touched the pillow, as if
she had never closed her eyes all night. She stumbled into the kitchen after a
wash in cold water, and turned on her coffee-maker. The sun peeked over the
trees to the east and she stepped outdoors to breathe in the early morning
scents. Golden light bathed one corner of the rose arbor in the glow of the new
day and she walked, barefoot, to it, admiring the tender green shoots covering
it, and the dainty yellow buds with the dew still fresh upon them. As she
turned to go back inside before Philip caught her out here with no shoes, she
looked down at the roots of the original bushes, the ones David had told her
would never grow to cover the arbor. She gasped, looked closer, spun and ran
for the house.
She sank weakly into a chair in the
kitchen, her eyes wide with fright. For there, in the mud from the rain a few
days ago, she’d seen big booted footprints, pointed in the direction which
showed her clearly that her sensation of the night before had not been nerves
brought on by Grant’s attempt to get her into his bed. Someone had been looking
at her! And from the size of the prints, she knew it had not been Grant.
Unbidden, the thought came to mind of the freeloader, if that’s what he was,
who’d headed toward the Anderson place, or the Exley’s. But no... Why should a
stranger come looking in her windows? Maybe Bill had been around during the day
when she was working and she hadn’t noticed him. She’d asked him to spread some
manure around the rosebushes. Of course. That was it. She was just being
foolish, letting her imagination run away with her.
Still, she reflected later, it wasn’t
that awful feeling of being stared at that had kept her awake all night or most
of it. That’s it been the direct result Grant’s insulting comment. Wondering if
she could be frigid had made her remember David so vividly she even dreamed of
his face... No, she corrected herself, not his face, really... His eyes.
Well, if Grant is going to do that to
me, then I’ll never be able to forget enough to even consider marrying him. The
best thing to do would be keep away from him for a while, do a bit of
soul-searching completely on my own. With this in mind Eleanor sent her son off
to school and walked up to the farm to use the telephone. She’d never bothered
to have a line brought down to the cottage. It would have meant putting in an
extra pole which, to her mind, would have been an eyesore. She certainly
couldn’t afford a buried cable like the one David had insisted on for the
electricity. But then, he’d dug the trench for that himself, saving a great
deal of money. Besides, she didn’t need a phone. The powerful Wi-Fi modem in
the farmhouse gave her good Internet connection, and that was all that
mattered.
Grant sounded surprised by her call, as
well as cool and unforgiving. Though what he had to forgive her for she did not
know. His had been the unforgivable behavior. He put up no argument when she
suggested they not see each other for a few weeks.
“Okay by me,” he said. “I’m trying to
get hold of a big tract of land on the North Thompson River, just outside
Kamloops. I’ll be up there for a while. I’ll probably be back sometime in
June... Around the middle, I’d say. If you change your mind about us in the
meantime, feel free to give me a call. I’ll be in touch when I get back. So
long, Ellie.”
“So long, Grant.”
So long, she repeated silently. So long
and it didn’t bother me a bit to say it. What’s wrong with me that I don’t care
about Grant’s going away, and going away mad, at that? He’s been the only man
I’ve dated over the past four years, and for the three before that, I didn’t
date at all, or feel the urge to.
I don’t need a man in my life, which
explains why there hasn’t been one.
No... No man, save a ghost.
Chapter Four
A week and a half had passed since
Eleanor had said “so long” to Grant, and she had yet to feel that she
she had never closed her eyes all night. She stumbled into the kitchen after a
wash in cold water, and turned on her coffee-maker. The sun peeked over the
trees to the east and she stepped outdoors to breathe in the early morning
scents. Golden light bathed one corner of the rose arbor in the glow of the new
day and she walked, barefoot, to it, admiring the tender green shoots covering
it, and the dainty yellow buds with the dew still fresh upon them. As she
turned to go back inside before Philip caught her out here with no shoes, she
looked down at the roots of the original bushes, the ones David had told her
would never grow to cover the arbor. She gasped, looked closer, spun and ran
for the house.
She sank weakly into a chair in the
kitchen, her eyes wide with fright. For there, in the mud from the rain a few
days ago, she’d seen big booted footprints, pointed in the direction which
showed her clearly that her sensation of the night before had not been nerves
brought on by Grant’s attempt to get her into his bed. Someone had been looking
at her! And from the size of the prints, she knew it had not been Grant.
Unbidden, the thought came to mind of the freeloader, if that’s what he was,
who’d headed toward the Anderson place, or the Exley’s. But no... Why should a
stranger come looking in her windows? Maybe Bill had been around during the day
when she was working and she hadn’t noticed him. She’d asked him to spread some
manure around the rosebushes. Of course. That was it. She was just being
foolish, letting her imagination run away with her.
Still, she reflected later, it wasn’t
that awful feeling of being stared at that had kept her awake all night or most
of it. That’s it been the direct result Grant’s insulting comment. Wondering if
she could be frigid had made her remember David so vividly she even dreamed of
his face... No, she corrected herself, not his face, really... His eyes.
Well, if Grant is going to do that to
me, then I’ll never be able to forget enough to even consider marrying him. The
best thing to do would be keep away from him for a while, do a bit of
soul-searching completely on my own. With this in mind Eleanor sent her son off
to school and walked up to the farm to use the telephone. She’d never bothered
to have a line brought down to the cottage. It would have meant putting in an
extra pole which, to her mind, would have been an eyesore. She certainly
couldn’t afford a buried cable like the one David had insisted on for the
electricity. But then, he’d dug the trench for that himself, saving a great
deal of money. Besides, she didn’t need a phone. The powerful Wi-Fi modem in
the farmhouse gave her good Internet connection, and that was all that
mattered.
Grant sounded surprised by her call, as
well as cool and unforgiving. Though what he had to forgive her for she did not
know. His had been the unforgivable behavior. He put up no argument when she
suggested they not see each other for a few weeks.
“Okay by me,” he said. “I’m trying to
get hold of a big tract of land on the North Thompson River, just outside
Kamloops. I’ll be up there for a while. I’ll probably be back sometime in
June... Around the middle, I’d say. If you change your mind about us in the
meantime, feel free to give me a call. I’ll be in touch when I get back. So
long, Ellie.”
“So long, Grant.”
So long, she repeated silently. So long
and it didn’t bother me a bit to say it. What’s wrong with me that I don’t care
about Grant’s going away, and going away mad, at that? He’s been the only man
I’ve dated over the past four years, and for the three before that, I didn’t
date at all, or feel the urge to.
I don’t need a man in my life, which
explains why there hasn’t been one.
No... No man, save a ghost.
Chapter Four
A week and a half had passed since
Eleanor had said “so long” to Grant, and she had yet to feel that she
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