A Paw-sible Theory

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.”

––May Sarton

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: Unpleasant Memories

“Talking with Bob this morning brought back unpleasant memories and coupled with all the bad news, I felt like I was suffocating. The beach always has a calming effect on me, so I dressed and drove to the Inlet Beach. I strolled along the shore and let the painful memories buried a long time ago haunt me for the last time.

“I was so naive back then, I never saw it coming. I truly believed my marriage was solid. We hardly ever argued. Bob was always where he said he would be, and when he wasn’t at work, he was with me. I never had a reason to distrust him, yet thinking back, there were a couple of things that happened that should have alerted me, had I not been lulled into a false sense of security. For instance, the strange earring I found on the passenger seat of his car. I could hardly speak when I asked him about it. He was so sure of me, that he didn’t even bother to make up a lie. He said he didn’t know where it came from, leaving me to draw my own conclusion.

“I rationalized that it could have belonged to a co-worker whom he might have had lunch with. It seemed perfectly innocent––I wasn’t worried. Then there was the time he didn’t come home from work one night. After he called to say he was going to be late, I didn’t hear from him for the rest of the night. Frantic, by the time I finally reached him at work the next morning, he calmly explained that he had spent the night working on a crashed computer program for a client and just wasn’t able to call. I let it go for the simple reason I wanted to believe my marriage was solid.

“Then one night, I woke in the early hours of the morning and I was alone in bed. The kitchen light was on, and I went to see if anything was wrong. Bob had been acting restless, and I wondered what was going on. He was sitting on a bar stool at the counter, one hand holding his head, the other holding a lit cigarette. I stood behind him and put my arms around him.

“He loosened my arms and turned to look at me, his soulful eyes begging for pity. ‘I don’t love you anymore. I want a divorce.’ I heard the words but didn’t know what they meant.

‘“I want a divorce,’ he repeated. The words sliced through me to the core. The beautiful, deep blue eyes that warmed my heart had just turned it to ashes. It felt like a nightmare but I knew that it was real.

‘“I...don’t...understand,’ I stammered.

“In an angry tone, he said, ‘What’s there to understand?’ Then, he lowered his voice to almost a whisper, ‘I don’t love you anymore, I’ve met someone else––she’s my soul mate.’

“I wondered why he was angry since I wasn’t the one breaking up the marriage.

“I went back to bed, and curled up on my side of the king-size bed and tried not to think, but the same thoughts kept coming up. What gave him the right to change two people’s lives, alter our future––the future I’d depended on for the past eleven years? How did meeting your soul mate negate the promises, the plans, the commitments made to another?

“The next morning, I got up and made breakfast as usual. Everything was the same and nothing was the same. Bob broke Ethan’s heart when he told Ethan that he was leaving. He moved out a week later, oblivious to the path of destruction he left behind, leaving me to deal with the damage. But that was a long time ago.

“Anyway, this morning, after a short walk on the beach, I sat on one of the rocks used to form the Inlet jetty––behind me, man’s imperfect creation, God’s perfect creation in front of me, the blue expanse of the sky meeting the green water of the ocean. The waves lapping at my feet, the rhythm of the pounding surf, the smell of the ocean, the precise formation of the seagulls’ flight overhead brought peace to my soul and, after a while, I felt the anxiety begin to melt away until I picked up my towel and headed for the car.

“Then I saw a man I knew when some tourists stopped me to ask directions to the Inlet Lighthouse. I tried my best to avoid him, but he must have picked up his pace and there I was face to face with Dan Ramsey.

‘Well, I see you’re back among the living,’ he said.

I answered, ‘Sorry to disappoint you; I was never near death, just sleeping.’

‘You’d better be careful, young lady, someone might get serious next time.’ He turned his back and headed for the surf.

I didn’t want him to know how that had shaken me up and I said, ‘You be careful too, Dan. I hear the rip current is pretty strong today.’”

“I think that’s exactly what he intended to do, Alyx,” replied Maggie, “shake you up. Tell David Hunter about it; see what he thinks, and talk to your brother about it too. I know he wants to help. Of course, if it will make you feel better, I can come and stay with you, or you can stay with me. I know you don’t like my sleek modern style––no antiques or shabby furniture in my condo but it does have a view of the ocean just across the street.”

“Thank you, Maggie, you’ve done more than enough already.”

Alyx followed her outside and sat in the wicker chair on the porch. “Just last week, my life revolved around the store. This morning when I passed Antiques & Designs on the way to the beach, I didn’t stop, didn’t even glance in that direction. I’ve always believed that possessions don’t bring lasting happiness, and I’d give it all up in a minute to have my son free.”

“Alyx, don’t think like that; it’s not over for Ethan and if even if it does end badly, the decision can be appealed, new evidence might be found.”

“I don’t think I can cope with this.”

“You’ll cope with this the same as you’ve done before with other things you thought you couldn’t handle.”

Maggie glanced at her watch, “I hate to leave. Do you want me to stay and keep you company for a while longer?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I know we still have a business to run and I want you to keep your appointment with our client.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later about dinner.”

“I’m all set for dinner. Susan called; she’s worried I’m not taking care of myself and is dropping something off later.”

“I’ve only spoken to her twice but she seems like a nice person.”

“She is. There’s only a five-year difference in our ages and we were close friends at one time. Sadly, as time went on, Tom became the focus of her life and her identity. The Susan I knew disappeared; I don’t know who she is anymore. At fifty years old, Susan has become the invisible middle-aged woman.”