His thoughts seemed to trail off as he looked skyward. “It was the last Christmas our small family would spend together.”
Umiko’s eyes widened as the timeline started making sense to her. Cain could tell she now had an idea where this tragic story was going.
“I woke up super early on December twenty-sixth. I didn’t want to wake her or the baby. I hopped on a scuba boat at the hotel and went out. The sun was coming out by the time we arrived at our first dive location. During my second dive, I was about forty feet below when I saw the boat’s anchor dragging through the ocean floor. I knew something was wrong right away. I had never seen that before, and I couldn’t hear the boat’s motor. So I knew it wasn’t just a hungover captain trying to move his boat while anchored.
“I had to ascend, but I had to go up really slowly. Otherwise, I risked getting decompression sickness. My dive partner, a British traveler who was vacationing alone, surfaced with me. When we popped our heads out of the water, our boat was gone! We dropped our weight belts and inflated our BCDs. We swam for hours and hours to get back to the hotel. We eventually found the boat, but the hotel was practically gone. It looked like it had been bombed.”
Cain’s voice started to shake. “Dead bodies were floating in the water. Cars and roads were not visible anymore. Poisonous snakes were swimming in the water with us. I rushed to where our room had once been. I could barely move. My skin was wrinkled from being in the water for over five hours, and my muscles were failing me from swimming thousands of yards. I was operating on pure adrenaline to rescue my family. I went to our room—what was left of it. It was blocked by broken boards. I grabbed my scuba tank and banged it repeatedly until the boards broke and I was able to enter. Everything was gone.”
Umiko’s tears streamed down her soft face. “Did you find your wife and son?”
Cain lowered his head into his hand. He shook his head no. “Over the next several days, I saw relatives using cooking utensils to dig graves for their loved ones who had died. There were also some monks who were burning the bodies of those who had died. They didn’t even know the names of who they were cremating.”
Cain looked up into Umiko’s eyes. “I cling to the hope they died quickly—even better if it was while they slept together in the hotel bed.”
Umiko embraced Cain and they cried together.
“You will see them again,” she assured him. “On the other side, they will be waiting for you.”
“Do you really think so?” he asked.
“With all my heart.”
Chapter 55
Monday morning approached quickly, but it felt like no other Monday Cain had experienced. He felt different because he was different. He had come to grips with the reality that he could not change the past. He had finally found peace with the tragedy in Thailand. I will strive to live in the present, he promised himself. When it’s my time to die, then I’ll see my Claire Bear and little Christopher. But I will honor their deaths by living.
The world took on a different form. The sky seemed a brighter blue, the grass beneath his feet softer, the air fresher, and the flowers smelled sweeter. And more importantly, Cain’s connection with Umiko was deeper, and his fondness for her continued to grow. The two made sure to sit across from each other during the retreat’s breakfast.
“No wonder everyone is so thin and fit in Japan,” Cain commented to Umiko.
“Because of our diet?”
“Diet is certainly an appropriate word to use here. This has gotta be a first for me—grilled fish on a bed of lettuce for breakfast!”
“What do you normally eat for breakfast?”
“I enjoy cooking, so if I have time, I make a vegetable omelet with bacon. Or, if I’m feeling homesick, I’ll fry beignets.”
“Mm, that sounds delicious. I’ve only seen beignets on television.”
“Oh, they are.” He smiled mischievously. “But don’t take my word for it. I’ll cook for you sometime and you can be the judge.”
“Okay,” Umiko replied. “I will be the judge. But I must warn you: I’m very fair.”
As they were grabbing their belongings in preparation for jumping on the bus and heading back to Yokohama, the monks wandered through the gathering to return the cell phones. Cain grabbed his and