Sixty-Two
Thursday, December 23
Tranquility Bay
As the women followed Tess down to the beach, Eva looked over the assembled crowd. As Tess had indicated, Gilberto was there with his wife and five children. Eva thought they looked perfectly well-behaved. Dr. Flores was also in attendance, along with his wife and their newborn. Jose and his mother sat in the back row, and Leo and his family sat just in front of them. Axel wasn’t seated with the rest, but was instead by his sound equipment on the deck of an oceanfront room. Ruben was sitting with the other resort staff. Oliver and Owens sat together off to one side, and most of Eva’s mother’s friends—from her church and Baptist Bible study—were gathered together in one row.
And at the front of them all, grinning from ear to ear, stood Mel
