“What do you want to know?”
“What was going on between Ann and Frank before this happened?” Cindy asked the question with her heart in her hands. It would have been routine to ask it to anyone else, but this was her family.
“They were fine, they were good,” her mother proclaimed. “He was a good husband, he loved her, I’m sure of that. In fact, he told Ann that, over and over.”
“Told her that, why?” Cindy was taken aback. “Didn’t she know it?”
“Since Ann was little she had a tendency to be lonely,” her mother broke in. “She loved Frank and he loved her and gave her plenty of attention. But recently, she began to complain to me that wasn’t around enough. Ann was feeling unnecessary, said Frank was taking more business trips. I said, so what? He’s growing his business, that’s good, be proud of him. Buckle up and live life, honey. All men need a little life of their own, don’t they?” At that her mother shot a quick look in Cindy’s direction.
“Of course they do,” Cindy agreed, wondering exactly what her mother meant by a life of their own?
Her mother was relieved and surprised that Cindy agreed with her. “Well, I’m glad someone finally agrees with me,” she said. “Your sister had a side to her that could be pouty. Did you know that?”
Actually Cindy didn’t. She’d never thought of Ann that way.
“Ann wanted things her way,” her mother continued. “She didn’t like not having her husband around all the time.”
“How much was Frank gone?” Cindy asked, beginning to feel uncomfortable about talking this way about her sister.
“Who knows how much?” her mother didn’t like the question. “I didn’t keep tabs on him and I told Ann she shouldn’t either. Once you keep tabs on a guy it makes it worse!”
“Did Ann keep tabs on Frank?” Cindy’s heart started beating more quickly.
“Yes,” her mother crouched over gracefully, like a cat about to pounce. “More and more these days Ann was keeping tabs. It wasn’t like her.”
“I didn’t know that,” Cindy grew nervous.
“You didn’t know lots of things, did you,” her mother said. “That’s what happens when you leave your family and run around the Caribbean. If people here need you, you have no idea of it.”
Cindy’s head started to spin.
Her mother straightened up and laughed a little. “It’s okay, I was around though. Ann had me.”
“She also had Frank,” Cindy prompted, wanting to hear more of what her mother would say.
“Look Cindy,” her mother suddenly had enough of the little dance they were doing. “All men have times in their lives when they stray. So what? It’s midlife – they need it. I told that to Ann. I said, chill, honey, if he’s gone a little more, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.”
Cindy’s heart pounded more violently now. “Stray? Frank was having an affair?”
“Call it what you want,” her mother seemed irritated. “A fling, an affair, what’s the difference?”
“It makes a difference,” said Cindy, unable to believe what she was hearing.
“Bogus,” her mother’s voice got loud. “Playtime is playtime. Frank’s a good man.”
Horrified, Cindy had to immediately calm herself down. This could be something her mother was just imagining, something she’d spun out of whole cloth. Cindy couldn’t take it seriously, certainly not without definite proof.
“What evidence do you have?” Cindy suddenly demanded.
“None, absolutely none at all,” said her mother. “Just that I know men, and I never knew one that at some time or another didn’t stray. Do you?”
Cindy felt tremendously relieved, it was her mother’s assumption, that’s all.
“Ann never said Frank was with someone else, did she?” Cindy had to be absolutely certain.
“No, of course, she never said that,” her mother quipped. “She may not have had any idea about it even. But she did say she’d gotten a bunch of calls and then hang ups! Now, what’s that?”
“Could be anything,” said Cindy, unmoved. “People get crank calls all the time.”
“Or it could be someone Frank was seeing, and the woman was jealous, trying to frighten Ann,” her mother’s eyebrows raised.
Cindy broke out into a sweat. “Did Ann ever suggest anything like that to you? Anything at all?”
“No, not directly,” her mother breathed hard. “All she said was that Frank was gone a lot and she felt unimportant. Some women refuse to see beneath the surface, but it was obvious to me. ”
“Many women feel lonely or unimportant,” Cindy fought her. “It doesn’t mean their husbands are betraying them with someone else.”