02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (28 page)

I was feeling abandoned as I flopped onto my
bed, completely exhausted. Images from the night before kept
flashing through my tormented mind. Tossing and turning, I finally
fell into a fitful sleep.

I was sitting at a lavishly set table, sick
to my stomach. I felt the desperation of a trapped animal as I
looked down at my plate and up into a pair of cruelly detached
eyes. I sat numbly, wearing an unfamiliar dress and hearing words
that filled me with revulsion... I jumped to my feet, unable to
bear listening to it for one more minute…

“Marina, wake up,” a hand stroking my cheek
brought me fully awake. I looked up into Ethan’s face, confused. He
was perched on the side of my bed, looking down at me with concern
clouding his blue eyes.

“What happened?” I was groggy, propping up on
my elbows.

“You were dreaming,” he said, his eyes on my
neck.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s lunchtime,” he said, bending to kiss my
cheek. “I picked up some burgers.”

“How did you get in here?” I asked. I
distinctly remembered locking up.

He smiled sheepishly, holding up a set of
keys. “My dad’s,” he said, “Sorry, but it took you a long time to
get the door before... I was worried.”

I got up out of bed and he held me for a
moment, stroking my tangled hair. We went out to the kitchen and
sat at the table. The terrifying attack of that morning seemed to
fade away into the distant past as I came fully awake.

I ate slowly, swallowing with care. Ethan
watched me with strained eyes and I smiled reassuringly. My
strength started to return along with the color in my face. I felt
better after I ate, and the pain in my throat was easing up. We
cleaned up and settled down on the couch.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Much better,” I rested my head on his
shoulder, “Are you skipping out of school again?”

“You can’t seriously expect me to sit there
all day knowing that you’re lounging around at home all by
yourself?” he asked facetiously.

“I hope you’re not missing anything
important,” I looked up at him sternly.

“You’re what I’m gonna miss,” he said,
leaning over to kiss me. I sighed with happiness, relieved that the
anger in him had subsided.

“I wish I didn’t have to go,” I said,
scooting closer to him and returning his kiss enthusiastically. I
didn’t want to leave him for one day– let alone two weeks. If I
wasn’t looking forward to seeing my dad so much I’d be a complete
wreck. We were snuggled in a warm embrace when the scrape of keys
in the lock pulled us apart.

Abby burst into the room toting several
canvas shopping bags.

“Oh... Hi Ethan,” she looked perturbed as she
addressed me, “How are you feeling?”

I pulled my hair around to cover my neck,
“I’m much better, thanks.”

“Well, you sound better,” she said, looking
at the two of us suspiciously.

“Ethan just brought me lunch,” I said, mildly
annoyed at having to justify myself.

She left the room and Ethan leaned over to
whisper in my ear, “She doesn’t trust us,” he said.

“Should she?” I asked, getting up with a
smile, “I’ll be right back.”

I went to my room and snatched a tote bag I
had sitting by the door, stopping to inspect my neck in the mirror.
I grimaced, wrapping a scarf back around it. I was going to have to
hide it from my dad for at least a week.

“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered in his
ear over the back of the couch.

I ducked my head in the kitchen, “We’ll be
right back.”

We walked to the stairs holding hands; I was
painfully aware that this was my last day with him for a while.

“I’ve been thinking,” I said, “I’m going to
call in an anonymous tip to the police. Maybe they can find out who
this guy is and arrest him for the attack on that other girl.”

“What if they don’t?” he said coldly, “He’s
sure not getting away with this.”

I’d never seen him look so hard and it scared
me. The thought of Ethan confronting the big ogre sent an icy cold
wash of fear surging through my veins. I shouldn’t have told him, I
thought.

“Please... promise me you won’t go looking
for him.”

“Too late,” he said.

“What?!” I stopped in my tracks.

“I went down to the point today.”

“When? What happened?” I asked, my heart
pounding in my bruised throat.

“I went looking for him this morning, but no
one’s seen him today. I’m going back tomorrow.”

“No!” I cried, “Oh Ethan, please just let it
go,” I begged.

He wrapped his arms around me, “I don’t see
how I can.”

I hugged him to me tightly, “Listen, judging
by the way those sea lions were clamped onto him, I bet he can’t
even walk right now.”

Ethan smirked at the thought, and bent down
to kiss me as my mind raced, trying to figure out how to stop him
from doing anything rash. I returned his kiss, rubbing his neck and
shoulders until I could feel some of the angry tension drain out of
him. He sighed, and when I looked into his eyes I could see they
had softened.

“I wish you were coming with me,” I said.

“Someday,” he answered, pressing his face
into my hair and pulling me closer. We stood like that for a minute
at the entrance to the stairs until footsteps came shuffling
by.

I looked up, “Stella! I was just coming to
look for you.”

She was startled for a moment until her eyes
filled with recognition.

“Dollface! I didn’t recognize you spoonin’
with your fella,” she looked Ethan up and down brashly and smiled
at me.

I disengaged from Ethan and handed her my
bag, “I’m going away for a few weeks and I wanted to leave you with
some extra cat food.”

She took it with a wide smile and leaned over
to kiss me on the cheek, “Oh sweetie, you’re so good to us!” She
winked at me, “I’ll just leave you two to get back to business,”
she shuffled off, cackling to herself.

I looked up at Ethan, embarrassed. He looked
amused, like he was holding back a laugh.

“Dollface?” he said with raised eyebrows. I
rolled my eyes at him and started down the path. He caught up with
me and took my hand, walking alongside me.

“So how long have you been supplying the
crazy cat lady?” he asked.

“Her name’s Stella, and she’s not crazy,” I
said, “For goodness sake, she’s in her nineties! She’s just a
little... confused sometimes.”

He looked skeptical, “She’s been walking
around the beach talking to herself for years.”

“She slips in and out of time,” I said,
“She’s seen this place change a lot over the years.” As we walked I
told him about the old wrecked ship’s glory days, and how Stella
was a teenage beauty who graced the dance floor there. I told him
all about the cement ship’s heyday, fitted out with a heated pool,
restaurants, and a dance hall with big bands.

“You know,” he said, “I’ve lived here my
whole life and never knew about all that.”

“You should have talked to Stella,” I
said.

We stopped at the landing halfway down the
stairs, leaning on the rails and looking out across the sweep of
the bay. I focused on the ship, remembering some of her nostalgic
tales. It made me sad to look at the hulking wreck and imagine the
long lost amusements of a forgotten era.

“Lorelei told me my mother used to like to
come out here and watch them dance. She must have seen Stella when
she was just a young girl.”

Ethan was silent for a minute, draping his
arm around me.

“Let’s walk to the beach,” he said
quietly.

We took off our shoes when we reached the
sand and walked along the waterline, picking up shells and skipping
stones. I asked Ethan questions about what he had planned for the
break. It was early spring and plants were coming alive as the
earth was warming; there was lots of landscaping work to be done.
Lue Khang needed help with planting, and of course there would be
surfing. From the sound of it, I didn’t think he’d have time to
miss me at all.

We sat on a driftwood log looking out over
the ocean, arms entwined.

“I was, uh... thinking about visiting the
woman’s clinic when I get back,” I said shyly.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asked,
alarmed.

“It’s not that kind of a clinic,” I said,
blushing.

“Oh,” he said with a smile, pulling me
closer. I looked up to meet his eyes as he reached over to brush a
strand of hair from my cheek. He bent down to kiss me.

“I love you Dollface,” he said before he
kissed me again.

When we finally walked back home we were
greeted by the smell of Dutch’s cooking wafting through the house.
He was making Pasta Primavera for my last dinner before leaving,
slicing asparagus while Abby energetically grated a large block of
Parmesan cheese. Clearly, she was now officially a lapsed
vegan.

I ducked my head in the kitchen, “Do you need
any help?” I asked.

“We have everything under control,” smiled
Abby, “We’ll call you in when it’s ready.”

Ethan and I ate side by side, our legs twined
together under the table. We thanked Dutch and Abby for cooking yet
another wonderful meal, and they smiled at each other warmly. When
I got up to clear the table, Ethan sprang up to help me, standing
by my side at the sink as we washed and dried the plates. He was
taking every opportunity to be close to me, and I was glad of it. I
was determined to extract a promise from him before I went
away.

“Can we go somewhere we can be alone?” I
murmured in his ear after we finished.

He smiled broadly, “Absolutely.” We passed
Dutch and Abby on the couch as we bolted for the door.

“Be right back,” I tossed over my shoulder as
we made our escape again.

We climbed into his truck to get out of the
early evening chill and embraced tightly, painfully aware of our
looming separation, eager for contact with each other.

“Ethan, I need you to promise me something
before I leave,” I said.

“What?” he asked, brushing his lips back and
forth across mine.

“Don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone...” I
was having a hard time concentrating, “Let the police deal with
this Joe guy...” I turned to whisper in his ear, “OK?”

“I don’t know…” he said as he started to
nibble on my ear.

“Please?” I pleaded, “Promise me…”

“I’m thinking,” he said, “Can I stay with you
tonight?”

I slumped into him, “Do you think that’s such
a good idea?”

He sighed, “Don’t you know you can trust me
by now?”

“Yes, but–” he kissed away my last weak
objection. At least while he was by my side I’d know he wasn’t off
doing anything crazy. Besides, it would give me more time to talk
him into seeing things my way…

I started awake around midnight, my regular
surfing time. Ethan had crept in after Dutch and Abby went to bed
and fallen asleep on top of the blanket, his arm and leg draped
over me. Charlie settled down with us, purring and kneading as he
made a nest for himself in the blanket at my feet. Between the two
of them I found myself pinned down, forced to remain immobile or
risk waking them both up.

I wanted to go surfing and it surprised me,
considering what I’d just been through. The thought of my ruined
wetsuit squelched any scheme formulating in the back of my mind,
and I found myself anxiously chewing my lip, trying to slow my
racing heart. I wondered if I would experience surfing withdrawal
when I was in Greece. I wiggled around, trying to find a
comfortable position and shake the urge that was building up in me.
I could imagine myself running down to the dark beach, I could
taste the salty water...

“Hey,” Ethan whispered, startling me,
“Relax.” He stroked the hair back from my face and tucked it behind
my ear. I sighed, coming back to reality. I finally drifted off to
sleep, dreaming about turquoise waters and joyfully surfing with
Ethan by my side. The next thing I knew it was morning, and I had
made it through the night without sneaking out for the first time
in weeks.

We lay in bed and listened as Dutch got up
early and Abby saw him off at the door. I turned to Ethan with a
smile, grateful for his presence there. I loved him so much at that
moment I knew I’d always feel the same way. I’d only known him for
a few months, but already I couldn’t imagine my life without him in
it. Being with him was all I needed to be happy, and as long as he
was by my side I was sure that I could make it through
anything.

I sat up stretching and yawning, dislodging
Charlie, who stretched and yawned in response.

“I haven’t slept that long in a while,” I
whispered.

He sat up and embraced me, kissing my neck
softly, “Thanks for letting me stay,” he whispered.

“I love you,” I replied with a shiver of
happiness. We could hear Abby start up the shower and we
reluctantly got out of bed. Ethan quietly left to retrieve his
truck from around the corner.

I showered and dressed for the long flight,
heading into the kitchen. Cruz was drinking coffee and leafing
through the paper.

He looked up eagerly, “Are you all packed and
ready to go?”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I sighed and
poured myself a cup.

“What’s with the scarves all of a sudden?”
Cruz asked with a smirk.

“Nothing,” I said nonchalantly as I poured in
the cream.

“Must be one hell of a hickey!” he teased me.
I turned to scowl him, distracted by a knock at the front door.

“That must be Shayla,” he said as he sprang
up.

I sat down at the table and glanced at the
paper, not expecting the shocking image I saw. Joe’s sullen face
was staring up at me, his eyes as cold as they were in my horrible
memories . The headline screamed, “
Body Recovered Is Local
Surfer
” and I grabbed the paper, forgetting to breathe for a
moment.