“Lucy?” John looked up to see a petite brunette with bright red glasses, a black leather skirt, and a transparent black blouse over a red camisole. A dour muscular man with a shaved head stood behind her.
Lucy turned around and stood quickly. John scrambled to his feet out of long habit.
“Zara!” Lucy gave her friend a hug. Turning she said, “John, this is Zara Zelenko, my former roommate. Zara, this is John MacLeish.
John stepped around the small table and shook Zara’s hand as he finished, “Good to see you again, Zara.”
Zara turned to her companion. “This is Luke Trainor. Luke, Lucy Wilkinson and John.”
Luke gave a terse nod, seemingly annoyed that Zara had stopped to speak with Lucy.
Zara said, “Luke? I have a couple of things to I need to speak about with Lucy and I have to freshen up. Would you please order the small falafel plate for me with a diet ginger ale? I’ll only be a few minutes.” She offered him a ten.
Luke looked like he wanted to refuse but replied, in an annoyed tone, “Fine.” Then he took the money and stalked away.
Zara said, “Lucy, you probably want to get those trunks as soon as you can. Both Dr. Drake and François-Denis have called about them claiming that you kept them to yourself and that they are actually property of the university. Frankie emailed me as well.”
Lucy looked nervously at John. John replied, “Can you print a copy of the email with the routing information and leave it in an envelope with any other mail you get for Lucy?”
Zara nodded. Lucy continued, “That’s absurd. I saw a copy of Grandfather’s will and his papers were left to me, no one else.”
“Well, you probably should get them as soon as possible.”
John asked, “It’s just two steamer trunks, right? They’ll fit in the truck, no problem.”
Lucy looked a question at John, who nodded. Lucy said, “We’ll swing by tonight and get them. Does my key still work?”
Zara said, “Yes.” Then she looked a bit nervously at Luke in the line and at Lucy. “I have to go freshen up.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, “Why did you have to mention that? John, I’ll be right back.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this Luke fellow.” Zara was applying a new layer of lipstick.
“How did you meet him?”
“He’s one of the gang that hangs around with Gillian. Selena set us up for tonight.”
Lucy considered. “I wouldn’t invite him back to your place, Zara. He doesn’t seem very safe. He’s very angry.”
Zara nodded. “I’m glad you have a decent radar for that.”
Lucy gave Zara a hug. “Now, do you have Zack’s number?”
Zara rolled her eyes. “He’s so young, Lucy.”
“Yes, but he seemed like a very good man and don’t roll your eyes at me. I can tell you really liked him, too. So, where are you and Luke headed tonight?”
“The same bar we met Zack at.”
“I’ll text him and say you need rescuing. Promise me you won’t go home with Luke, Zara. I don’t like his looks.”
“But I’m not sure I want a repeat with Zack.”
“Trust me. Zack will be much easier to deal with than Luke. John and I will pick up the trunks tonight before the concert. And spending a Friday evening alone wouldn’t be the end of the world, Zara, if it came to that.”
“What’s really going on between you and John? I didn’t connect the John that I met last month with the John you were talking about on the phone. When you said he was a craft master, I was expecting a fifty something guy with a bit of a paunch and grey hair, but he’s a real hunk.”
“He is very young for a master mason but he’s a real artist with stone.” Lucy sighed. “I don’t really know what’s going on with us. There are too many unresolved questions between us but I do know that for him it’s marriage or nothing. And I don’t know what I’d do about that. I found out in Edmonton that hooking up isn’t a good cure for loneliness for me but I don’t want to marry someone if that’s all it is.”
Zara gave Lucy a hug around the shoulders. “It’s getting pretty stale for me, too. Zack’s actually good company but I’m off to Australia for three years and he’s only in the second year of his undergrad. I don’t want to encourage him.”
“I think he knows he’s a bit too young for you right now, Zara. On the other hand, he seems to be a really good man.” Lucy smiled. “But I don’t think this Luke fellow is at all good. Try to ditch him as soon as possible but you’d best get back to him before he gets too irritated.”
Zara fished out her phone and texted Zack’s number to Lucy. “Have fun tonight.”
“I hope you do, too.”
As Zara left, Lucy began a text to Zack.
As he helped Lucy into the passenger’s seat of the truck, John said, “Zara isn’t quite what I expected. I only met her one afternoon in her work suit and she seemed more outgoing and secure.”
“No, she’s pretty quiet actually and has a hard time telling the good guys from the bad ones, at least since her former fiancé left her for her former best friend. I don’t trust easily and she wants to trust everyone, at least outside of work. Away from work she likes having the guy take charge, so she has a hard time saying no when a guy wants to get her into bed.”
John walked around to his side and asked Lucy for the address before saying, “I’ll pray that she finds a really good man to take charge of her, then, someone she can respect long term. But it would be best if she manages to dump that Luke guy as soon as possible. It doesn’t seem like he has much respect for her.”
“Well, you can come across pretty disrespectful yourself, Mr. MacLeish.”
Quietly John said, “You’re right, I can, and I’m working on it. I know that many of my fellow Christians use the phrase ‘love the sinner, hate the sin’ but it’s really hard to put into action. There’s a lot about Dr. Zelenko to respect and love but I don’t have to approve of all of her behaviour. But I do know that I need to work on respectful and loving ways to communicate my disapproval of only the behaviour. And my sinful disrespect of others means that I also get confused when I’m called on it. At least I know that Archie and Jack do it out of love for me.”
“I know you’re working on it, John. And I’m working on not being so defensive about being on the receiving end of it. I doubt I’ll ever be able to afford to erase all my tattoos, even if I wanted to, so I’m going to get some disapproving looks for the rest of my life.” She gave a bitter laugh. “It’s a permanent souvenir of a time that I’m now regretting.”
There was a short silence. Lucy’s phone chimed. “I’d best remember to turn this to vibrate before we go in to the concert.” She read the brief return text from Zack and let out a grateful sigh.
“What’s that about?” John asked as he pulled into the loading zone.
“I texted one of the few really good guys that Zara knows. She doesn’t have very many good friends in town but she needs some help tonight. We met Zack a couple of weeks ago when I was out with Zara and he thinks the world of her. She likes him a lot but she’s conflicted because he’s about ten years younger than she is. I asked him to head to the bar that Zara is going to with Luke.”
John came around to help Lucy out of the truck. “I’m glad you took that precaution. There was something not quite right with Luke.”
Lucy stood at the back of the pickup while John unloaded a hand truck. “I think he’s got the beginnings of some kind of buzz going. The Smart Serve course I took in Alberta talked about it. He looked like he was on something. Possibly some sort of amphetamine.”
“I’d like it if you gave Zara a call when the concert is over. If she needs help we can go pick her up.”
Lucy looked gratefully at John. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“If it will reduce your stress levels, then it’s better for the baby, right?”
Lucy looked archly at John. “So it’s all about the baby?”
John loo
ked away as the elevator door opened. “Well, it’s better for you, too.”
“Careful there, MacLeish. People will think you like me or something.”
John took a deep breath and followed Lucy into the apartment. In a teasing tone, he said, “Of course I like you. Why else would I have married you?”
Lucy stopped short and turned around with John’s face far too close to hers. “If you aren’t careful, I’ll take you up on that.” Her voice was low and intimate.
John considered claiming a kiss but thought better of it. He took a small step back and said, “Where are the trunks?”
Lucy pointed down the hall and led him past a messy bedroom to a very neat one. There were two small trunks on one side of the room next to a two drawer filing cabinet.
“Do you want the filing cabinet, too?” John asked. “There’s room in the truck.”
Lucy looked at her watch. “What time is the concert?”
John took out the tickets and checked his watch. “We have time for two trips. The hand truck folds into a dolly, so I can get both the trunks at the same time.”
“Let’s do it, then.” Lucy backed out of John’s way so he could load the trunks. “They’re heavy.”
“So is building stone.” He squatted to grab both handles of the first trunk and put it onto the dolly. Then he lifted the second and put it on top. “First load done.”
Lucy grabbed an Aran style lightweight cardigan from her closet and shrugged it on. “I’ll get the doors.” Then she held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”
John chuckled as he saw her take six hurried steps to the bathroom.
Lucy took John’s arm after the concert. “Thank you, John. That was wonderful. I wasn’t certain when they announced that Nancy Walker would replace the scheduled harpsichordist but my guess is that Ms. Petri’s smile said it all.”
“I noticed that they were recording the concert on the soundman’s laptop. I hope that it’s good enough to release. I was expecting a lighter hand on the keyboard but she really drove Michala into a very interesting place.” He patted Lucy’s hand. “And you are very welcome.”
“I like baroque but I’m really more into jazz and dance music. This sort of fusion with a really good jazz player doing continuo is pretty special.” Lucy pulled on John’s arm to keep him from speeding up.
“I like my jazz to have guitar solos but you’re right, this was pretty special.”
“So Mr. VIP festival patron…”
“You noticed?”
“I really liked the line in the listing of patrons, ‘John Allan MacLeish, Master Heritage Mason.’ It pretty much sums up what you do.”
“Well, I’m glad that you’re expecting. We got indulgent looks when I escorted you to the nice chairs at the front rather than annoyance.”
Lucy squeezed John’s arm in response. “Anyway, I was wondering what else you were going to take in.”
“Just one more string quartet next Friday. I’m giving my tickets to Anne MacDonald for the violin concerto on Saturday at the National Arts Centre.”
“Anne mentioned that she liked Natalie MacMaster.”
“Anne teaches Scottish fiddle and classical violin. She’s good enough to appear in one of these concerts but she’s a homebody. She occasionally sits in with a couple of local bands and she competes at the Highland Games in Maxville every year so she can hang around with other good fiddlers. One year she won and got an invitation to Edinburgh. Archie made sure she and Donnie had the farm work covered so she could go and compete. She placed ninth and had a wonderful time. I hope she does well tomorrow.”
“So you’re giving her your tickets?”
“She’s done me quite a few favours over the years. They’re my next door neighbours. She looked after my house plants and fed Smudge when I went out to Edmonton to clear up the paperwork after Rob died and I looked for you.”
Lucy’s purse started to buzz and she released John’s arm to retrieve her cell phone.
There was a text from Zara: Thx 4 the backup. Luke’s an S
Lucy snickered and moved to a quiet spot to reply. U OK?
The reply came almost immediately. Zacks sweet n sober. Luke wasn’t
Lucy showed John the text chain. He asked, “Are you sure she’s okay?”
Lucy dropped her cell phone into her purse after replying with a smiley then slipped her arm into John’s. “I’ll text again when we’re back at the truck. Zack’s in second year so Zara feels like she’s robbing the cradle. It took him almost an hour and three beers to get up the courage to speak with her. He doesn’t seem like one of those guys that are content with just hooking up, though. There’s a real… I don’t know… warmth, integrity, um… solidity to him. Even if he’s built on the same lines as Zara.”
“Well, if he had to actually stand up to that Luke fellow…”
“Yeah. There’s more to him than meets the eye.”
“There are more honourable men around than you might think, Lucy.”
She smiled wryly at him. “Well, it would be nice if there was a good place to meet them. And don’t talk to me about IVCF. I went to them for support after grandfather died. They took a look at my piercings and got all snooty at me. They’d be worse now that I have the tats.”
“It’s a common failing, especially with that age group. I know. I’m just coming out of it. And only because I have a good teacher.” He drew Lucy a little closer to show his appreciation. “I think I’ll take a page out of Mrs. Plunkett’s book and paint an extreme picture of you for Reenie’s benefit.”
Lucy sidled away in disapproval and said, “Why?”
“Irene is pretty old-fashioned. She must have given Rob three hours of lectures for every one of his tattoos.”
“Did she give a reason?”
“I think it was because they’re permanent enough that you might have to live with it even if you change your mind.” John laughed with a mildly bitter tone. ‘Not that it mattered in the long run. But he shaved his forearm and had one of the guys at the base in Edmonton do a really nice magic marker drawing that declared his undying love for Winona along with a graphic copied from Irene’s favourite Judds album.”
Lucy put her free hand to her mouth to try to stifle her laughter. “Let me guess, he got her on Skype and showed it to her and she was convinced it was real.”
John smiled at the memory. “He was only able to keep it up for about three days before it began to wash off. I heard about it for at least an hour when I got home from work the night he showed her.”
Lucy shrugged. “I think she’s right about the permanence thing. The one that’s going to give me problems is the leaf and ladybug on my right …”
“I saw part of it Lucy.”
“Well, the tattoo parlour should not let people start these things when they are under the influence.” Lucy looked down. “Are you sure you want to hear the story?”
John was silent for a while. Confession is good for the soul, he thought. He replied, “No, I’m not sure. But I am sure that I can listen if you need to tell it.”
Now it was Lucy’s turn to be silent. I need him to know, she thought. “I had just returned to Edmonton for the second year of my Master’s degree. One of the pictures I took at the farm was a close up of a ladybug on a birch leaf and I framed it for over my desk.” Her voice got quiet. “One of the guys who was an occasional lover dropped by my carrel to see if I had time for a, hm…”
John patted her hand as he guided her around a couple heading the other way. “I don’t need those details.”
Lucy gave a relieved smile. “Anyway, he commented that the curve on the leaf was the same as the curve of…” Again there was an embarrassed pause. “So one night, after a truly dreadful dinner with Mother where I had far too much wine and she lectured me about my tattoos again, I went back to my carrel and picked up the photo to show to my favourite tattoo artist. He didn’t care if I was sober enough to sign the release form because he loved the image and w
anted the challenge.”
John was silent.
“You don’t approve.” Lucy’s tone was disappointed.
John took a deep breath. “I didn’t know Luce Wilkinson. And no, I would not have approved. But I do know Lucy Wilkinson, at least a little bit.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “The lesson about judging and not judging is a very difficult one to internalize. Up until my parents were born you could assume everyone you met was a Christian. Christians have both the right and obligation to correct each other but we are supposed to do it out of love for each other not for the sake of one upmanship or out of a holier than thou self-righteousness. In my parents’ generation in rural Ontario you could still make the assumption that your neighbours were Christian but not so much with city folk. And in my generation? Well, I should be assuming that most of the people I meet are not practicing Christians.”
“You haven’t told me if Lucy Wilkinson is a practicing Christian or not. It seems obvious from the behaviour you describe that Luce probably wasn’t but I believe that God can change people’s hearts and I’m praying that He has done that for you, Lucy. But the Bible tells me it is not my place to judge what you used to be.” Then he took Lucy’s hand off his arm and put it in his, feeling a surge of connection. “What I am struggling with, though, is the image you’ve painted of that tattoo and its placement. I know that at some point I will be able to look at your other tattoos and eventually appreciate the artistry. The birch leaf? Not a place a Christian man’s thoughts should wander unless it’s with his wife.”
Lucy gave his hand a squeeze but refused to let go. She sighed. “I’m afraid that Luce would have enjoyed embarrassing you and insisted on showing it off. But you’ll have to settle for seeing the original picture. It’s in my bedroom at the trailer.”
John held his key fob up to open the doors of the truck. “You’ll have to bring it out to show me.”
Lucy’s voice held a hint of amusement. “More places a Christian man’s thoughts aren’t supposed to venture?”
He squeezed her hand and said, “Exactly.”
Chapter 14