As soon as I walked in, I headed to the bathroom for a shower. I’d been in a spell those past few days, even if I remembered now and again all the things I’d have to do when I got back to Montreal, andthose thoughts upset me. I wasn’t ready, but I had to admit I might never be, and even that visceral fear couldn’t stop me.
There’s a phrase I love, one that gives me hope and strength when I think about it:Everything passes. I used to dip my head under the water and repeat it to myself like a mantra.
Trey took a shower of his own while I went to the kitchen to make dinner—the last meal we’d share in that house. Burritos with grilled vegetables.
I cut everything up into little slices and roasted it with a little oil, heating the tortillas in the oven. In ten minutes, everything was ready.
I laid our dinner out picnic-style on the porch, with a blanket and pillows to make us more comfortable. The night was gorgeous. Alongside the dishes, I poured us each a glass of wine. Once more, I savored the beauty of the landscape, waiting for Trey to appear. His hair was damp, he smelled of soap, and I felt a shiver up my spine. He sat across from me, crossing his long legs. The candles I had lit made his eyes twinkle and cast deep shadows across his face.
During dinner, he told me more about the Mi’kmaq, including legends about their gods that I tucked away in that part of my head where I liked to keep ideas for future stories. I couldn’t help it; I did it without thinking. Every detail awakened my imagination: a phrase, a song, an image…and then the gears started turning. And the pieces of the enormous puzzle that is a novel started to come together: people, scenes, dialogues…
I still don’t know how to explain it. How a book is born. How it develops, grows, weaves together. It’s something that just happens.
As we finished our bottle of wine, we planned the next day.
Our farewell day.
The day we’d return to the real world.
“Now you can go ahead and tell me how my sister found this house.”
Seemingly out of nowhere, he replied, “For a long time, I didn’t tell them the truth about my mother.”
“Are you talking about my brother and sister?”
He nodded. “I never told them, and I never told Scott. The day after the party, though, after Hoyt took you to the airport, the four of us had lunch together, sort of to say goodbye. I guess they could tell something was up with me, and you know how they are. They wouldn’t stop pressuring me. So finally I let it out.”
“What did they say?”
“Nothing. They didn’t say anything. They just packed their bags and bought plane tickets and dragged me to Lennox for the funeral. No one reproached me, no one was angry with me, nothing.”
I could tell the memory was bittersweet, and for a moment, it seemed to have sucked him in. I knew he was thinking about them.
“You really care about them, don’t you?” I asked.
“They’re the closest thing to a family I’ve ever had. We ended up staying on the island a few days, and once, when we’d gone out to Charlottetown, Hayley saw the ad for this house in the window of a real estate agent. It was love at first sight. She made us catch the ferry that same day to come see it.”
“That’s Hayley for you. I struggle sometimes to understand how a person that rational, that methodical, can be so impulsive at the same time. I’ve always wanted that self-assurance of hers, that resoluteness.”
“You have those things, though, just in your own way.”
I took a sip of wine and smirked. I wished I could see myself the way he did. “What happened once you saw the house?”
“She never told you?”
“No.”
He cradled his glass in his hands. “There’s not much to tell, really. Scott bought the house, but he kept it a secret until he’d renovated and furnished it. He used Hoyt and me as free labor. It was theperfect engagement gift. He was always the romantic one, out of all of us.”
When we were done eating, we lay back and looked up at the sky. Trey reached over and pulled me on top of him and held me.
“So now what?” I whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“You. Me. Montreal. Us.”
I slid off him, and he toyed with my hair as he responded, “Honestly, I just assumed we’d turn into one of those corny couples that I’ve always hated.”
