Free Finding Home by Elizabeth Sage

“let’s have
candlelight too.”
    “Of course!” Nick cried. On either side of
the centerpiece of feathery pink and purple asters stood tall
candles, the same wine color as the draperies, in ornate silver
holders. Nick dimmed the chandelier, then came and stood beside me
to light them. As he leaned forward his chest pressed close to my
face.
    The candlelight transformed the room. At
first the walls above the wainscoting had appeared a muted shade of
grayish-pink, but now they seemed to glow with their own rosy
light. Nick flipped open my serviette and patted it into place on
my lap. Then he poured wine into one of the cut crystal glasses at
my place.
    Our eyes met. But I didn’t return his smile.
I willed myself to be strong, and gave him a blank look, like I did
the hunters at the lodge.
    “By the way, did you notice Lucienne’s eyes?”
Nick said to Kiera as he poured her wine.
    “Well of course Nick. She has two of them.”
Kiera made a show of removing her serviette from its silver ring
and fluttering the plum-colored linen about.
    Nick laughed as he set the bottle of wine
down. “I was referring to their color, Kiera.”
    “It’s rather difficult to see her eyes in
this light, dear.” Kiera’s voice wasn’t as magnetic as it had been
the day before, and she looked strained. But of course this dinner
had to be as difficult for her as it was for me. Probably even more
so.
    “Well, her eyes are amazing.” Nick flourished
his wine glass. “They’re the strangest color, sort of ocean gray.
And then the left one has a patch of brown just above the iris.
I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    Kiera flashed me an aren’t-men-the-limit look. “Actually, what I’ve noticed most
about Lucienne is her incredible energy. Do you know she runs three
to five miles a day?”
    “Of course, that’s how we met up in Montreal,
I’m sure I must have told you. We’d both been out for a run on the
mountain.” Nick started eating his soup, which was cream of
pumpkin, another of Phoebe’s specialties. “That reminds me
Lucienne, have you discovered the trails in the forest behind the
house?”
    “No, I’ve just been along the road to Airdrie
Bay so far.”
    “That’s a good run too. But the trails are
even better. You won’t see a car or another person up there.”
    “Really? I’ll have to try them then.” I
wanted to hear more, where exactly these trails were, what they
were like, but I knew how runners have a way of boring other
people, and I didn’t want to leave Kiera out. I felt so sorry for
her then. It couldn’t be easy to be eating dinner with your husband
and the woman who might have the baby you weren’t able to. So I
said, “Why don’t you tell us what’s new in Toronto Nick? Kiera and
I were just saying this morning how out of touch we feel. It’s been
such a long time since either of us has been to a big city.”
    “Oh, spare me! Toronto’s the last thing I
want to think about.”
    “Please? We’re starved for news.”
    Nick put his elbows on the table and rested
his chin in his hands. “Well really, it’s the same old place. The
residents hate the developers, the cyclists hate the drivers, and
everybody hates the weather. Nobody talks about anything but the
price of real estate. And you can never find a bloody parking space
anywhere.”
    Kiera gave a forced little laugh. “Oh, surely
there must be something more Nick. Don’t forget, absolutely nothing
ever happens here.”
    “Well, let’s see. Two new restaurants opened,
but two old ones closed. The 401 westbound was jammed because of
some huge accident so it took hours to get to the airport.” He
refilled all our glasses. “And the Jays lost again last night.
Pathetic!” Then he launched into a play by play description of the
game. I couldn’t have cared less about baseball, and of course the
team’s name made me think of Jay, but I was happy to let Nick
continue just so I didn’t have to talk.
    My mind drifted back to my