by Gail Bowen
“There is no end to anything. The horizon is only an apparent division. As we move forward, it keeps moving away. There is no end to anything. There is only change.”
— Ernest Lindner
After the screen went dark, neither Zack nor I spoke. We simply held each other close. Finally, I broke the silence.
“That was perfect,” I said. “If the rest of the episodes are as extraordinary as this, Roy’s legacy is assured. Audiences will see Sally in all her glorious complexity, and they’ll know the power of Des’s art.”
“And Nina?” Zack said. “What will the audience’s takeaway be about her?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Nina will always be the big question mark in my life. Des had two daughters: Nina killed one of them and saved the other.”
“That sounds very Old Testament.”
“It does,” I agreed. “I’ve spent much of my life trying to reconcile what Nina did for me with what she did to Sally. I still haven’t come up with an answer, so I guess audiences are going to have to figure that one out for themselves.”
“Maybe that’s the lesson,” Zack said. “We are all a mixed bag when it comes to morality. The only thing we can do is sort through the bag, acknowledge that the dark side exists and figure out where it comes from before it swallows the person we have the potential to be.”
“That’s an answer I just might be able to live with,” I said. “You’re not just a pretty face, are you?”
“No, I’m the guy who loves you, and I’ve seen the toll this has taken on you,” Zack said. “I’m glad Sisters and Strangers gave you what you needed, Jo, but I’m relieved that it’s finished.”
“I am too,” I said. “I want more August in our lives, Zack.”
Zack’s face creased in a smile at the memory. “August was great — day after day of kids, grandkids, dogs, the lake and you.”
“August has always been a good month for us,” I said. “Our first August together was transforming. July was all hot summer nights and great sex.”
Zack raised an eyebrow. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“No, but August was when we realized that we belonged together. By the time the leaves turned, we both knew that we’d been given something better than anything we could have wished for or imagined.”
Zack took my hand. “And we’re not going to squander what we’ve been given. Jo, I was going to surprise you with this on Christmas morning. But I’ve told my partners that as of January 1, I’ll be in the office three days a week, max. The rest of the time I’ll be wherever you and the dogs are.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am. On New Year’s Day, we will have been married seven years — the best seven years of my life.”
“And mine,” I said. “Every so often I take off my wedding ring and read the inscription. ‘A deal’s a deal.’ It always makes me smile, and it always makes me feel safe.”
“It’s the best deal I ever made,” Zack said, but his smile was shadowed. “I just wish there wasn’t a catch. The vows we took at the cathedral that morning make it clear that death ends the deal.”
“I don’t believe that,” I said. “Nothing will ever part us, Zack.”
Zack’s voice was husky. “I defer to your judgment,” he said. “And who knows? Now that we have more time to love and to cherish, you and I might just beat the odds and last forever.”
“Remember those kisses that Kevin Costner talked about in Bull Durham?”
Zack grinned. “The long, slow, deep, soft, wet ones that last for three days?”
“Those are the ones.” I moved in close. “Let’s get started.”
Acknowledgements
Thanks to:
Emily Schultz, my editor for her uncanny ability to know what needed to be done and for her boundless enthusiasm for the work we were doing together.
Jennifer Smith, who read the manuscript as soon as it arrived at ECW and said all the right things.
The ECW team, who were consummately professional and kind.
Hildy Bowen and Brett Bell, for their love and endless patience with my temperamental MacBook Air and me.
Max and Carrie Bowen, for their love and support.
Kai Langen, Brittany Scheelhaase, Madeleine Bowen-Diaz, Lena Bowen-Diaz, Chesney Langen-Bell, Ben Bowen Bell, Peyton Bowen and Lexi Bowen who are a constant source of delight.
Naima Kazmi, MD, for her gentle manner and her professionalism.
Wayne Chau, BSP, for his wise counsel and great sense of humour.
Ron and Cindy, our loving and generous neighbours.
Ted, for fifty-two years of love, laughter and friendship.
About the Author
Gail Bowen is an author, playwright, and teacher. Among her numerous writing awards are a lifetime achievement award from the Crime Writers of Canada and the Distinguished Canadian Award from the University of Regina. Reader’s Digest has called her Canada’s best mystery novelist. In 2018, she was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and the Grand Master Award of Crime Writers of Canada. She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, with her husband, Ted.
Copyright
Copyright © Gail Bowen, 2020
Published by ECW Press
665 Gerrard Street East
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4M 1Y2
416-694-3348 / [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Cover design: Michel Vrana
Author photo: © Madeline Bowen-Diaz
Two of the pieces of art made by the character, Sally Love, have been described in Murder at the Mendel, an earlier novel in the Joanne Kilbourn-Shreve series.
Pages 95-96: Sally Love’s Perfect Circles
Pages 190-191: Sally Love’s self-portrait
First published by McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1991
First M&S paperback edition, 1992
Joanne’s description of Zack’s paraplegia appears in Kaleidoscope, page 198, published by McClelland & Stewart, 2012.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the au-thor’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library and Archives Canada cataloguing in publication
Title: The unlocking season / Gail Bowen.
Names: Bowen, Gail, 1942– author.
Series: Bowen, Gail, 1942- Joanne Kilbourn mysteries.
Description: Series statement: A Joanne Kilbourn mystery
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200234412 Canadiana (ebook) 20200234420
ISBN 978-1-77041-528-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-77305-583-1 (PDF)
ISBN 978177305-582-4 (epub)
Classification: LCC PS8553.O8995 U55 2020
DDC C813/.54—dc23
The publication of The Unlocking Season has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country and is funded in part by the Government of Canada. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays. Ce livre est financé en partie par le gouvernemen
t du Canada. We acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,737 individual artists and 1,095 organizations in 223 communities across Ontario for a total of $52.1 million. We also acknowledge the contribution of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit, and through Ontario Creates for the marketing of this book.