“We’ve been walking in circles for a while, and we were starting to think we’d never find it,” he said. “By the way, I’m Nick, and this is my wife, Novalie.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“A pleasure,” I responded.
“It’s this way,” Trey said. “I’m assuming you’re not from Montreal.”
“We’re not even Canadian. We live in Boston, but we spend a lot of time in Bluehaven. We’re in Canada for our honeymoon, traveling from coast to coast,” Nick said.
“Congratulations! Why’d you pick Canada, though? Didn’t you want somewhere warmer, with exotic beaches and daiquiris?” I asked.
“We’ve got a little sailboat, and we go out a couple of times a year, usually to the south. This time, we wanted to do something different,” Novalie said.
“Well, I hope it’s been special,” I told her.
“It’s been amazing. Are you both from Montreal?”
“Yeah, and we both live here. Trey’s an architect and I own a bookstore.”
“You own a bookstore?” Novalie asked, excited. “My aunt has one in Bluehaven. I like to help her out whenever I visit her. It’s such a special place for me. You can’t imagine…”
Nick looked at her over his shoulder. By now, the men had moved ahead of us, and she and I were walking together.
“I inherited my shop from my grandmother. She died not long ago.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.” I shrugged. I felt so comfortable with her that I made a little confession. “The bookstore was her life, and she held it togetherthrough thick and thin for decades. I hope I can do the same. It means a lot to me. I basically grew up in the place.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“It’s kind of a calling for me.”
“Why just ‘kind of’?”
“Because my other thing is writing. I’m going to try to do both and pray that I’ve made the right decision.”
Novalie’s green eyes didn’t blink as she looked over, trying to see something inside me. “You know, since I was really little, I’ve always liked dance. Ballet. My mother was a dancer. She was really good, and I always wanted to be like her.”
“You saidwas.”
“Yeah, she died years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” She and I had more things in common than I would have guessed.
“After her death, I gave up dancing. It wasn’t until I started college that I enrolled in a dance academy. It was nothing big, just a way to scratch the itch while I was studying comparative literature. Then, when I was finished with school, I had a revelation, and I ended up starting my own ballet school. It barely sustains itself, but I don’t regret it because it’s what I was meant to do. When you do something because you like it, it’s always the right decision.”
“You’re right. And it took me too long to figure that out. By the way, I studied literature, too.”
“For real?” I nodded. “You and I seem to have a lot in common,” she said.
“Harper,” Trey called. “They’ve got two extra tickets for Bring Me the Horizon tonight at MTelus. You want to go?”
“Please do,” Novalie said. “We were supposed to take my friend Lucy and her boyfriend, Roberto, but they missed their flight,” Novalie said.
“Yeah, why not? We were already planning to get a drink and go dancing,” I replied.
“Cool!” Nick said.
