Chapter 7

Cindy picked up the guardian charm, now thoroughly drenched. Arthur hadn't noticed the tiny slip of paper she had tucked inside. "May Arthur Forsyth be safe, happy, and blessed." The ink had blurred, the words now little more than faint smudges, swallowed by the water. A sharp, metallic bitterness rose in Cindy's throat. She swallowed hard, blinking back tears. … Three days later, Cindy was back at work. The cuts and bruises from the car accident had mostly faded, but her stomach cancer was getting worse by the day. When Sylvan visited her at home, he begged her over and over to stay home, but nothing he said could change her mind. That night, Arthur took her to another one of his drinking gatherings. The group kept urging her to drink, and she went along with it without a second thought. "Ms. Tessier, you really hold your liquor well. Women like you are hard to come by!" A searing pain burned through Cindy's stomach, but Arthur only watched as she kept drinking, lost in the lively chatter around them. Once again, she drank from the start of the gathering until the final toast. Just before the night ended, she slipped into the restroom and quietly took two pills. Cindy pushed through the pain as she returned to the private room, only to find the gathering had already broken up. Arthur was gone. She was used to being left behind and figured he had ditched her again. Saying nothing, she turned and headed out, intending to hail a cab home. A biting wind cut through her the moment she stepped out of the club. The headlights of passing cars blurred before her eyes, their shapes smearing together in a haze. Drunk and disoriented, Cindy wandered toward the middle of the road, her arm lifting instinctively to flag down a cab. Blaring horns erupted around her as cars swerved, their drivers slamming brakes at the sight of someone stepping into traffic. But Cindy moved sluggishly. Just as a car was about to hit her, a hand seized her and yanked her back onto the sidewalk. Warm breath brushed against her skin. She looked up and met Arthur's piercing gaze. "You trying to get yourself into another accident?" he asked. Cindy stared at him, stunned, her mind momentarily blank. The two stood close, and suddenly, a memory from years ago surfaced—one from a day when several college clubs had gathered for a beach party. Having never seen the ocean before, Cindy was thrilled as she gathered seashells along the shore. But a crab hidden in the sand pinched her, causing her to lose her balance. Arthur had reacted instantly, catching her before she could fall. The momentum brought their lips together in an unexpected kiss. Then, his kisses deepened, his breath turning uneven. With everyone else captivated by the sea, no one noticed the usually distant campus heartthrob pulling her in, kissing her without restraint. The ocean breeze, the bonfire, and their friends framed what felt like the final days of their youth. Amid the crowd, Arthur and Cindy laid bare the love they had kept hidden. Only now did she realize that that moment had been the most beautiful moment of her life. As Arthur held her close, she couldn't help but wonder if he, too, was lost in some distant memory. A sharp voice suddenly rang out from behind. "What are you two doing?" Annette had come to pick up Arthur and had walked right into the scene. As if jolted awake from a dream, Arthur pushed Cindy away, something unreadable flickering across his face. Without a word, he turned and headed toward Annette. "It's nothing. Let's go," he murmured. Annette cast a long, weighty look at Cindy before taking Arthur's hand and leaving with him. Cindy stood frozen as if she were already drunk or lost in some far-off memory. It wasn't until Sylvan came looking for her that she was finally led away, her mind adrift in a fog of intoxication. She had just gotten home late that night when a message popped up on her phone. "To all our old classmates in Jorleston—let's get together this Saturday at Euphoria Club!" As Cindy scrolled through the long list of tagged names, she spotted hers and Arthur's side by side. These days, this was the only way their names ever appeared together—nothing more. The group chat lit up almost instantly. Everyone chimed in eagerly, like it was back in those early days after graduation when no one was ready to go their separate ways.