Moondance (27 page)

“Okay.”

“Well, I know it feels okay right now, this place, it’s more than okay, it’s better than bein’ home, you know? But you gotta go back in a while, and when you’re there, you may not remember me bein’ here tonight, or you might, that’s up to you. But if you only remember one thing, honey, I want you to remember that if you need me, you can call me anytime, okay? I’m not the only one rootin’ for you girl, there’s help all around you.”

“Like where?”

Albert looked away and nodded, as if consulting someone.

“All around you, all the time, some you know and some you don’t. There’s one you’ve seen and you’re gonna meet again. You gotta get close to this one, you gotta let him in, know him. He wants you to. And deep down, so do you.”

“It’s like a riddle.”

“That’s right, it’s like a riddle hon, I’m sin
gin’ in riddles here, because I’m getting the old nod from the boys. Just enough, they’re sayin’ to me, not too much, just enough.”

“You’re funny.”

“And you’re stronger than you think, girl. It’s all inside you, wanting out, remember that.”

“Mmmmmm.”

Althea smiled broadly at Albert, and he moved his warm fingers over her face, touching her eyes which tingled, and under her chin as she sank into tender, dreamless grey, and then Albert was gone, and she could smell His powdery sweetness
Soon
and felt His eyes glowing green, the curve of His lips and His long blue-black hair slipping
on her shoulder as he kissed her cheek, her neck, shaping himself against
her body, which sighed and arched, following her into slumber.

chapter 43

“I’M GOING ON VACATION,” Sophie announced, getting up to pour Althea a coffee.

“Really? For how long?”

“A few days.”

“Where to?”

“New Orleans.”

“You getting a hankering for live jazz all of a sudden? In their hottest season of the year?”

“Something like that.” A finger of apprehension plucked at Althea’s chest. Althea couldn’t remember Sophie ever going on a holiday.

“What’s the attraction? You going on a tour?”

“No, I have a friend there.”

“I didn’t know you kept in touch with anyone there.”

“This is the only one. An old friend of Albert’s and mine.”

“Huh. When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow.”

“That’s fast.”
Too fast
. Sophie turned away as she poured herself a coffee, spooning in some brown sugar, and stirring. She wasn’t offering any more information. Althea knew that it was useless to push. Althea sighed.

“Do you need a ride to the airport?”

“Yes. And tonight, I’d like to take you out to dinner. Something grand.”

• • •

ALTHEA CHOSE STARFISH FOR dinner, her favorite downtown oyster bar. They settled into their seats at the bar, and asked their waiter Carlos to recommend a good bottle of white wine. The room shimmered under the glow of ivory candles. A fusion of jazz and dance music played softly in the background — Saint Germain, Althea recognized. She and Celia used to call it martini music.

Starfish was small, elegant and relaxing. Behind the bar, Starfish owner Patrick lined up three-dozen oysters. He was practicing for an oyster shucking competition in Ireland.

“How do they evaluate you?” Althea asked.

“It’s a combination of speed and presentation,” he said. “Will you do the honors?” He handed Althea a stopwatch.

“Sure, ready? One, two, three — go.” She hit the timer. He started shucking. He was incredibly fast. And each oyster was neatly done, good enough to eat.

“Done.” His hands flew up. Althea clicked the stopwatch and Sophie
clapped. Carlos asked Sophie to test the wine, a cool, lemony Muscadet,
and when she nodded in approval, he poured them both a glass. Althea raised hers.

“Well Sophie, consider tonight a warm up for New Orleans. You’ll eat a ton of oysters, but the bonus will be that in New Orleans, they’ll be one quarter the price than they are in Toronto.” Sophie laughed.

“That’s true,” Sophie said, raising her glass in return.

As an appetizer, they ate small, creamy-sweet kumamoto oysters with champagne and shallot dressing, and larger ones from Martha’s Vineyard. Althea also ordered some scallops with seared foie gras and crème fraiche, and nibbled on some fresh multi-grain bread.

“I was in New Orleans the first time I had oysters. It was Mardi Gras,” Althea said. “Five bucks a dozen. We started every meal with two dozen oysters, just for starters. It was awesome.”

“Do you miss him?”

“Him?”

“Kevin?” For the first time in years, Althea gave the question some thought.

“I miss the idea of Kevin.”

“Do you think you were soul mates?”
Here we go again
, Althea thought.

“I don’t know, before everything happened, we were best friends. At least I thought we were.”

“If you don’t know, then you probably weren’t.”

Sophie’s bluntness shocked her.

“Were you and Albert soul mates?”

“No, we weren’t.” Sophie answered. “We were friends and companions and we helped each other. But soul mates, we were not.”

“How do you know that?”

The silence was heavy. Althea wanted to ask about her father. Her brother. She said nothing. Sophie sipped her wine, and watched Patrick place a single raw scallop on ice in a martini glass, for someone’s dessert.

“When you meet a soul mate Althea, it’s intense, unstoppable, a feeling that reaches the core of who you are. When you lose that person, it’s like losing a part of yourself. I’ve known that once, that kind of love and that kind of pain. And, no, it wasn’t Albert.”

“Was it my father?” Sophie sipped her wine, looking away. Althea tried again.

“Did Albert know him?”

“Yes. And one other person. Didn’t know everything, but knew enough.” Althea had an idea.

“The friend you’re visiting?”

“Yes.” Althea waited and Sophie didn’t elaborate. She wondered if there was a man in New Orleans waiting for Sophie. She hadn’t been involved with anyone seriously since Albert.

“I don’t know if meeting someone like that is in the cards for me Sophie. I really don’t. And if not, then I’ll just have to accept it.” Althea felt her stomach fall at her own words, a reaction to the belief that she held in her unconscious, but which she had never articulated out loud until now. Her entire body felt an aching sadness, a pulling down. Carlos re-filled her wine and she braced herself for another of Sophie’s monologues.

Instead, Sophie shrugged.

“When you want him, you’ll ask. When you find him, you’ll know. And I know you’ll find him. I
know
that. And not only that, it’ll be sooner than you think. And when that happens, your heart will open up in ways you can’t imagine.” Sophie excused herself to go to the ladies room. Patrick served the scallops. She stabbed one with a fork, and tried it, the sweetness of the scallop perfectly paired with the richness of the foie gras and tart crème fraiche. An unbelievably delicious and decadent combination.

Althea sipped her wine, and glanced down the bar, her eyes slowing when she recognized a slim woman with jet black hair and coffee colored skin. Ivana.
I never called her back
. Shame wound into her stomach. The woman turned, and caught Althea staring. Not Ivana. Althea looked away.

You’re not alone. Remember that
. A voice she knew. Althea looked down and tried to calm herself. Inside, she could feel the fear again, a prickle on the roof of her mouth moving down her shoulders to her hands. As she fixed on the wine glass in her hand, the mirrored reflection behind the bar blurred, a luminescent patina. The floor pulsed softly, pulling at her, and the sound of her own heartbeat filled her ears. A scream rose as she saw the reflection of the smooth grey figure behind her, its hand on her arm, wanting to dance.

Not real
. She stared at her wine glass, her panic rising, bitter and dry on her tongue. She bit the inside of her cheek, drawing blood, the pain reviving her.

Sophie was walking toward her. With shaking hands, Althea moved to put her glass of wine on the bar. The wine glass and its contents toppled over, shattering on the polished wooden floor.

When you want him, you’ll ask
.

• • •

THE NEXT MORNING, SOPHIE was sitting in the solarium waiting, her bag packed and ready to go. She looked rested and radiant and Althea told her so. Maybe there was a man.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’m ever gonna get.”

They drove most of the way in silence. Sophie turned off the air conditioning and opened the window. The blanket of air moved over Althea’s face. New Orleans would be stifling this time of year. What was Sophie thinking?

“I think it’ll be easier if you just drop me off.”

Nervousness settled into Althea’s chest. She wanted to ask Sophie about her trip, the suddenness of it, whether there was a man, why she was so secretive about her past, why she was so concerned about Althea’s romantic life, her fixation on soul mates, Althea having a baby, all of it.

She almost did.

At the airport, Althea stopped in the drop-off lane, and got out of the car to retrieve Sophie’s luggage from the trunk. She felt spacey, as if she hadn’t eaten for a couple of days, but had been drinking a lot of coffee. With that, she also felt a low-grade nostalgia, like saying goodbye to a lover who was leaving for an extended holiday. When Sophie suddenly put her arms around her, Althea hugged back tightly, pressing her face into Sophie’s neck.

“My Althea.”

“You’ll be back next week?”

“I’ll be back.”

As suddenly as she had hugged her, Sophie spun away, her arm above her head in a grand wave, her scarf flying behind her like an exotic fish tail. Althea watched her go, a tingling sensation in her fingers and an inexplicable raw fear clutching her heart.
You can call me anytime
, Albert’s voice whispered.

She walked around her car and got in, feeling numb and unstable. She pulled slowly into the traffic that moved sluggishly and found it difficult to concentrate on the road. Gradually, the line of cars and rushing people around her faded into the background like white noise. One man stood out, and he was standing on the curb to her right.

Paralyzed by fear, she could feel the man’s eyes lock on her. His right hand was raised, as if he was hailing a cab. His face was pale, his mouth was full and she knew that if she could get close enough, his eyes would be glistening green. His hair was longer than she remembered, and just as black. He smiled at her.
Knows me
.

She inched forward and looked away from him, her eyes filling with tears, her chest filled with longing. He disappeared into her blind spot. He had found her. She wanted to turn around, but she was gridlocked. Her face was burning. She twisted her neck to find him, and when she did she saw that he had lifted both arms up, open, toward her.
Are you ready?

She turned away from him, her eyes on the line of cars in front of her, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. As she pulled onto the on-ramp, she straightened her leg until the engine emitted a high-pitched scream.

• • •

A SOFT BRUSH ACROSS her cheek. Princess. Althea turned over, moving to lift the cat away, her hand meeting air. Traces of a dream lingered. An image of a tall figure with short-cropped hair standing at her bedside, his lips brushing her cheek. Two bodies entwined, surrounded by smoke. A woman’s guttural screams, and as she awoke, her eyes were heavy and moist. Princess’ collar tinkled and she heard the faint crunch as the cat chewed noisily on her breakfast.

Althea strained to see the clock: it was 11:11 p.m. When she got home from dropping Sophie off, she had tried working in the garden, then went to bed because she couldn’t concentrate. She had been in bed for over six hours.

She got up because she was thirsty. Though the windows were open and it was evening, it was humid, and she found it hard to breathe. She thought about Sophie settling in to her friend’s place in New Orleans.
New Orleans in July
. She shuddered.

She carried a glass of water to her living room window, and looked out over Sophie’s back yard. The moon was so bright she had to squint.
Peaceful
. Althea closed her eyes, soaking up the white glow. The moon calmed her. This close to sleep, it seemed right that Sophie was away. It seemed perfect.

Princess rubbed up against her leg and jumped up onto the window ledge, emitting a rumbling purr as she rubbed her head against Althea’s water glass, twisting and turning against it. Althea stroked Princess absentmindedly. A shadow descended as the moon passed behind a cloud and Althea looked past Princess’ furry form to the window and saw her own sleep-tossed reflection looking back at her
and the outline of a figure standing behind her, his hair long, glossy and black
. Screaming, she whirled to face him. Princess jumped to the floor.