different relatives.”
“Your relatives weren’t on the island,” Cindy said forcefully.
“But everyone’s looking into what happened,” his father continued, “they all have different opinions.”
Cindy felt ill. Clint’s family was suspicious of everything, and she’d known it before they married. Even Ann warned her about it, but she hadn’t paid a bit of attention . Now, for a quick moment, she was sorry . She didn’t want to ever have to see any of them again.
Marge stood up suddenly and smoothed her black rayon dress. “For starters,” she bristled, “you could tell us why in the world you chose to go to the East Coast of the island instead of the West? Everyone knows it’s dangerous.”
“We went for the surfing,” Cindy answered quickly. “Some friends of Clint’s recommended the place. I don’t have to tell you that Clint loved to surf.”
“He surfed his whole life and nothing happened,” Marge repeated bitterly.
“He surfed rougher places, and was a fantastic swimmer. He was a lifeguard for years. He knew the ocean inside and out.”
Cindy saw Clint’s father’s head bob up and down. She didn’t know if he was sobbing or if he’d fallen asleep. No one else seemed to notice. Marge did, though.
“You see how sick dad is?” she said. “And all this has made it worse.”
“I’m very sorry,” Cindy said again.
Now his mother stood up and walked right up to where Cindy was sitting.
“When was the last time you saw my son alive? What was the last thing you said to each other?” Her eyes were squinting as if a strong light shone on them.
Cindy tried to remind herself to say calm, that his family were all in horrible pain.
She shouldn’t take any of this personally. It was awful, though, to be forced to go back over that afternoon. But she wanted to give them whatever comfort she could.
“I last saw him in the afternoon. We were planning to go surfing together. It was about an hour or so after lunch. We went up to the room to change and I
suddenly began to have bad cramps. I got very tired. So, I lay down for a little nap instead. I planned to nap for about an hour and then go down and meet him on the beach.”
“And?” his mother was relentless.
“And I overslept. I woke three hours later.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” his mother said. “You suddenly had cramps from out of nowhere?”
“That’s what happened,” Cindy replied. “I jumped up, got out of bed and ran down to the beach to join him. He wasn’t there.”
“Where was he?” Ralph questioned.
“He wasn’t there,” Cindy repeated.
“Where do you think he was?” said Marge . “He was dead in the ocean.” She turned on Ralph, who flinched.
“The hour of death,” Ralph continued blankly, “was determined to be around five in the afternoon.”
A long, dark pall hung over the room.
“Where is all of this going?” Ann interrupted.
“When did Cindy get down to the beach?” Ralph asked.
“I got down at about 5:15 or so,” Cindy said.
“None of it makes sense.” his mother started ringing her hands again. “He died a few minutes before you arrived? How is it possible?”
“When I got down there the beach was empty,” Cindy repeated breathlessly. “I ran up and down. I couldn’t find him.”
“Were the two of you fighting? Was he sorry you ever got married?” The words poured out of Marge fitfully.
“That’s enough,” Ann said forcefully, and stood in front of Cindy to protect her from the onslaught. “This visit is over. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you’re way out of line.”
“Why else wouldn’t a bride go down to the beach with her husband when he’s surfing? Why else would she suddenly have cramps and sleep all afternoon?”
Marge was on a rampage.
“What are you intimating?” Ann asked.
“The facts lead to questions,” Ralph stood up. “We have to ask them. In honor of Clint’s memory, we have to know what really went on.”
Cindy felt herself choking. Was this horrible family accusing her of wrongdoing? From the start they wanted to disrupt the relationship - and even now, after his death?
“There were no witnesses to anything,” Ralph continued. “No one knew you were asleep in your room?”
“The man who ran the hotel, Alex, saw me leave when I ran out to the beach,” Cindy said.
“How convenient,” Marge replied.
“I beg your pardon,” Ann glared at her.
Cindy could barely hold her tongue. “I’ve thought about it myself,” Cindy continued. “Who’s really responsible? There are loopholes here, serious loopholes.” She stared right back at Ralph. “Don’t think I haven’t wondered exactly what happened myself.”
Ralph didn’t so much as blink an eye. Again a strange, dark silence descended over them all. Cindy suddenly looked over at the wall and saw the photograph of her and Clint, smiling together, arm in arm, leaning against their new, small boat they had docked here in the cove. They had been so happy in every way. How could anyone think otherwise? Could Clint see what was going on now? What would it take to make him realize? Wasn’t there something he could do to protect her now?
Cindy wished she had better answers to the questions they’d asked. She flashed back to the hotel room, to the moment she woke up that afternoon. She’d been disoriented. It was not like her to nap that long in the afternoon. And she didn’t usually have cramps. She and Clint had been together every minute of the honeymoon. She’d had no intention of abandoning him. That was the last thing in her heart or mind.
She was not going to share these facts with the family, though, or defend herself in any way. It would only make things worse. Clearly, they hated her and wanted to punish her for everything. They were looking for any detail that could pin her up against the wall.
Once again Ann interrupted the tense situation.
“I think this is enough for now,” she said. “Cindy looks exhausted and so does Clint’s father. “
“When?” his mother suddenly burst out, standing. “When will I know the truth!?”
Chapter 5
After they left, both Cindy and Ann breathed a sigh of relief at exactly the same moment.
