Death by Proposal (7 page)

“What?”
he asked curious.

 “Do
you feel about me the way Clay said he felt about Kate? That you know who you
are when you’re with me? That I take your loneliness away?”

Mattheus
was silent for a long moment.  

“I
think the real question is, do you feel that way about me, Cindy?” he finally
replied.

When
Cindy got back upstairs and went into Clay’s room, his back was to her again
and he was standing immobile, staring out the window at the sky.

“Hi,
Clay,” Cindy said softly as she entered.

Seemingly
lost in thought, he did not move or respond.

“I
came to look at the computer,” Cindy continued, is that okay?”

Clay
nodded briefly and then became motionless once again.

The
policeman in the room got up and led Cindy out to the patio, where the laptop
was on a table, closed.

“This
guy’s in shock,” the cop said under his breath. “Stands like that for hours,
just looking at the sky. Doesn’t hear a thing I say to him.”

“It
takes time,” Cindy whispered softly.

The
cop pulled out a chair at the table for Cindy, and she sat down and opened it
up.

“Want
some water or something?” he said.

“No,
I’m fine, thanks,” said Cindy, eager to dip more fully into Kate’s life. The
answer to what had happened to her had to be close by. Maybe as close as her
computer, that was waiting silently on the table.

As
soon as Cindy opened it up, Kate’s Facebook page appeared. It was bursting full
of excitement, photos and messages. On the top of the page was a picture of
Kate and Clay, smiling at each other.  Apparently it was recent, taken down
here in Aruba.

ENGAGED,
the big headline over the photo read, with a photo spray of flowers underneath.
Then came Kate’s message to the world.

“We
did it. It happened!  It’s official. Clay and I are engaged. I couldn’t be more
excited and thrilled. He’s the perfect one for me. We are so, so, so happy
together. This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Clay proposed on the top of
a cliff, looking down at the ocean. We can’t bear to be apart any longer. This
is the start of a whole, new life.”

Cindy
scrolled through the messages that came in response.  Amazed, friends from all
over sent congratulations.

“Wow,
that was fast.”

“I
love you Kate, I want you to be happy.”

“Oh
my God, this can’t be true. I’m sure he’s as wonderful as you say and we can’t
wait to meet him.”

“He
looks great, so handsome. Wow.”

“I
can’t believe it, Engaged? Already?”

Kate
had quickly replied to the first messages that came in.

 “It’s
true. It’s happened, I’ve never been so happy and I know you’ll see why when
you meet him.”

Some
other messages were more hesitant. “What do you mean engaged? You barely know
him. Give this time, Kate. It’s been a long distance relationship. How many
times have you and Clay actually been together, face to face?”

“What
about Sean?” another message said. “I’d say you’re jumping the gun. Be careful.”

Another
message was halting. Must have been from a friend of Sean’s.

 “Come
on, Kate, this is on the rebound. You and Sean just barely broke up. It’s too
soon. Give yourself a chance. I know you were hurt, but -.”

Cindy
stopped and read the last two messages over a few times. Kate had been hurt by Sean
and soon after that she and Clay met.

Cindy
looked through Kate’s friends, trying to find Sean’s photo. It wasn’t there. He’d
been de-friended a few weeks before. It made sense.

As
Cindy kept scanning the page, she looked up and saw that Clay had stepped out
on the patio and was sitting on a chair at the end, watching her.

“Do
you happen to remember Sean’s last name?” Cindy called to him. She wanted to look
at Sean’s page as well.

“No
I don’t, Kate never told me,” said Clay. “Sean wasn’t important to her anymore.
She didn’t talk much about him. Why should she, she had me now.”

“I
know,” said Cindy, “but sometimes girl’s like to talk about what happened with
their ex.”

Clay
bristled, stood up and walked over to Cindy.

“I
don’t really consider him her ex, I consider him her nothing,” he said, tossing
the idea aside with the flick of a hand.

“Her
Facebook page says she was hurt by Sean,” countered Cindy, waiting to see how
Clay would respond. “It also said that you and she just recently met each
other.”

Clay
stopped walking and froze again. “You don’t understand,” he finally said. “Time
means nothing when you meet your soul mate.”

Cindy
shivered as he spoke.

“Kate
didn’t talk about Sean, but she did talk about his girl, Riva,” Clay continued.
“Kate blamed Riva for stealing Sean away. She said Riva was a nasty, low life.”

“What
did you say?” asked Cindy.

“I
told her that Sean was the loser, that they probably deserved each other. And, that
no one could ever hold a candle to her,” said Clay.

“Kate
must have liked that,” said Cindy.

“She
did,” Clay agreed, “she liked everything about me, adored me, felt completely
wanted by me. But she still would go on about what an awful person Riva was. I
was surprised when I actually met Riva that night.”

“Surprised?”
asked Cindy.

“I
didn’t think she was so awful,” said Clay. “She seemed sweet to me. And, since Kate’s
died, she’s been emailing me to offer support.”

Cindy
shuddered. Then it struck her like a bolt. “Emailing you? She’s still here in
the hotel? Sean’s still with her?”

“Yes,
of course,” said Clay.

“Of
course? Some guests have been cleared to leave,” said Cindy. “How do you know
they haven’t?”

“I
just got an email from Riva a couple of hours ago. She said they were staying
at the hotel for another few days.”

“Do
you happen to know their room number?” asked Cindy.

 “Of
course I don’t. Why would I?” Clay was becoming perturbed again.

“It’s
okay, thanks Clay,” Cindy’s heart started beating fast.

“Do
you want to see the emails Riva sent me?” asked Clay his eyes growing wide.

Cindy
just wanted to get out of there and let Mattheus know that both Sean and Riva
were still at the hotel, but she also wanted to look at the emails he’d
received.

“Sure,
show them to me.”

Clay
came over, took the computer and soon brought up their correspondence.

Clay,
I’m so, so sorry to hear about what happened to Kate. It’s shocking. It’s
awful. I can’t believe it. Riva.

Thanks
Riva, appreciate it, Clay replied.

I
can’t stop thinking about this, Clay,
the second email said.
If there’s
anything at all you need from me, please let me know. Kate was such a sweet,
sweet girl. Riva.

Cindy
found that odd. She wondered why Riva made no mention of Sean at all. Why didn’t
she say
they
were sorry?

“Are
Riva and Sean sharing a room?” Cindy asked as she read the correspondence.

“Sure,”
said Clay, “why?”

“She
never once mentions him,” said Cindy. “She doesn’t say
we’re
sorry, just
that she is.”

Clay
stood up straighter. “Why should she mention him? She doesn’t want to rub it
in. She’s concerned about me, not Sean.”

The
next email from Riva came a few hours later.
Hi, there Clay, how are you
doing? All alone? Need anything now? Riva.

Parents
will be here in a little while,
Clay had answered.

Cindy
got up from the computer. There was a lot more to look into here. She had to
check Kate’s email correspondence as well. Had Kate and Riva been in touch
before she died? What about Kate and Sean? Was their meeting at the hotel truly
accidental?  

“Can
I take Kate’s computer with me for a little while?” Cindy asked Clay. There was
hours of work ahead of her and it would be good to go back to her room and work
on it alone.

Clay
stood up fervently. “No, you can’t. I want it here with me. I like looking at
it. I need to look at it. I want to remember over and over how happy I made Kate.
I want to show my parents, too. You can see for yourself that she loved me, can’t
you?”

“Yes,
I can,” said Cindy sadly, “Kate looked thrilled. You look like a wonderful
couple.”

“Thank
you,” said Clay, “thank you,” as he turned and went back to the chair on the edge
of the patio, alone again.

Cindy
got up then, stretched, thanked Clay and said she’d be back a little later. She
had to go down to the lobby and catch up with Mattheus now.

Clay,
stood up, and accompanied her off the patio.

“Are
you two in love?” he asked under his breath as they walked to the door.

Cindy
was taken aback.  “Why do you ask that?”

“I
just wanted to know if you can even begin to understand what I’m going through.”

Cindy
turned and looked into his eyes. They were deep blue, filled with pools of fear
and sadness.

“Yes,
Clay,” she said, “I can understand. I lost someone like this, too.”

His
head flipped back. “Who?”

“My
husband died down here on the islands during our honeymoon,” said Cindy.

That
stopped him totally for a moment. “You were married to someone else?”

“Yes.”

“And
you’re with Mattheus now?”

“That’s
right,” said Cindy.

Clay’s
face grew tight and grim. “Just like that, feelings can change? You can go from
one to another?” he asked.

Cindy
felt put on the spot.  “It didn’t happen just like that. It took time.”

Clay
took a step away from her. “But I don’t believe in time,” he said.

*

There
were all kinds of ways of coping with the sudden shock of loss, Cindy thought
as she rode down in the elevator back to the lobby to meet Mattheus. Clay was
partially numb, partially disoriented, partially lost in memories of the past. That
was normal. Deep inside he was desperately trying to figure things out, make
life go back to the way it was, or the way he thought it should have been. Of
course Clay didn’t believe in time, thought Cindy. How could he right now? Time
had ripped his love from him. If time didn’t exist for him, then all could be
the way it was again.

As
Cindy stepped out of the elevator, she saw Mattheus sitting at a small sofa
nearby, drinking coffee. He got up when Cindy walked out of the elevator.

 “Come
on,” he said, “we’re going for lunch at a great spot on Orjeanstadt Street. It’ll
be good to get out of the hotel for a while and clear our heads.”

Cindy
linked her arm into his. “Great,” she said, happy to be with him, and to be
headed to the main street in town where they’d get a change of scenery, fresh
air, and time to review what they’d found so far.

Orjeanstadt
Street was filled with shops, restaurants, outdoor cafes and tourists ambling
about as if there was nothing more important to do in the world than be down
here enjoying the balmy days. The sun, that had been trying to break through
the clouds all morning, was slowly seeping through. It was unusual to get a
cloudy or rainy day down here this time of year. If it did rain or grow cloudy,
it usually only lasted for a short time. Cindy enjoyed the feel of the sun on
her body as they walked.

“You
look great,” Mattheus said, pulling Cindy closer to him. Clearly, he had
decided to pick up the relationship where they’d left off. Cindy was
tremendously relieved that the tension between them had eased up.

“I
have so much news,” she said.

“Let’s
have it,” said Mattheus, eager, as they picked up their pace.

“Kate’s
ex-boyfriend, Sean is still at the hotel, with his date, Riva. They’re staying
for another few days.”

“Wow,”
Mattheus breathed, “that’s big, that’s huge. I’ll call it into the police as
soon as we get to the restaurant. Did anyone see either Sean or Riva on Kate’s
floor at any time?”

“Not
that I know of,” said Cindy, “but I got a chance to look at Kate’s Facebook
page. It was filled with the announcement of her engagement. She seemed
delighted and thrilled. There are lots of messages she got in return. Most were
happy, sending congratulations. But, some felt funny about it, said she’d only
recently broken up with Sean. It seems as if Kate had been hurt by the breakup.
Some people even suggested that her relationship with Clay could be on the
rebound.”

Mattheus
started walking more slowly. Cindy felt him digesting the details, putting the
puzzle together in his mind.

“Sean’s
date, Riva, also sent a few emails to Clay,” Cindy added. “She said she was
sorry and offered support.”

“Nice,”
said Mattheus.

 “Maybe
nice, but a little odd. Riva didn’t mention a thing about Sean in her emails,”
said Cindy.