Just Like Family by Kate Hilton

Author:Kate Hilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2017-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

{CHAPTER 13}

Sunday, July 16, 2017

On Sunday morning, a persistent buzzing wakes me. I dive over the empty half of the bed for my cellphone, registering anew that Matt is not where he should be, and answer.

It’s Peter. “Sorry to do this, Avery,” he says, “but I need you to come back to town.”

“What happened?” I say.

“It’s not an emergency, exactly,” says Peter, “but I need you to brief me on the waterfront dissidents.”

“Is that what we’re calling them?”

“That’s what Adam Rothman was calling them, when I saw him at a party last night.”

“Oh dear,” I say. “Adam’s concerned?”

“Adam would like to see less in the way of negative press. He asked me to see if I could get them settled down. Unofficially, of course.”

“Of course,” I say. “I met with Jim Crawford and the artists and with Doris Renaud and WAFADASS this week and they’re both waiting to hear back from me on their proposals. They should be quiet until then. I’m not sure what could have stirred them up in the meantime.”

“There’s a new player,” says Peter.

“Who?”

“Mel,” says Peter.

“Who’s Mel?” I ask.

“M-E-L,” says Peter. “Mother Earth League.”

“Oh God,” I say. “Shit.”

“My thoughts exactly,” says Peter.

“Right. I’m on my way. I’ll meet you at the office by noon.”

“I know you haven’t had a day off all summer. I’m sorry to ruin your weekend.”

“No problem,” I say, surprised that he’s noticed. “I’ve had enough country air. I’m ready for some smog.”

I slide out of bed and ease into the hallway. The house is silent. It’s not quite seven o’clock. I knock on the door next to mine, and Matt opens it. He’s already dressed.

“I heard you on the phone,” he says. “Did you want a shower?”

“Yes,” I say.

“I’ll pack the car,” he says. “And put on some coffee.”

I reach for his cheek. “Thank you,” I say.

“You’re welcome,” he says, a bit too formally for my comfort. Evidently, he can hold a grudge in extreme circumstances, one more thing I’ve learned about him in the last twenty-four hours.

Last night, we’d thrown a party for Tara, as promised. After Matt’s abrupt exit in the morning, the dinner party had given the day a focus. Mom and I had dispatched Matt to the liquor and grocery stores, and we’d baked a chocolate layer cake and assembled a retro dinner, hearkening back to birthday parties of the past.

Waiting on the verandah, watching the guests arrive, I had a sense of time unwinding. Here were Ethan and Tara and their daughters, and Kerry, her mother, coming up the path from one side of the point, and Jenny walking up from the other side, but in my mind I could see the original families: mothers wearing dresses and oven mitts, carrying hot trays, dads in collared shirts with the top button undone, kids with clean hands and faces. Seeing Jenny approach the house, looking so much like her mother once did, lovely in a soft cotton dress, her blonde hair still thick and lustrous, I realized with a jolt that we were now the age our parents had been then.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.