Free Torn Asunder by Ann Cristy

years."
    Over
lunch Cle discovered how delightful the company was. Everyone was friendly and
eager to show her all the rudiments of surfing. Later, when she appeared in a
one piece lycra bathing suit, she felt Max's eyes on her.
    "No
wonder, Jaime is so protective of you, Cle. You are quite lovely." He
looked at the slight frown on her face and shrugged, lifting her board to his
shoulder and carrying it to the water's edge.
    Cle
felt awkward and nervous when she tried to grasp the board as the others were
doing. All at once she had the feeling that she should announce it was too soon
after lunch to swim or that the waves looked too dangerous, or...
    "Feeling
edgy, Cle? Everyone does the first time but you'll like it once you try it. It
takes years and dedication to be expert at this sport but even a novice can
have fun if she's careful. Come along now, push your board out and lie on it
full length. I'll be right next to you."
    Cle
could feel her heart pounding as she paddled out over those deep troughs.
Neither she nor Max paddled out as far as the others, Cle turning her board as
Max directed then looking over her shoulder at the rollers that seemed to come
endlessly.
    "Here
comes a nice one for us, Cle. It's small."
    Cle
gulped, thinking Max must be out of his mind if he called that crusher
galloping up behind them small. She did as he said, though, and began paddling
toward the beach and when she felt the upward thrust of the wave she pulled her
legs up under her until she was kneeling. She couldn't bring herself to stand
as Max was doing, but still she got an enormous thrill from the ride. She
tumbled from the board as it slid into shore. Laughing and shaking out her
hair, she called to Max. "That was fabulous. Let's do it again."
    Cle
felt all her muscles come into play as she tried the board again and again,
sometimes simply losing balance and falling down, several times being plowed
down by the force of the water. It was exhilarating, it was dangerous, and she
welcomed the deep fatigue that affected her when they called a halt.
    "Dear
Lord, Cle," the woman named Pam exclaimed, "you're in better shape
than all of us. If I had done this much on my first time out I would have been
stiff for a month."
    Cle
gave her a rueful smile. "I'll be stiff, I'm sure, but it's worth it. I
loved it. No wonder you Australians are always smiling. You work off all your
tensions in that lovely surf."
    The
others laughed and made teasing remarks to one another about her observation.
She felt very much at home. Then, too, the knowledge that she was so tired that
she would undoubtedly sleep through this Christmas Eve night made her glad. She
was afraid of more torture from memories of how Dev had awakened her every hour
last year to cuddle and love her and each time had given her a small,
beautifully wrapped gift. She could still see Dev's elfin grin when she chided
him for his extravagance in buying her so many things and how he'd kissed her.
Then he'd told her not to lecture him, that he had sent a check in an amount
equal to all the gifts he'd bought to Mother Theresa of Calcutta—and in her
name. Cle had cried and hugged him hard. She'd mumbled over and over, "I
love you, I love you," but perhaps not loud enough for Dev to hear.
    She
was glad when dinner that evening was loud and raucous. She was grateful for
Alistair's two children, who were so excited they could hardly eat. It felt
good to watch the children tear into the two gifts they were allowed to open on
Christmas Eve and sing the Christmas carols. She hoped the others would take
the mistiness in her eyes for sentimentality.
    "It's
hard to be away from your own country and people on Christmas, but soon, Cle,
you will think of us as your people."
    Cle
gave Max a grateful smile and allowed him to kiss her under the mistletoe.
    Jaime
called from Hawaii two days before New Year's Eve to tell her that he would be
there to celebrate with her and Max. They met Jaime's plane and it seemed