Chapter Eight
Marsha awoke the next morning with swollen eyes and a headache from crying herself to sleep. All the anger and sadness had come back to her, and she hated the way it made her feel. She got out of bed and took a Tylenol, then wet a washcloth with cold water and placed it over her eyes. She didn’t want to go down to breakfast with swollen eyes for everyone to see she’d cried all night.
For a moment, Marsha thought she should pack up and leave and drive up to Monterey to find another place near the ocean to stay. All the good feelings she’d had about this place had deserted her last night, and she wasn’t sure she could get back into that peaceful frame of mind here. But then she thought that was silly. No matter where she went, reminders of Craig would follow her. Not because the people around her remembered him but because he’d always be a part of her life no matter how far she ran.
She showered and dressed, making sure to apply her makeup carefully to cover the bags under her eyes. Then, she went downstairs to eat breakfast.
Joanna greeted her with a wave, and the couple who’d spoken to her the night before nodded and smiled but didn’t approach her. She was thankful for that. Marsha selected one of their fresh blueberry muffins and some fruit, then went to a table as far away from the other guests as possible. It wasn’t that she wanted to be unsociable, she just needed time to herself.
As she ate, Marsha noticed the elderly man also sitting alone across the room. He read the newspaper while he ate, seemingly happy to be by himself. His being alone made her feel better about sitting by herself, too.
“Did you enjoy your meal yesterday at the restaurant?” Melinda asked as she carried a pot of coffee around the dining room.
“Yes, I did. And the service is great there,” Marsha replied.
“That’s good to hear. Did Trevor wait on you?” she asked.
Marsha nodded. “He’s a nice young man.”
Melinda chuckled good-naturedly. “I’ll tell him you said so. He and I are engaged.”
“Really?” Marsha smiled brightly. “You know, I was thinking you two would make a cute couple.”
Melinda flashed her engagement ring, and Marsha reached for her hand to see it up close.
“Beautiful. He has excellent taste,” Marsha said.
“Thank you. His parents own the restaurant, and we’ve known each other since grade school. But it wasn’t until after I came home from finishing college that we dated seriously. We both love it here so much, I’m sure we’ll continue the family businesses when our time comes.”
“That’s wonderful. You couldn’t ask for a nicer business to run,” Marsha said.
Melinda went off to fill coffee cups, and Marsha returned to her meal. She couldn’t help but think about the young couple and the life they’d have over the next twenty years. People fall in love and marry and hope that their happiness will last a lifetime, but for many, it doesn’t. Marsha had thought she was in a happy marriage for years and found out she wasn’t. You just never knew what life would throw at you.
Stop being so cynical, she told herself.
After breakfast, Marsha changed into sneakers like she had the day before and wandered through the beautiful garden. The day was warmer than the day before, and there was a slight breeze from the ocean. She made her way to the staircase and walked down to the beach.
The beach was empty of people, just as it had been yesterday morning. Marsha strolled along the shoreline on the packed sand, letting her mind wander. She thought about how happy Melinda and Trevor were and how she and Craig had been the same way after they married. She wondered if they’d eventually have trouble or even stay together. Marsha had thought her marriage would last forever, and technically, it had until Craig died. She wondered, if he’d lived, how long he would have kept his secret family from her. Forever? He’d done a good job of keeping them a secret for nearly ten years. Ten years! Had she been that dumb or that trusting? Or was being that trusting being dumb, too?
She sighed.
Marsha had never had any reason to think Craig was cheating on her. She was twenty-five when they’d married, and he’d been thirty-two. They weren’t children who didn’t know what they were doing. Craig had already opened a successful business and knew what he wanted out of life. Marsha was a hard worker and was happy to help him build his business. They made a great team.
Craig was always attentive, kind, and sweet. He remembered birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates. He never showed any sign of being bored with their marriage or wanting to stray. Not even during the years he had his other family. She had no reason to doubt him or suspect anything was going on. Their life had been perfect.
But now she knew it hadn’t been.
Turning to walk back toward the steps, Marsha noticed she wasn’t alone anymore. Two other couples were walking on the beach, and the couple with children were down there, too. She didn’t see the couple who’d approached her last night, though. Maybe they’d checked out. She hoped so, because she couldn’t bear to have to smile and nod again as they told her how wonderful Craig was. She agreed. Craig was a compassionate and caring human being. But they didn’t know the other side of him. The side that had disappointed her.
Once up the stairs, Marsha walked through the garden toward the inn. She again noticed the elderly man sitting on the garden bench and smiled and waved to him. He waved back, then seemed to drift off into himself again. She noticed he had a cane leaning against the bench’s armrest. He was definitely as old as she’d thought, and she wondered what drew him to this place. Although, the people here probably wondered the same about her. Why was this single, older woman here alone? It was human nature to wonder about others and their stories. But Marsha wasn’t the nosey kind and would never ask anyone their story unless they offered it.
Feeling restless even after her long walk, Marsha decided to go into town and do some shopping. She hadn’t planned well when she’d packed and needed to buy more clothes if she was going to stay here longer. So, she changed into nicer clothes and drove off down the highway to the local outlet mall.
Wandering around the many shops, she found a place to buy necessities, then went into a women’s clothing shop and bought two more pairs of jeans and a couple of sweaters and blouses. Most of her wardrobe at home was dress pants and dresses with very few casual clothes. She was happy to find jeans that fit well and also bought another pair of sneakers that would be better for walking up and down the wooden steps.
Without consciously making the decision, Marsha planned on staying at the inn longer than she’d first thought. Maybe another week. Who knew? It was the perfect spot for her to hide out and figure out her life.
Marsha returned to the inn and asked Melinda if she had an available room all the next week if she decided to stay that long. Melinda smiled and nodded her head. “Definitely. Stay as long as you’d like. This place is hard to leave, isn’t it?”
“It is, ” Marsha agreed. “It’s the perfect place to relax and reflect. I’ll let you know on Monday if I plan on staying.”
She put her purchases away in her room, slipped on her new sneakers, and headed downstairs again. She was getting hungry, but the call of the garden was too strong, and she found herself sitting on the bench in the garden where she usually saw the elderly man. She understood the allure of the bench. It faced the ocean but was also surrounded by the scents of the many blossoming flowers. The trees shaded it from the sun, but it wasn’t chilly here. The rest of the garden blocked the wind from the ocean. It was calming and peaceful.
“Do you mind if I join you?” a male voice asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Startled, Marsha looked up into the watery gray eyes of the elderly man in the suit. “Certainly. Please do,” Marsha said, moving to make room for him.
He placed his cane against the armrest and, before sitting, offered his hand to shake. “I’m Andrew Trelow,” he said.
Marsha shook his hand. “Marsha. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Trelow.”
He chuckled as he sat. “Please call me Andrew. I’m old, I know, but I’m not that formal.”
Marsha found his words funny since he was at a seaside inn, wearing a suit as he sat in the garden. He seemed formal to her. “Okay, Andrew. Are you enjoying your stay here?”
“I always do,” he said, staring out into the distance. “My wife and I have been coming here every year for over thirty years.”
Wife , Marsha thought. She had only seen him alone. “Is your wife with you now?” she asked.
Andrew sighed and shook his head. “No. She passed three years ago. But before she died, she told me I should continue coming here on our anniversary every year. So, I do.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet.” His words had touched her heart. “When is your anniversary?”
“Tomorrow. The twenty-second. We were married for fifty-seven years before Irene died. That’s my wife’s name,” Andrew said, turning to smile at Marsha. “This would have been our sixtieth wedding anniversary.”
Marsha was stunned. “My wedding anniversary is on the twenty-second, too,” she told him. “My husband and I would have been celebrating twenty years tomorrow.”
Andrew’s brows rose. “Really? Well, isn’t that a coincidence? But you said it in the past tense. Did your husband pass on?”
Marsha nodded. “A little over two weeks ago. In a car accident.”
“Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” Andrew said.
“Thank you,” Marsha said. “It was a shock to all of us.”
They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the peacefulness of the garden. Then Andrew spoke up. “Would you like to join me for an early dinner at the restaurant? I just hate eating alone.”
Marsha smiled. He seemed like a kindly old man, so why not? “Yes. That would be nice.”
They walked slowly to the restaurant, with Marsha matching the older man’s steps. When they entered, Trevor greeted them and placed them in a booth by the window.
“When we first started coming here years ago, there was no restaurant,” Andrew said as he glanced at the menu. “We had to drive into town to eat dinner. That was nice, but now that I’m older, I’m glad I can stay at the inn and eat at the restaurant.”
“Was the garden as beautiful then as it is now?” Marsha asked. It intrigued her that he’d been coming here for so long.
“Oh, yes. The railing along the cliff wasn’t as fancy. Just an old rickety fence. And the steps going down to the beach have been greatly improved over the years.” He chuckled. “You truly took your life into your hands going down that old staircase. Of course, now I no longer even try to go down there. But my wife and I walked that beach many a time.”
Marsha loved imagining the good times he and his wife shared here. It was a magical place indeed. “You two must have had the perfect marriage,” she said.
“Well,” Andrew hesitated and looked up at her. “It wasn’t always perfect. We had a few bumps along the way. But we managed to stay together happily for the long haul.”
His words intrigued Marsha. Two weeks ago, she would have told anyone who asked that she and Craig had the perfect marriage. But now, she knew differently.
Trevor came to the table to bring their drinks and take their order. Andrew ordered the clam chowder and breadstick, and Marsha ordered the same shrimp salad she’d had the night before. After he left, Marsha couldn’t help but ask Andrew a personal question.
“Do you mind if I ask what bumps your marriage survived?”
Andrew gave her a small smile. “If you promise not to judge me too harshly.”
Marsha shook her head. “I’m the last person to judge anyone about their marriage.”
Andrew nodded and glanced out the window as if the scenery would help him remember his past. “Irene and I met right after I’d served my two years in the service. I was too young for the Korean War and was lucky I wasn’t sent during the early years of the Vietnam War. I’d been in the navy, and when I got out, I stayed in Southern California. I found a job as an electrician in a small appliance store, and the man who owned it had a daughter my age.”
“Irene?” Marsha asked hopefully. She was already drawn into his story.
He nodded. “Yes. She worked in the store on weekends while she took classes at the local junior college. She was working on a teaching degree.” He smiled brightly. “She was tiny and cute with dark curly hair and big blue eyes. I fell in love the moment I met her.”
“That’s so sweet,” Marsha said. She and Craig hadn’t experienced love at first sight, but she’d liked him the moment she’d met him.
Andrew smiled. “It was sweet. We dated, and because I was so sure she was the one, I asked her to marry me within six months of meeting her.”
“Oh. How did that go over with her father?” Marsha asked.
“Her parents were unsure about it. But in those days, most of my friends were married by eighteen, so us being twenty-three seemed old.” He laughed. “Her parents insisted she finish her college education even if we married, so we married in September, and she went to her second year of college. In those days, it only took two years to get a teaching certificate. I worked for her father that entire year, and we settled into a small apartment. Once she could start teaching, we moved from Long Beach to Torrance, where she found a job teaching first grade. I found a job with an electrician and worked under him until I could get my credentials to join the union. Eventually, we saved enough to buy a small house and start a family.”
“So, you have children?” Marsha asked.
“Yes. Two. They, of course, are grown and married with grown children of their own. We have a boy and a girl. The perfect family.”
Trevor brought their food and they each began to eat. After a few bites, Andrew spoke up again.
“Do you have children?”
Marsha shook her head slowly. “We were never blessed with children. But we wanted them. I was twenty-five when we married, and Craig was thirty-two. It just never happened.”
“I’m sorry,” Andrew said, then ate another spoonful of soup. “Our children and grandchildren mean the world to us. And I credit our family with keeping us together.”
Marsha took a bite of her breadstick and thought as she chewed it. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“I always prided myself on being faithful to my wife and putting my children first,” Andrew said. “And I did both of those things for all those years. Except once.” He shook his head sorrowfully.
“I’m sorry,” Marsha said quickly. “I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to talk about it.”
His eyes met hers. “For some reason, I feel like I should, if you’ll indulge me.”
She nodded.
“Our children were in their late teens, and we were in our forties. My wife returned to work as a teacher after our second child had started school, so we were a busy couple. I was running the electrician shop by then so the owner could retire. I did more paperwork than electrical work at that point. I wasn’t looking to have an affair. It was the last thing on my mind. But it happened just the same. A young woman was working as the receptionist at the shop, and we got along well. Maybe too well. She was always sweet and kind at a time when my wife was so busy with the kids and her own work. I went out for an innocent dinner one night with the receptionist as a way of thanking her for working late so many nights, and, well, we ended up at her place. Believe me, I’m not proud of myself for what happened.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this,” Marsha said, feeling uncomfortable. It felt too close to home for her.
“I’m sorry,” Andrew said. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Marsha closed her eyes a moment and took a deep breath. “It’s my fault. I asked. The problem is it hits too close to home.” She looked Andrew in the eye. “My husband cheated on me, too.”
“I’m so sorry,” the older man said. “I know how much I hurt my wife, and I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“The worst part is,” Marsha said softly. “He never admitted it to me. I found out about it after he died. It was devastating.”
He nodded. “I noticed that look in your eyes. The same look my wife had for months after she found out. That’s why I felt compelled to tell you my story. It might help you.”
Marsha studied Andrew for a moment. Would hearing his story help her in any way? Or maybe, at his age, he needed to get that bad memory off his chest. Finally, she nodded.
“Maybe it will help,” she told him. “Please continue.”