Excerpt
from sand they had trucked in some years earlier. Picnic tables with
built-in benches were stacked under willow trees which drooped
their branches close to the lake. The lake itself, not more than ten
acres in area, was frozen over, most of the surface cleared of snow
and patterned in a crisscross fashion by the blades of dozens of ice
skates. Obviously, a few skaters had been here already to try out their
Christmas gifts; or maybe it had been a pick-up game of hockey. The
lake appeared deserted now. Morley stopped the truck, helped Tyne
from the cab, and put his arm around her as they walked to the edge
of the water, the crunch of their boots on new snow the only sound
that broke the stillness. Tyne breathed deeply of the pure frosty air
and sighed with contentment.
“We should have brought our skates,” Morley said as he turned his
head to kiss her cheek.
“Hm um. I wish I didn’t have to go back to Calgary so soon,” Tyne
said with a sigh. “We had so much fun the last two years when I had
winter holidays.”
They stopped walking and Morley hugged her close. “Tyne, you
have only two months left of your training. I asked you in the summer,
but you didn’t have an answer for me. What are you going to do
when you graduate?”
She looked off into the distance to where two hawks circled over
the white hills. “I was going to tell you today. I’ve applied for a job at
the Holy Cross. I need to stay around until after graduation in May,
anyway.”
“And after that?”
“After graduation? Well, I’ll still be there, I suppose. I can’t give my
notice after only two months.” Tyne turned in his arms and looked
into his face which had grown serious and sad. “Honey, I know I
sound indecisive, and I don’t really want to be so far away from you.
It’s just that, for now, I feel I should stay on in Calgary. Please understand.”
“I do understand … I suppose,” Morley said reluctantly. “But I’d
hoped you’d be a little closer. Would you not like to work in one of
the smaller towns? Or even Medicine Hat?”
“Yes, in time, maybe.”
He gripped her shoulders. “In time? What does that mean? It
sounds like years away. Tyne, I love you and I want you to be my wife.”
Libros Libertad 