Jonah
Yeah I heard it too. We’re keeping an eye on it.
Mae
Are you guys going to head home?
Jonah
Not yet. Still have a few traps to pull. Back tomorrow as scheduled.
Mae
OK. Be careful.
Jonah
I always am.
Mae
I miss you.
Jonah
I miss you too.
‘What’s got you all happy?’ Jim asked, coming up from below with two steaming mugs of coffee.
‘What?’
‘Well I know that big old smile ain’t for me.’
‘You’re right. It’s not.’
‘In my experience, a smile like that can only be from a woman.’
I chuckled and blew on the top of the coffee. ‘Her name is Mae. She’s a nurse. Moved here not long ago. We’ve been… getting to know each other.’
‘Mae? I’ve heard about her. She’s been going to the house and changing the dressing for my brother after he had that skin cancer off. He said she’s very pretty.’
‘She is.’
‘He also said she’s real nice. Kind.’
‘Your brother is right.’
‘It serious?’
I thought about it before answering. ‘I think so, yeah. It’s early days, but I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.’
‘She must be pretty special.’
I thought about Mae trusting me to teach her how to use snowshoes. Our dance at the turning of the light. Ice skating. The sheer and utter panic I’d felt when I couldn’t find her in the storm, and then our night together in the tent. I thought about her face the other morning when I’d kissed her goodbye. It was the middle of the night and she’d still been in bed. Sound asleep beside me. I’d tried to get up without waking her but extricating my body from beneath her head, arm and one leg hadbeen impossible, and she’d woken up, sleepily asking if I had to go. I hated leaving her. Hair disheveled, lips pouting. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back beneath the sheets and make love to her. But I’d already committed to Jim, and I never went back on my word.
‘Yeah, she is,’ I told him. ‘Very special.’
A gust of wind sent the wheelhouse door banging.
