To rectify this, Paul took his camera in spite of the weather.
“They won’t look much,” he said. “Still, we might be able to take some more when we visit, if the new owner will let us.”
“I’m not sure I’ll want to come back to the house,” Riley confessed. “But we’ll see.”
The trail itself was quite wet after a fair amount of rain. Fog swirled above the trees and a pungent smell from the rotting leaves of wild raisin permeated the air. They walked to the back line, then returned to the meadow and the place they had christened Dragonfly Clearing. As if in salutation, a wet sun came out for a few moments, long enough for Paul to take a few pictures.
That done, he closed the camera case and looked at Riley. Her eyes were moist.
“In spite of everything, I’d made up my mind to keep this place,” she said. “It seems so cruel to have it taken away, and through no fault of our own.”
Paul took her in his arms and kissed her gently. “If we had the money, we could buy it back.”
“Fat chance, my love.”
“You never know. Perhaps in a few years…”
The walk down the trail set a somber mood for the rest of the day, but when they awoke on Friday, both resolved to think positive and cheer up. They had to, because the next item on the agenda was dinner with Paul’s parents. Riley had sometimes found them rather dour, as Scots are often thought to be, but that evening their true feelings showed through. It was obvious they were going to miss Paul a great deal and Riley as well.
Saturday was another busy day. They spent most of it shuttling back and forth to Jean’s with the last of their belongings. After a dinner of cod au gratin, which was one of Jean’s specialties, they sat around the fire and chatted.
“You’ll come and stay with us, of course,” said Riley. “How about the Christmas break?”
“I’d love that.” Jean was gazing into the flames. “I know I shouldn’t grumble, but somehow the business with Jonathan has taken all the fun out of life. Coming to Toronto will be something I can really look forward to. Quite apart from seeing you guys again, I’ve always wanted to visit the place. Then you’ll be back in Newfoundland from time to time. Needless to say, you will always be welcome here.”
Soon after that, Riley and Paul left. Riley noticed that Paul was a little embarrassed when Jean kissed him on the cheek as they said good-bye.
“She’s become such a lonely soul,” Riley commented as they drove up the hill for their last night at the house on Dog Cove Road. “Maybe it’s time for her to leave as well.”
“I guess you’re right. Perhaps the Christmas visit will nudge her into doing just that.”
When they went bed, Riley snuggled up to Paul and put her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry to be so miserable,” she said. “I don’t even feel like making love.”
“Me neither, Riley-girl. I’m half-dead. And as for being miserable, it’s only natural.”
Riley kissed his neck. “I’ll be okay once we’re on the mainland. That’s a promise. And we don’t have to drive all day and every day, do we? I mean, there’ll be time to see a few places, won’t there?”
“You bet,” Paul replied. “I can think of some already.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
So Long Newfoundland
On Sunday morning, the alarm went off at six-thirty. Riley and Paul wanted to arrive in Corner Brook by evening. This would give them an extra day for emergencies since the ferry departed from Port aux Basques on Tuesday.
Riley struggled out of bed while Paul groaned and turned over. He watched as she put on her housecoat and went to the window.
“Brr!” she said. “The house feels cold.”
The reason was obvious when she pulled back the drapes. “Damn! Guess what, it’s snowing and the whole world’s gone white!”
Paul struggled to his feet and grabbed his underpants from the floor. He put them on and joined Riley. “Okay, let’s see what we’ve got. It looks worse than it really is. Notice the size of the snowflakes? They’re big and wet. There’s a saying in Newfoundland that goes, ‘Big flakes small snow.’ It’s very true. I don’t think this will affect the roads one little bit. Why don’t you dial the weather office while I get some tea?”
Riley did. The forecast was wet flurries changing to showers. Paul had been right, of course. She hung up and went to the bathroom for a wash then returned to the bedroom. It was an intimate place where she and Paul had made love more times than she could remember. It seemed very strange to leave so much behind, but furniture, bedding and even cutlery had been included with the house itself. Still, Ms. Dillon would have to wash the sheets—Riley drew the line at that.
Light snow was still falling when they put on their jackets and carried suitcases, duffel bags and loose footwear to the Mustang. Paul cleaned off the car while Riley went indoors again for a final look around. She felt a lump in her throat as she moved from room to room. Satisfied they hadn’t forgotten anything, she closed the front door for the last time. A quick glance at the house and she got into the car. It was hard to believe they might never see the place again.
Paul started the engine. “One stop at the store to drop off the keys and say good-bye to Doris, then we can hit the road.”
“Mr. McGrath said he’d pick up the keys tomorrow,” Riley added pointlessly.
As usual, the bell above the store door tinkled cheerfully when they went inside, but Doris was nowhere to be seen.
“We could leave the keys on the counter,” Paul suggested. “She’ll know what they are.”
“And go without saying good-bye?” exclaimed Riley. “No way!”
At that moment, a toilet flushed somewhere in the building. Footsteps approached along the passage from the back and Doris came through the open door.
“Makin’ an early start, are you? Proper t’ing on a day like this.”
“We’re stopping for the night at Corner Brook,” said Riley. “Here are the house keys as we arranged.”
“I never thought it would come to this, and that’s the truth,” said Doris.
Riley gave her a hug. “We’ll see you sometime for sure.”
Doris turned to Paul, who was standing in front of the counter. “Look after ‘er, Mr. Weatherman, and good luck to yourself.”
“Thanks, and good luck to you, Doris.” Paul held the door open for Riley.
She was about to step into the driving wet snow when Doris said, “I almost forgot. Brought some fresh happles for you.” She picked up a basket from the counter and handed it to Riley.
“Hey, that’s real nice of you,” replied Riley. “Wow! Do they ever look good!”
“Thanks again,” said Paul. “Apples are the best thing when you’re on the road.”
The drive to Corner Brook was long and tedious, but the snow soon turned to rain and they made good time. Even so, by bedtime they were exhausted. Next morning, they checked out of the hotel and walked around the building to the car park out back. As soon as Riley saw the Mustang, she knew that something was wrong; it was leaning over ominously.
“Damn and hell!” cried Paul. “We’ve got a flat!”
The tire in question was on the passenger’s side at the rear. It was completely deflated.
“Just as well we allowed an extra day,” Riley commented. “I’ll help you change the wheel.”
“Thanks. That’ll speed things up a bit. We’d better find a garage and get the hole fixed right away.” Paul unlocked the trunk and shook his head. All the luggage had to be taken out before they could remove the spare, which was in a compartment beneath the trunk.
After the job was done, it didn’t take long to find a garage but they had to wait over an hour before they could get the tire patched. The end result was a late arrival at the motel in Port aux Basques. Paul hadn’t been there before, but there wasn’t that much to see. It was a typical small Newfoundland town with picturesque streets and the big CN Ferry terminal. Their journey across the island was o
ver.
Tuesday began with hustle and bustle: a long lineup at the ferry, noisy bumping up the ramps to their parking deck, then exploring the vessel itself. As the ten o’clock departure time approached, they found a spot on deck where they could see the lines being cast off from the dockside. As soon as the ship reached the open sea, they moved to the stern and watched the coast sink toward the horizon. It took quite a while before it finally disappeared. By this time, Riley was getting cold.
“It’s gone,” she said, looking up at Paul. “I wonder when we’ll see Newfoundland again?”
“I don’t know, Riley-girl. All we can do is play it by ear.”
Riley sniffed, then tears began to flow as she buried her face in his shoulder.
It was early in the afternoon of Wednesday, November 1, a week after they had left North Sydney. They were approaching Scarborough on the outskirts of Toronto.
“It’s not much further,” said Riley. “There’s no food in the apartment, so why don’t we stop for lunch? I’ll drive the last bit ‘cause I know the way.”
Traveling westward along the 401, they had made good time since leaving Kingston where they’d spent the previous night.
“Great idea,” Paul replied. “I’m quite hungry.”
A few minutes later, they stopped at a service center for coffee and sandwiches. Riley hated these crowded eating places with their tasteless food and cigarette smoke, so they ate their lunch in the car.
Not long after leaving the 401, she found herself driving along familiar roads. It was a very strange feeling. Everything became even more unreal when she turned off Queen Street East into an urban crescent. The apartment formed the top level of a two-storey house about halfway around the loop.
“Hey, it looks great,” said Paul as she swung the Mustang into a paved parking area.
Riley pulled up beside a black Oldsmobile that she didn’t remember. Maybe there were new neighbors on the ground floor.
They got out and collected a couple of bags apiece from the trunk, then headed for an outside door. Riley put down her luggage.
“The apartments have private entrances,” she said, returning the car keys to Paul and fumbling in her jacket pocket for her own. “The other’s at the rear of the building. God, it’s weird coming back, like it was another lifetime. I’ll feel a lot better once we’ve spent the night together.”
She opened the door and they went up a bare wooden staircase to a second door, which required a different key. There was a coat rack and wall phone just inside.
“That’s good security,” Paul commented.
Riley led him through the large living room to her old bedroom. It looked out over the back yard where a maple tree obscured the house at the rear. She glanced at the double bed. Its bare, pale blue mattress looked uninviting. She wondered where the comforter was. Joni had probably stowed it in one of the closets.
They set down their bags and Riley sat on the bed.
“Let’s cozy the place up a bit,” she said. “After that I could do with a shower. Do you want to join me?”
“You’ve been reading my mind, Riley-girl. Sharing a shower will make me feel less like a stranger, being here, I mean. It’s hard to believe that you had another life before we met, but I don’t think it will be long before we’re normal again.”
In the late afternoon, Paul went on his first streetcar ride, which was to a downtown restaurant for an early dinner.
As soon as they returned, Riley announced she was going to call Jean. “It’s an hour and a half later at home.” She sighed. “But home’s not there anymore, is it? Anyway, I’ll try my parents after we’ve had a chat. This may take a while, so why don’t you watch some TV? I’ll use the phone in the bedroom.”
“Say ‘hi’ to Jean for me. Okay?”
“Of course.”
Riley had made the bed before they went out, so she curled up on the pink and green floral comforter and dialed.
“I guess you made it in one piece,” said Jean. “I was beginning to wonder.”
“We did a bit of sightseeing, that’s why it took so long. Let’s see now, we stopped at a guesthouse in the Cape Breton Highlands and spent a couple of nights in Halifax—we had to make a detour for that—then the weather turned bad so we kept on going to Quebec City. It’s a fantastic place. Paul liked the food and the wine best, surprise, surprise! We had a full day of sightseeing, then another day to get over our night on the town. After that, we skipped Montreal and drove more or less straight through. I can’t wait to see all the pictures we took, but they won’t be ready ‘til Monday.”
Jean sighed. “In some ways I envy you guys. Maybe I’ll move to Toronto as well.”
“Why not? You can’t compare it with Newfoundland, of course, but it’s a great place.”
“Well…we’ll see. All I know is that I miss you one hell of a lot.”
“But you’re coming for Christmas, right? That’s less than two months.”
“I know. Anyhow, enough of this.”
They chatted on for a while, then Riley looked at her watch.
“Listen, I gotta go now. I have to phone my parents in Canberra. Tell Doris and Charlie we made it, and if you get a chance, try to contact Ada Rideout. Maybe you can arrange to visit. I’m sure you’ll love her. Which reminds me, I should phone her too.”
“You bet,” Jean answered. “Take care, and we’ll talk again soon.”
When Riley tried Canberra her parents were out. Her last call for the evening was to Joni, but she was out as well.
Riley returned to the living room and found Paul sprawled on the pale beige settee.
“Do you mind turning off the TV?” he said. “There isn’t much on.”
Riley pushed in the switch then sat beside him. He straightened up and put an arm around her.
“How was Jean?”
“Miserable. I think it’s the prospect of a long and lonely winter.”
“She ought to get around a bit more,” said Paul. “But I guess she went back into her shell after the Jonathan affair and finds it hard to come out again.”
“What about us? What are we going to do? To be honest, I haven’t even thought about it.”
“Take some time off to settle in and see the big city for starters. And it’s your birthday on the tenth, which is only a week from Friday. Let’s forget about the dreary things until it’s over.”
“My thoughts exactly. For that you get a reward.”
Riley snuggled up to him and slid a hand under his shirt. She loved to caress his bare chest. Apart from feeling the smoothness of his flesh, the knowledge that it excited him added to her own.
The next thing she knew, Paul had lowered her across his lap and was pulling off her blouse. When that was done, she knew exactly what was coming next; he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Within moments she was naked and Paul was doing all those beautiful familiar things. After a while, she rode the crest of the exquisite wave that she’d come to know so well. Her last thought as she drifted off to sleep in Paul’s arms was that nothing else mattered as long as they were together.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Another Letter
A few days after their arrival in Toronto, Riley’s parents called to make sure all was well. On the same evening, Joni arranged to bring Trevor to dinner for the following Thursday, which was November 9, the day before Riley’s twenty-third birthday. During the intervening period, there were places to go and things to see. Riley was surprised how little she knew about the city where she’d spent most of her life.
On the morning of November 9, Paul volunteered to take the car on a food-shopping expedition. While he was out, Riley would tidy the apartment and still have time to relax afterwards.
“The Mustang needs a run,” he said. “She’s been chomping at the bit in her parking spot for too long. We’ve only used her a couple of times since we’ve been here.”
“But you have to admit the subway’s much faster,” Riley
replied.
“Guess so. I’ll go up to the 401 to make sure the engine gets warmed up, then I can go shopping.”
“Take your time, I’ve got plenty of things to do. We don’t need a lot of groceries but be sure to go to the beer store, okay?”
Paul grinned. “And the liquor store as well?”
As it happened, he took much longer than Riley expected. To try and relax, she curled up on the bed with a book for the first time since their arrival. When he finally opened the door, she helped him take the bags of food to the kitchen counter. There was one of those special looks on his face. Paul was obviously pleased with himself.
“What have you been up to?” Riley asked. “There’s something going on in that head of yours. I can tell.”
“You’ll find out tomorrow. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s your birthday.”
“It did cross my mind.” Riley put an arm around his waist. “As a matter of fact, I’ve already thought of something you could give me.”
He grinned. “You’ll get that as well—before breakfast.”
“Rats! How did you guess?”
At that moment, the phone rang. Riley hurried to the bedroom. It was Joni. She explained that Trevor had begged off dinner on Thursday because he was too shy to see Riley again, which was quite understandable under the circumstances. Joni would come on her own. Maybe the four of them could go out together sometime.
Riley hadn’t planned an elaborate meal by any means: steak, baked potatoes and salad to be exact. As a result, when the doorbell rang a few minutes after the appointed time of five o’clock, all was ready except for the steak. Unlike most of the people she knew, Joni was invariably punctual. Riley hurried downstairs and let her in.
Both girls cried, “Hi!” at the same time and hugged each other.
“It’s dark already,” said Riley. “Come on upstairs where I can take a look at you.”
She led the way to the living room and turned to inspect her friend. “Holy cow! You look fantastic!”
Paul stood and scrutinized her as well, a broad smile on his face.
She Came From Away Page 24