excerpt
When Jennifer had awakened at first light that morning, she had a sense that some mental dam had burst, rushing her back to reality. She stretched in bed, sighed and glanced around her small cabin. Her peasant blouse and jeans lay draped over an open suitcase. Six days into the Volga cruise and she hadn’t yet managed to put all of her clothes away in the closet. Her make-up case lay open, its contents scattered into the washbasin. She remembered that she had thrown her wedding ring into the bottom of the case before she left Canada. Why, she wasn’t sure. She would have to check that it hadn’t disappeared down the drain.
Her reaction at lunch had been fierce, overkill, she realized. It was all mixed up with Chopyk’s paternalism which reminded her of her father’s interference. He hadn’t wanted her to marry Michael, she knew that. Both parents had thought him too studious, too lax, too hairy—too something. It seemed there were many reasons best known or invented only by parents. They didn’t need to worry—it didn’t last anyway. For the sake of her career in the Russian Language Department she would seek out Chopyk today and apologize. Also, she would tactfully investigate her intriguing theory of Natasha as an ally.
Jumping out of bed, she pulled on her jeans under her nightgown and ran up onto the deck, barefoot, to refresh herself on another cool, clear morning on the Volga River. So early, there was no hint of the heat to come. On either side, lush green stands of birch and cottonwood overhung the water. Their boat was somewhere north of Maiden’s Island where they had stopped for a swim yesterday and they were less than two days south of their destination, Kazan. One day in Ulyanovsk, one in Kazan, two in Moscow, then they would fly back to Vancouver. Just five days and she would be thousands of miles from Volodya. The thought gave her a sharp pain.
As Jennifer approached the bow of the boat, she could hear someone grunting. David, she thought, doing his ridiculous callisthenics. She did not want to admire his biceps this morning. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.
Libros Libertad 