Emboldened, Rori spoke up again, “Who do you want to talk to first?”
Mattheus joined in. “To begin Cindy and I would like to have some time alone with Tad.”
“There’s no need for that,” the Senator didn’t like it. “I told you, Tad’s been interviewed many times.” He put his hand on Tad’s shoulder, as if to protect him from the pain he was going through. “There are more efficient ways to use your time.”
“It’s fine with me,” Tad responded. “I’ll be happy to talk to them. After all, Tiffany was my fiancée. I know every little thing about her and what was on her mind.”
Rori stared at him oddly when he said that and Wynn looked away.
“Let’s get off the boat now for a while,” Mattheus said, “and find a place where we can talk.”
“It’s a waste of time,” the Senator repeated, annoyed.
“It’s a place to start,” said Cindy.
“So, go,” said the Senator, “but don’t stay away too long.”
Mattheus, Cindy and Tad, walked off the boat together into the warm afternoon sun. Tad had the key to the Senator’s car that was parked at the edge of the dock.
“I’ll drive you to a good spot to Talk,” said Tad. “There’s a rocky cliff near a beach close by. We’ll get breezes from the ocean below.”
“Sounds perfect,” said Cindy.
For the first time since Mattheus had seen him, Tad smiled. Cindy seemed to soothe him. Mattheus wondered in passing if she might remind him of Tiffany, with the same friendliness and warmth?
They drove slowly to the cliff, parked, walked carefully up a narrow path to the top, and sat down. It was beautiful here, with a view stretching out over the ocean, and refreshing breezes all around.
A huge bird suddenly flew by and a moment of grim silence overcame all of them.
“Tiffany loved birds,” Tad said, watching it fly. “She loved many things, she loved being alive.”
The three of them all looked up in the sky, watching the bird disappear across the edge of the horizon, and then down into the deep ocean, where the waves splashed wildly against the rocks.
Cindy loved it up here over the ocean. The three of them sat together on top of the cliff for what seemed like forever before they began to speak. She was also glad to be off the boat for a while, able to get a larger perspective on all that was going on. Although everyone on the boat was doing their best to act normally, an underlying sense of chaos and doom pervaded the atmosphere. The interview with Tiffany’s mother had been troubling and sad. The Senator was right, his wife flipped in and out of reality. At moments she was tremendously clear, then out of nowhere, had lapsed into fantasies, insisting that Tiffany was still alive. Cindy was glad to be back with Mattheus. She enjoyed watching the wind blow on his handsome, sun tanned face as he leaned towards Tad and finally began to speak.
“I’m sorry we have to go over this again,” Mattheus said to Tad, “it must be a terrible time for you.”
“Terrible,” said Tad quietly. “Unbelievable. I’m still in shock.”
“That’s natural,” said Mattheus.
Tad looked over at him, sensing that Mattheus truly understood, perhaps had even been through something similar.
“Tell us a little about yourself,” Mattheus went on softly.
“Graduated from Princeton last June,” Tad started. “English major, art minor.”
“Interesting,” said Mattheus.
“My family has a house on the island. We’ve been coming down to St. Bart's for as long as I can remember. It’s home to me.”
“This is where you met Tiffany?” asked Cindy.
“Yes,” said Tad, “we actually knew each other for a long while. Her family also came down to the island regularly. I saw her around at parties and always thought she was beautiful. Not just beautiful, charming, heartwarming. Tiffany had a way about her that made everybody smile.” He lifted both hands over his face.
“I’m sorry,” said Cindy.
Tad took his hands down and looked up at her, his face wet with tears. He was an odd mixture of strength and fragility, thought Cindy.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” he said, “and can’t wake up.”
“You must have loved her very much,” said Cindy.
Tad smiled at her oddly. “Yes, I did, so did she. It took us time to realize it, but when we did, it was full steam ahead.”
“How long did it take?” asked Mattheus.
“In the beginning, I noticed her at parties. We had a few words, here and there. She was the popular girl and I was more of a loner. The party scene was never for me. Tiffany adored it. She made me smile, though. She always made me smile.” Tad stopped speaking and stared into the distance.
Speaking about it made it real, and that was hard for him, Cindy noticed.
“Then what happened?” Mattheus urged him on.
“We started to date about two years ago,” Tad continued, “just a little. It was nice, but at first we decided to just stay friends. Our interests were so different then. I knew the time wasn’t yet right.”