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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2016 The Hendersons toil with their obsessions
When we left off last time, a frustrated Janice told a confused Henderson, unequivocally, to work from home, while Deborah and Doug agreed to keep their distance from one another. Woodshed Chronicles, part 81, continues ...
“Certainly. How long will he be away?”
Janice looked sternly into Erica’s eyes and held her gaze for several seconds.
The Woodshed Chronicles BOB COLLINS
Janice Newberry stepped from Kenneth’s office and closed the door firmly behind her. It thumped loudly against the jamb. She strode briskly to Erica Swift’s desk.
“Mr. Henderson will be working away from this office. Please see that all of the pertinent files are available to him tomorrow morning.” There was a questioning look in Erica’s eyes.
“Back-stabbing cow,”she thought, knowing only too well that she was as much under Erica Swift’s surveillance as Kenneth was. “That hasn’t
been determined yet. Is there a problem?”
Erica averted her eyes. “Not at all. I only asked in case there are any communications for him.” “I expect that Mr.
Henderson will monitor his office email, and I’m sure you have his cell number,” said Janice. Her tone was impatient and ended their conversation.
Janice returned to her office and stood looking out the window at the cold winter
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drizzle, anticipating the questions Grimwood would ask and the answers she would give him. She wagered that he would hear from Erica Swift within the hour. Erica Swift sat trying to grasp what had happened: Janice had an unplanned meeting with Kenneth in his office, but there was a plausible explanation for it. Her voice and mannerisms seemed impersonal enough, slightly hostile if anything, and the meeting seemed far too brief for anything personal. But why was he going to work away from the office? If she was suspending him, he wouldn’t need access to any files. Maybe she was planning to meet with him. For what reason?
She began to imagine trysts and conspiracies and decided that it would be best to land it all – fact and speculation – in Mr. Grimwood’s lap. And the
Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association
sooner the better. Perplexed
Kenneth sat at his desk trying to fathom the meaning of Janice’s parting statement: “The answer to your last question is a definite no.” What was the last question? Did she mean she wasn’t seeing the New Year’s Eve guy? Or did it mean he didn’t need to know if she was seeing the New Year’s Eve guy or not?
Did she mean there was no chance of them patching things up? Or did she mean there was no need for him to apologize? Was it pointless to apologize because they were finished? Or was there no need for an apology because she still loved him. Did she ever really love him? Interested in, maybe, but he couldn’t remember her ever saying love. Could he? Had he said it himself? Probably not. Should he have? Maybe. Should he now? Probably not.
His thinking was turning into a runaway train and there was a dull ache in his temples. He decided to call it a day and go somewhere to clear his mind with a good stiff drink – or two – of Scotch and ponder the possibilities again.
Sleepless night Deborah laid awake
thinking about Doug McLeod and their rehearsal kiss until nearly four o’clock in the morning. It was the first time she’d really kissed any man but Kenneth since she was in high school. And there was no mistaking the fact she’d kissed him. Willingly. She
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remembered when they first met – the day Edna invited her and the kids to a picnic by the river with Gladdie. The day Ashley said he “was so checking her out” while she was swimming. She denied it but she knew then Ashley was right and she’d felt somehow flattered by the attention. And the day he startled her in Tiny’s shop when he came to talk about the song selections for the for the Community Hall Coffee House, and they came face to face when he kneeled down to help pick up the pieces of wood she dropped. Something stirred in
her even then. And it did again when they sang together the next week. And now Lil Abner and their kiss. Eventually, she fell into a fitful sleep and dreamt about standing at the edge of a cliff. The kids were almost ready for school when she came down in the morning.
“You look really tired, Mom. Are you alright?” asked Ashley. “I didn’t sleep well, that’s
all.”
“Is everything alright?” “Yeah. Everything is fine. I’ll catch a nap later.”
Deborah’s head was still full of Doug McLeod and the evening rehearsal. When the kids were gone, she made a thermos of tea then coached Duchess into a hike through the woods to the little rock bluffs at the back of the property. Fair skies were moving in from the west and the sun was shining now and then through the scattering clouds. There was no sound save their own footfalls and the whisper of condensed dew dripping from the trees. At the row of low bluff, Deborah picked her way to the flat slab that marked the very height of land in the entire community. She sat with her legs hanging over the edge, sipping tea and gazing at the snowy mountain in the distance while Duchess scuttled mindlessly through the underbrush below. Deborah leaned forward and peered over the edge to the ground 15 feet below. She thought of the cliff edge in her dream. And she thought about Doug McLeod. Perhaps he was the cliff in her dream, and their kiss was the edge of it.
Best to step away from that precipice, she realized, but she couldn’t deny being drawn toward it. There was more to it than Doug McLeod. There was Kenneth. She should have been able to reach for his hand and be drawn back, pulled away to his love and comfort.
But there was no saving grasp. All she felt there was a cold rough hand in her back, shoving her ever closer to the threshold. In a branch, 40 feet above, a raven spoke its wisdom to her.
... To be continued
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