It was such a simple request that Sarah’s heart melted a little. She took a long breath.
“I’ll see if I can get off work this week.”
He nodded, his eyes sparkling in the darkness. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I know it’s a long drive to Gros Morne, but I can probably get you a plane ticket out of St. John’s if there’s still one available. Last time I looked, the flight was booked, but it’s possible that…”
“I can drive out. It’s fine,” Sarah said.
“No need. I’ll be driving anyway,” he said. “I have a rental car for the week. So if I can’t get you a flight, maybe I could just come with you when you drop off your rental car, and then we can drive out there together.”
“I have my mother’s car. I have to take her home tomorrow, and then I was going to call a taxi service to get back to St. John’s. So if we go together, you will have to follow me all the way to my mother’s house and leave from there.”
“That’s fine. I’ll get to see your hometown.”
Her mouth crooked at the thought. “Population six hundred? I don’t think you’ll be impressed. It’s pretty low on culture. Nowhere to watch a sad indie film.”
“On the other hand, it sounds like the perfect setting for a sad indie film.”
“I do have a dead father, so maybe you’re right.”
He smiled, his eyes full of feeling. He had said that he wanted to be her friend again. And like a fool, she wanted that, too. The rest of it, the nonsense about how sad he was that he’d lost his chance with her…she knew better than to take any of that too seriously. This was Ren.
11
SUNDAY
“So,”Sarah said, keeping her voice carefully casual, “my friend is going to pick me up at our house a few minutes after we get back.” They were in Maureen’s car on their way back from the wedding. Sarah was driving, and she had noticed that the mileage on the car was barely more than it had been when she had come home for Christmas. Her mother worked at a local grocery store, and Sarah suspected that she did most of her food shopping at work and never went anywhere else except for church on Sundays.
“And she’s going to drive you all the way to the airport? That’s nice.” Her mother had been fretting about whether she should drive Sarah to the airport herself, but Sarah knew that Maureen got nervous whenever she drove more than fifteen minutes from home.
“No.” Sarah took a breath, debating for the hundredth time whether it was better to lie about her plans. “He is actually going to take me out west to help with a photography workshop he’s running.”
“He’s the other photographer?” Her mother’s eyebrows shot upward. “The handsome one?”
“Yes, he’s an old friend from McGill.”
“And he knows Paul, too?”
Sarah nodded. “They met in Toronto.”
There was a long pause as her mother watched Sarah’s expression. “You’re not in love with him, are you?”
“No, I am not in love with him,” Sarah confirmed.
“Because men that handsome…” Her mother gave her a meaningful look.
“I know, Mom. You’ve said.”
“I just worry.”
“I know, Mom. It’s fine. He is definitely not interested in me like that.”
They had gotten on the road early, so they arrived at her mother’s house at a little after nine in the morning and immediately checked on the parakeets, who were remarkably unperturbed after their hours of horrible abandonment.
“I guess they’re okay,” said Maureen as she changed out the little compartment of water in the birds’ cage. “They don’t seem too upset.”
“The parakeets are fine, Mom. Let me know if there’s anything you need me to do before I head out. He should be arriving soon.”
“And then you have to leave.” The gut punch of guilt was familiar, but it still hurt.
