“Kate was never really happy with him,” said Carl, “everyone knew that. It was always one thing and then another, up and down, back and forth. They’d get together and then break up again, all through college and after. That’s a sign of danger, I told her. If you knew how many times I begged her not to go back to him.”
“What do you mean a danger sign? Cindy was all over it. “Did he harm her?”
“I don’t mean it like that,” said Carl. “I mean it’s a sign that the two of them were not really meant for each other. Too much turbulence in their patterns, if you know what I mean. Differences don’t usually get better, they get worse. Sooner or later, the relationship breaks. And, the longer it goes on, the harder it hits.” Carl looked distressed as he spoke, as though he knew the drill well, had been through it himself many times.
Sadly, also had Cindy. “Why did Kate keep going back to Sean?” she asked.
“That’s the real question, isn’t it?” said Carl, turning full face to Cindy and looking into her eyes, deep down, way past the question. “If we had an answer to that one, the world would be a different place, love would last -.”
“Love lasts,” said Cindy in a small voice.
Carl smiled and moved closer to her. “Really? For whom? When?”
For a moment Cindy wanted to tell him about Clint, that she still loved him either though he’d died. But, she stopped herself instantly. That was beyond the scope of the conversation, and also it suddenly struck her, that she didn’t think of talking about Mattheus that way.
“Kate went back to Sean over and over because loved him,” Tyra chimed in, unabashed. “She loved Sean wildly.”
Carl winced.
“Carl could never understand that,” Tyra continued, “but to me it was obvious. Kate was never herself when she broke up with Sean. She’d go places, see friends, was always popular, but part of her was always just waiting for them to get back together again.”
“I don’t get it, never did,” Carl’s jaw clenched hard, “such a gorgeous girl, such a beautiful heart, what the hell did she see in him? He was lousy at school, dropped out of college, loved racing cars, hung out with a bunch of arrogant losers.”
It sounded gruesome to Cindy, like a strange kind of torture for Kate.
Tyra put her hand on Carl’s now.
“I did my best to stop it,” Carl continued, “I even tried to bribe her once. Nothing worked.”
“Kate loved you, Carl,” Tyra suddenly cried out, her voice breaking. “No one in the world could have been a better uncle than you. It’s not your fault. Some women like guys who give them a hard time. They can’t help it. I’ve seen it before.”
Cindy thought for a moment about her relationship with Mattheus, also up and down, wonderful and then troublesome. Was that a sign of danger? There was certainly a fascination about it though. It never got boring, that was for sure.
“Okay, tell us, what did you find out about Kate and Sean?” Carl wanted to know more.
Cindy was relieved to get back on track. “People on Kate’s Facebook page mentioned that she and Sean had recently broken up, had even come close to getting engaged.”
“Thank God that never happened,” said Carl nervously.
“That would have been better than this,” Tyra interrupted.
“Some said that Kate had been really hurt by the recent breakup,” Cindy continued. “They wondered why she was getting engaged to someone else so fast.”
“They wondered? What about us?” Tyra couldn’t seem to absorb the idea. “Kate never once said a word to any of us that she was getting engaged.”
That was definitely jarring, no doubt about it.
“You’re sure of that?” asked Cindy. “Kate didn’t mention it to you either, Carl?”
“No, she didn’t,” Carl shook his head. “It came as a shock.”
“Did she mention Clay at all?” Cindy continued.
“Very little,” Tyra shrugged. “I knew she was emailing with someone online, but that’s what they all do, isn’t it?”
“Just emailing?” asked Cindy.
“Kate said she met someone online who wrote wonderful emails and sometimes sent her poems. She looked forward to reading them, it made her feel better. I vaguely knew he came up to Long Island to meet her a few times and they went out on some dates,” said Tyra. “Kate didn’t say much about their dates, either. He was just someone from out of town. It didn’t seem important.”
“Have you met him yet?” asked Cindy.
Tyra covered her face with her hands and started crying. “I haven’t, I can’t. It’s too awful.”
Cindy turned to Carl. “Did Kate mention that she dated Clay to you?” Cindy asked.
“Yes,” Carl said somberly. “Frankly, I was glad that someone else had caught her interest. I never met him, but it sounded was good. He seemed stable enough, did well in school, worked for his father’s company. They didn’t actually meet or start emailing until after she and Sean broke up. Sean cheated on Kate with a girl in town, Riva. A piece of trash.”