Shark Lover (37 page)

            “Yes,
Cathy?” She asked sounding confused.

            “There’s
just one more thing that I wanted to tell you. I just want you to know that
your son meant the world to me. I only got the opportunity to know him for six
months or so, but in those few months I was the happiest that I had ever been.
He really lifted by spirits up and he was an amazing person. He was one of the
greatest people that I have ever known. I felt so blessed to have gotten to
know him, even if the time was shortened by this horrible tragedy. Basically I
just want you to know that I loved your son. I loved him more than any other
guy I had ever dated before. I wanted to spend my entire life with him and I
would have if his life wouldn’t have been cut short. I just wanted to tell you
that so you knew.” Cathy wiped more tears from her eyes as they started falling
from her eyes faster. It had been awhile since she cried, but talking to Marc’s
mother made her feel the sadness and pain all over again.

            “Cathy,
he loved you too. My son was never serious about a girl until he met you.
Whenever I was with him, he constantly talked about you all of the time. He was
so in love with you and I could tell by the look on his face that you had made
him happy. Even though I have never met you, I knew you were an amazing person
from the way that he described you.” She paused trying to find the right words
to say. “I don’t know if I should tell you this, I don’t want to crush you. The
last day that I spoke to my son, he asked me for my mother’s ring. He told me
that you were so important to him that he wanted to make you his wife. I
believe he would have asked you to marry him later that week if he would have
survived. You were his world. You made him feel alive again after his father
had died. You made him complete. I will always consider you as my
daughter-in-law. He loved you so much, he wanted to spend his life with you. Oh
dear, look at the time. I have to go to the florist and make the final
arrangements for tomorrow. I will see you in the morning.”

            “Thank
you for telling me Mrs. Porter,” She said through tears. “You have no idea how
much that means to me. I would have said yes. I loved your son. I’ll let you
get back to what you need to do for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to meeting
you as well.”

            “Please
call me Marion, dear. You’re welcome. See you tomorrow.” She ended the call and
all Cathy could do was sit and stare at the television screen with blank eyes.

            “That
was a good thing you did,” Chris said trying to ease her pain. “I bet you felt
good after you called her. You wanted to do that for so long. I’m so glad you found
the courage to do it.”

            “I
do feel better. It’s just another piece of closure for me. I had wanted to call
her sooner, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think after tomorrow, I
will feel even better. It’s just hard after everything we have been through.
Even though it’s been almost a year since he died, I still miss him. I can’t
believe he’s gone sometimes. The things she told me just made my heart fall to
pieces. She told me Marc was going to propose. I had no idea he was that
serious about me. I didn’t even know he was considering marriage. We talked
about it, but I didn’t think it would happen anytime soon.” She finally looked
away from the television and turned her gaze towards Chris.

            “I’m
so sorry Cathy that must have been hard for you to hear. I can’t imagine what
you must be going through right now. At least you know that he loved you. He
loved you enough to want to make you his wife. Marriage is the ultimate
commitment. He had to have loved you with all of his heart. He knew what he was
doing. He wasn’t going to let a beautiful, smart or genuine girl like you go.
You are a special person and you were obviously so special to him. Don’t ever
lose that. It’s one of your best qualities. Your bright personality shines
above everything else.” He smiled and she smiled back.

            “Chris,
you’re a great friend. You’re the best friend that I could have ever asked for.
Thanks so much for all of your help. I really appreciate it.” She stood up off
the couch and spread out her arms into the air.

            “Don’t
mention it. These last few months have been great. I love living with my best
friend,” He said. “Are you ready to go to the lab?”

            “I
love it too. You have taken away my pain and filled it with happiness.
Sometimes I still get sad, but you help me through it. I’m ready, there’s just
one more thing that I have to do first.”

*
* *

            The
water was spraying through her hair as the wind blew her dress all around her.
It was a beautiful fall day, the leaves were changing colors on the trees that
she could see. She felt as though she had come home, even though she had never
left. The dark, murky water underneath her splattered up and down as the waves
hit the shore. She had a destination, one last thing to do before she let him
go completely. It had been on her mind for days and she was going to accomplish
this goal. It was what he would have wanted. She just knew it.

            “Do
you see her anywhere?” Cathy asked Chris as she looked around in the water for
a key shaped fin.

            “I
don’t see anything yet, do you? The mobile shark tracker was beeping and
according to the map on here, it says that she’s in this area. Let’s throw the
fish in and see if she comes up. It’s her all-time favorite, tuna.” He smiled
throwing in the big slab of tuna, without the hook this time.

            “I
wonder if she had her baby yet. I know sharks are pregnant for about twice as
long as humans are. When we last saw her she looked as if she was more than
half-way through the pregnancy. It’s been about six months. I’m hoping to see a
baby shark.” She smiled back at him and then turned her attention to the ocean.
In the distance, she saw a crooked fin that was shaped like a key along with a
smaller fin that looked similar. “Chris, look over there!” She pointed
excitedly. “I can’t believe that we are seeing them again. There’s Mandy with
her baby.”

            “It’s
been a long time since I have seen a baby shark. He looks like a big boy. When
they come closer, we can feed them if you want. I chopped up some more tuna
fish that we could throw out to them.” He looked at the sharks in amazement as
if he had never seen something so miraculous in his life before.

            “You’re
always thinking ahead. I like that. Of course I want to feed them. Let’s go
grab the fish now. We can go to the swimming platform at the end of the boat
and give it to them. I might even want to pet them.” She hurriedly walked over
to the cooler where Chris kept the containers of fish and took out a small
container that was filled with freshly-cut tuna fish. She couldn’t believe that
she had actually befriended Mandy. Time had gone by so fast. It seemed that she
had hated Mandy only a short time period ago and now she was standing at the
edge of a boat, risking her life to feed a creature that killed the love of her
life.

            The
sharks had come up closer to the boat now and Cathy had a clear view of Mandy.
She could see her famous key shaped fin and the marks that she had on it from
the struggle that she had with Marc. She threw in some tuna and laughed as
Mandy ate it as fast as she could. Since it was almost winter, she wondered if
Mandy was planning on migrating. The food had to be getting scarce, but it
would be hard to migrate with a little one.

            She
could see the baby shark swimming right next to his mother. He was small, but
strong. She could tell that both of them had been hungry and were up for a
free, easy meal. After seeing the two of them together, she knew that she had
made the right choice. At first she had been unsure. It didn’t seem right to
let a creature who had killed Marc stay alive. She knew if Marc was here, he
would have been smiling and looking at the sharks with pride. Looking up at the
sky, she would like to believe that somewhere he was out there watching and
enjoying this intricate moment between a mother and son.

*
* *

            A soft
knock at the door and the door opened quickly.

“Marion?” 
Cathy asked looking inside the small house for Marc’s mother.

“I’m
sitting at the table, come join me dear. It’s hard for me to walk. I have a
hard time getting around these days. The doors are all automatic.” Cathy heard
her soft voice from what seemed like miles away.

Cathy
slowly walked in the house, taking in the sweet aroma of honey tea. She hadn’t
remembered a time when she had smelled something so good, pure and fresh.
Coming into a kitchen, she saw his mother sitting in a chair and eating a small
sandwich with her tea. She pulled out the wooden chair across from her and
decided to take a seat. Marion continued to look down at her sandwich and Cathy
wondered if she had heard her come in. She was a beautiful woman, who appeared
to be in her mid to late sixties. Her hair was tied back in a gray bun. Cathy
couldn’t help but to think that Marc looked similar to her. She had the same
dark brown eyes and in her younger years, Cathy assumed that she had dark brown
hair as well.

Breaking
the silence Cathy said, “Your home is beautiful. I really like what you have
done with the place.” She stared around the walls and noticed the photographs
on the shelves. One caught her eye. It was of Marc when he was a young boy. He
was holding up a fish that appeared to be bigger than him. He wore a large grin
on his face and looked so proud. It reminded her of the man that she had come
to know.

“Thank
you. It’s not much, but I get by. Have some tea,” She said as she pushed the
tea kettle towards her. “I’m glad that you could stop by for a minute. I have
to leave soon to get to the funeral. I want to place out all of the flowers and
make it look special for him. You’re welcome to join me if you would like.
Before we go, I want to give you something.” She got up from the table slowly
before Cathy could respond. When she came back, she had a small, black box in
her hands. “Here, I want you to have this. Marc wanted you to have this and I
want to honor his wishes.” She set the box in Cathy’s hands urging her to open
it.

She
opened the small box and gasped. It was Marion’s mother’s ring that Marc had
wanted to propose with. The gold ring with the large, circular cut diamond in
the middle caught her eye. The way the light bounced off the diamond took her
breath away. It was the most beautiful thing that anyone had ever given her,
but there was no way that she could accept it. Not after everything that had
happened.

“Marion,
it’s beautiful. I love it, but I just wouldn’t feel comfortable taking it. It’s
your mother’s ring. You should keep it. I would feel horrible taking something
this beautiful away from you.” She pushed the ring back towards the center of
the table hoping that Marion would take it back without a fight.

“No,
no. I want you to have it. You’re the closest thing to a daughter that I have.
My son loved you more than life. You deserve it. You may wear it if you wish or
you can save it, but I want you to have it. Don’t even try to give it back
dear, it’s yours to keep for life.” She said softly.

“Are
you sure Marion? I really feel bad taking something like this away from you,
but thank you so much. I don’t think my words will even be enough to thank you
for a gift like this. I honestly don’t know how I deserve something this
special.” She looked down at the ring and pulled it out of the box. She slid it
onto her engagement finger and it was a perfect fit.

“Yes.
It’s a gift from me to you. My son meant the world to me and now you do too.
I’m dying dear and I want to give it to someone who was special and important
to my family. That would be you. I don’t want any repayment, but I would love
for you to come over and visit me more. It’s great being around someone who
truly cared for my son. I’m heading off to the funeral parlor now. I will see
you there soon. Thank you once again for coming to visit me.” She stood up
slowly again from the table and grabbed her walker for the longer walk that she
would be taking out to the car.

“Marion,
thank you so much. Do you mind if I join you now? I know you asked if I would
like to help set up flowers and I would. I would also like to come over more
and visit with you. I think it’s important that we keep our relationship going.
Marc would have really liked that and I know I would really like that as well.
I know that you were one of the most important people in his life and I would
love to have the opportunity to get to know you better. I can drive you there
if you would like. My mother, sister and best friend will be there waiting to
meet you. You’re part of the family now.”

She
got up and helped Marion to her walker. They both smiled at each other in joy.
Cathy could feel that this was the start of something good. They needed each
other to get through the pain and to remember Marc in the way that he was meant
to be remembered. They both loved him and he had loved them both. Cathy only
wished that she had gotten in contact with her sooner, but she was happy to get
a relationship going with her now. It was the perfect start to a new life of
joy and happiness.

*
* *

Cathy’s
eyes were soaked after hearing Marion’s eulogy to her beloved son. She didn’t
see a dry eye in the house. It was so touching to see how dearly his mother had
cared about him and loved him. Cathy hoped that one day when she was a mother,
she would have a son and have a strong relationship with him like Marion did
with Marc. Marion stepped down from the podium and motioned for Cathy to step
up. Shocked, she didn’t know what to say or do. She didn’t have anything
prepared and she wasn’t ready to speak to such a large group about someone she
had cared so deeply about.