“I’m not sure about a big dog,” she said. A person had to be practical when picking out a pet. She’d learned that with Skip. Already the kitten’s white hairs were showing up on the upholstery of her darker pieces of furniture. “I was thinking maybe one of those nonshedding dogs. Like a bichon.”
“Those girlie-lookin’ things with the curly white hair and long ears?” Lucky flattened his lips scornfully. “Russ won’t want a sissy dog like that.”
Julie had to admit they hadn’t gotten around to discussing breeds.
“Well, better get to work.” T.J. left a handful of change on the counter next to his empty coffee cup. He paused in front of Julie. “Planning on doing any more work around the house?”
“Probably.”
“You come back I’ll give you a discount on your next gallon.” He smiled, then placed his cap over his dark, wavy hair. Watching him leave, Julie had to admit the view was as good from the back as it was from the front.
Adrienne went so far as to let out a quiet wolf whistle. “Nice, isn’t he?”
“I suppose he’s lived here all his life, too?”
“Not really. His old man started the hardware, about forty years ago. But T.J. didn’t want anything to do with it. He went to university, became a lawyer. Got married, even had a kid.”
“So what’s he doing here now?”
“Old story. Wife had an affair and left him. Took the kid with her, then moved to Toronto. T.J. quit his job and hightailed it back here so his old man could retire. All happened this spring.”
“Oh.” Julie wondered how T.J. was taking the transition from lawyer to hardware store operator. He seemed friendly enough but managed to keep his distance at the same time.
She took a sip of her coffee and considered ordering one of the fragrant muffins—absolutely overflowing with blueberries. But the calories…
Adrienne leaned over to whisper, “By the way, it was a false alarm.”
“Pardon?”
“Bernie thinking she was pregnant. She wasn’t.”
“That’s too bad.” Julie felt sorry for the pretty brunette she’d met in the staff room the other day. She’d seemed friendly and open. The sort to have a whole batch of kids and hardly blink at the chaos.
“I hear they’ve got pills that help with low sperm count,” Donna said, leaning over the counter to contribute. “Maybe Chad oughta give them a try.”
“He just needs to switch to boxers” was Lucky’s opinion.
Julie wasn’t sure how the entire room had become privy to the conversation. The farmer with the new litter of pups said timing was everything. His wife spoke up, recommending a special herbal tea. She’d bring some with her next time she came to town.
At five to ten, Lucky left to open his store. Julie walked out with Adrienne, after scooping Skip back into her arms.
“Glad you’re settling in okay,” Adrienne said. “And how’s Russell enjoying the new job?”
“He seems very happy.”
“That’s what I hear. Very happy. Well, my first appointment should be arriving in ten minutes. I’d better run. See you later!” Adrienne pulled an old ten-speed bike out from the side of the café and began pedaling in the opposite direction as Julie walked.
Julie didn’t want to be too sensitive. But she couldn’t help but wonder about Adrienne’s parting comment. Why had she emphasized the very? What, exactly, had Adrienne been hearing about Julie’s husband?
RUSSELL CAME HOME THAT afternoon with an invitation. He found Julie in her office, reading an article with her editing pen in hand. He took a minute to admire the picture she made. A container of fall flowers, in golds and deep reds, sat on the desk beside her. As if she’d coordinated her outfit with this exact moment in mind, Julie had on a top in the same rusty red color, and a black sweater, with the sleeves rolled up.
“Heather wondered if we’d like to come for dinner on Saturday.”
Julie struck out something with her pen, then glanced up from the draft copy of the article. “An invitation to dinner sounds nice. Would Ben be included?”
“In Chatsworth the kids are always included.” His snappish tone surprised him.
“Sorry if I’m not well versed in the local customs and traditions.”
“They’re just people, Julie. Not some weird ancient civilization.”
“Really?” She set down her pen and pushed herself out of the chair. “You drop by the café at nine-thirty some morning and tell me if you still have the same opinion.”
He knew she was teasing, and despite not feeling in the least amused, he tried to smile. “You went back, did you?”
“The place seems to have a strange fascination for me. I’m not sure why.”
“Maybe you’re starting to like some of the people?” he asked hopefully.
Julie gave him a strange look, then brushed past him into the hall. He’d planned on kissing her, but she moved so quickly he would have had to tackle her to do so. Instead, he followed her to the kitchen.
Since the night they’d made love, she’d been carefully maintaining a physical safety zone between them.
“Where’s Ben?” She fingered their son’s knapsack, which Russell had tossed, along with Ben’s jacket and cap, on a kitchen chair.
“He’s out playing with some friends. I told him I’d bring these in.” Russell grabbed the items, figuring Julie was annoyed at the mess.
“Didn’t he want a snack first?”
“I guess not.” Russell stowed Ben’s gear in the closet off the back door. When he returned to the kitchen, he could see Julie was still upset. So it hadn’t been the clutter.
“Did he tell you where he and his friends would be playing? He didn’t take his bike, did he?”
“Yes, he did take his bike. And his helmet. I told him not to go too far. And to be back in an hour. Look, Julie—”
“You think I’m being overprotective. But even before the accident, we never let Ben run off like this.”
“That was the city, Jule. Things are different in a small town. Heck, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to move here—so Ben could enjoy the same freedom I had when I was a kid.”
Nothing he said made any impact on his wife. Julie stood with her arms over her chest, looking vulnerable, betrayed.
“I didn’t run around wild as a child, Russell. I’m sorry, but I just don’t see the need. What would it hurt for him to bring a friend home to play in the backyard? They’d be safe there. The lake is fenced off.”
Couldn’t she see how crazy she was being? “Julie. He’ll be home in an hour. He’ll be all right.”
She seemed about to say something in reply, but then was quiet. He watched as she dampened a cloth and began to wipe down the front of the fridge, which was already spotless, as far as he could tell.
“Are you happy, Russell? Still glad we moved?”
He chose his words carefully. “Yes, I believe it was the right thing to do.”
“Have you enjoyed seeing your old friends again?”
She was getting at something in specific, he thought. Heather? Nah, Julie couldn’t be jealous. “Yeah, I’ve run across a few of them. But it’s more than just the people. I like the slower pace—I really do. Have you been bored?”
Julie turned back to the refrigerator and began polishing with vigor. He watched her for a long minute.
“Well, we probably have the shiniest fridge in Saskatchewan by now,” he commented, hoping to make her smile.
“First Saskatchewan, then the world,” she muttered.
He had to laugh then, and slowly, reluctantly, she joined in. For a few moments he felt good at the brief connection with his wife. Then he remembered she hadn’t answered his question.
But did he really need her to? He knew the answer. He just didn’t like it.
DINNER AT HEATHER’S WAS a casual event. “Since our good weather is holding, I thought we’d barbecue burgers.” She glanced anxiously at Julie.
Julie, who’d ne
ver caught on to the North American penchant for ground beef served in buns, smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
“Great.” Heather’s face relaxed. “Let’s sit outside, then. Ben can play with his new puppy and Russ—I was wondering if you’d do the honors on the grill?”
Julie’s husband took the spatula out of Heather’s hand. “You’ve picked the right man for the job,” he assured her.
“And thanks for suggesting Ben bring the pup,” Julie added, following as Heather led them through the house to the back. She, Russell and Ben had decided in the end to go with the collie mix Julie had heard about in the café. Julie had no idea what the dog would look like as an adult. But he was an irresistible puppy, with intelligent eyes and a cheerful, playful disposition. Only the size of his paws had Julie a little concerned.
While Russell hovered over the barbecue, Julie helped Heather in the kitchen. There wasn’t much to do. A prepared potato salad waited in the fridge and more cookies were cooling on the counter.
“Want a drink?” Heather indicated a collection of tin cans sitting on ice in one side of the double sink. Julie selected an iced tea for herself and a beer for Russell.
Outside, the white plastic table was covered with a blue cloth. Now Heather unwrapped a package of napkins with pink tulips on a yellow background. Meant for spring, really. Julie set the red plastic plates around the table and thought the odd mix was appealing after all.
“Sorry nothing matches,” Heather apologized. “I don’t often have people over. Mostly my folks, and they don’t really care about stuff like that.”
“Neither do we,” Russell assured her.
“Oh, come on. Your house is so beautiful. Especially since you painted the trim, Julie. It looks really sophisticated now.” She gazed at the back of her home, with its practical, if uninspired, beige aluminum siding. “Nick and I were still at the stage of using castaways from our parents’ houses and I haven’t invested in much in the way of furniture or art since I bought this house.”
“Your place has its own charm,” Julie said. Heather had made up for the lack of excitement in the exterior of her home by painting the main floor in lemon-yellow and azure. “You obviously love color.”
Maybe a bit too much color, for Julie’s taste, but the small two-bedroom bungalow did seem to suit Heather. And Julie’s philosophy about home decorating was that the place should accommodate the individual, not the other way around.
“Who needs a bunch of furniture that looks good but isn’t comfortable?” Russell added. He flipped one burger, and a fork of flames burst up from the grill.
Julie took a sip of her drink and wondered. Did Russell find their furniture uncomfortable? She’d never heard him complain and he wasn’t necessarily doing so now. Probably he was just being gracious about Heather’s home.
And yet…
Julie could see how a man would love the big, overstuffed sofa and TV setup in Heather’s living room. And the scarred oak table in the dining room probably didn’t require the special treatment she gave the maple table in their home.
But Russell had okayed every furniture purchase she’d ever made. Except the piano and the antique love seat, both of which her mother gave her when her parents had packed up to leave Canada after her father’s four-year stint at the Vancouver branch of his insurance firm.
“Yeah, comfort’s important. That’s what my husband always used to say, too. But it would be nice if the place could look good at the same time. Julie, if you have any advice, I’d be happy to hear it.”
“I think your home is charming.” Often when people asked for her opinion they really wanted admiration.
“But the living room… Well, it’s okay when I’m by myself, watching TV. When I have people over, though, there’s no place to sit and talk.”
“That should be easy to fix, Heather. All it would take is a little rearranging. Maybe after we eat we could have a look.”
“Great.”
The conversation shifted then to a man Heather was dating. She didn’t sound enthusiastic. Julie thought of T. J. Colins. Wouldn’t he be about the right age? On the verge of mentioning him as a possibility, she realized how ridiculous she was being. Undoubtedly Heather had already met the new operator of the local hardware store. Surely she could decide herself whether the man interested her.
That she herself had even felt the impulse to interfere made Julie wonder if she’d been hanging out too much at the local café….
“Burgers are ready,” Russell announced. Ben rejoined the table of adults for dinner. Julie put the new puppy in his kennel to keep him safe and prevent him from developing the habit of begging for scraps.
“Have you given him a name, Ben?” Heather asked as she passed the salad.
Ben examined the bowl with suspicion and declined. “His name is Watson. We’re going to be a team. Right, Watson?”
The puppy pressed his nose against the front of his cage and sniffed eagerly.
“Julie and Ben are real mystery buffs,” Russell explained to Heather. “When Ben was in grade three they loved watching those old mystery flicks on A&E.”
Ben grinned. “Why don’t we sign up for cable so we can start watching again, Mom?”
“We’ll think about it.” She glanced at Russell. They’d both decided TV would not be a high priority in this new life of theirs.
After dinner, Heather stacked dirty dishes in the kitchen and refused to allow anyone to clean anything.
“Later,” she insisted. “You promised you’d check out my living room.”
Ben went outside to play with Watson again, while Julie dutifully led the adults into the small, square-shaped room. The yellow walls had a grouping of family photos, but little else in the way of decoration. The TV unit occupied the wall opposite the window and the sofa was backed right up to the window wall.
“Hmm.” Julie’s first instinct was to identify a focal point in the room. But really, nothing grabbed her eye. They would have to invent a focal point.
“The sofa is a bit of a problem,” she said cautiously, not sure how defensive Heather might be. “The dark leather is a bit too formal with the yellow paint. I’d like to see some big, colorful cushions, incorporating the azure and the yellow….”
“Yeah. I could do that. I’m not much with a sewing machine, but I can manage a straight line.”
Encouraged, Julie continued. “Let’s move this sofa out from the wall, make it seem part of the room rather than an observer. Russell?”
Well trained in the fine art of furniture arranging, her husband immediately grabbed the far end of the sofa and helped Julie drag it out about eighteen inches. The room was too small to go any farther.
“You might want to purchase a sofa table for back there,” she told Heather. “Put a lamp on it, maybe a vase with a floating candle.” She turned her eye to the adjacent wall. “And these photos…”
Twenty minutes later, Heather was jotting down the last of several notes. “Two cushioned wicker chairs, you think?”
“That’ll be your most economical option. And you can use coordinating fabrics for the new cushions.”
“Wow! These are great ideas, Julie. I’m glad tomorrow’s Saturday. I’ll be able to go to Yorkton to do some shopping.”
BORED WITH THE ONGOING decorating exercise, Russell prowled the small room restlessly. He was proud of his wife’s good taste. But a guy could only take so much talk about colors and cushions.
Heather’s grouping of family photos was interesting. Julie had asked him to remove them from the wall. On the floor she’d rearranged them in a pattern Heather was meant to later replicate on the wall. So now Russell had to stoop over to examine the pictures.
He knew most of the people. Heather’s parents and two brothers—Jeff had been in his class and a pretty good friend. Several of the photos were of children. He guessed they were Heather’s nieces and nephews.
Crouching, he picked up Heather’s wedding photo. Nick had been tall, with a
rather remote smile. “Where did you meet Nick, Heather?”
“In Saskatoon. My last year of university. He’d just finished his training in Regina and was up to visit some new friends he’d made. He asked me to dance at a university party. God, it doesn’t seem that long ago, but I was only twenty-four.”
Russell had found her diploma. “Twenty-four? Yeah, it says here you graduated in 1992. But shouldn’t that be 1991? You were two years behind me.”
And he’d earned his undergraduate degree in 1989.
“Oh, I took a year off from my studies. That’s why I graduated late.”
“A year off?”
Heather flipped a page of her notebook. “You think I need a coffee table, too?”
“Maybe a large, plush ottoman would be better….”
“You took a year off?”
She glanced up, a little flushed. “Yeah, I figured I’d travel, but I didn’t end up doing much. I was short of money.”
“Oh.” Funny his mother hadn’t mentioned anything to him. Or maybe she had. He’d been so wrapped up in his love affair with Julie by then he might not have paid attention if she’d tried.
“I’ve picked Julie’s brain for long enough. Would anyone like some coffee? Or I could make tea….”
Julie demurred. “I’m afraid it’s getting a little late for us.”
Absentmindedly, Russell heard her explain about Ben needing his sleep. He set the framed diploma back on the floor, then glanced up, to see Heather watching him.
The high color in her cheeks deepened, before she whirled and fled the room, following Julie to the backyard.
CHAPTER TEN
JULIE DIDN’T KNOW WHY she felt odd. Dinner at Heather’s had been more fun than she’d expected. The meal had been casual—perfect for Ben. And she’d enjoyed trying to help Heather with her living room.
Yet something about Heather still made her feel uneasy. It was the way she looked at Russell when she thought she was unobserved. Especially toward the end of the evening, Julie had intercepted several glances that had left her unsettled.
She’d bet money Heather had unresolved feelings for Russell. Possibly she was still in love with him.
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