Page 48 of Love in Mission City: The Shorts

He tilted his head.“I hadn’t heard that.But we lost touch after I went back to Whitehorse.”

“But then you came back to B.C.?”

“I did, but I landed the job as assistant lightkeeper up the coast.Hardly worth calling on my ex who’s way off...”He gestured vaguely eastward.

“Did it end badly?”Did I need to know this?No.Was I intensely curious?Oh, hell yes.Dickens was shorter than me, and if memory served, had blond hair with blue eyes.And cute glasses.I’d gone into the store one afternoon to browse and he’d caught my attention, but not for any discernible reason.I hadn’t known he was gay, but hearing he was didn’t surprise me.

“We’d started to talk about plans.”He scratched his head.“I mean, we weren’t always compatible, but we made things work.Then my grandfather got sick and, well, I felt I had to come home.”

“And yet you didn’t stay.”

His rage was incandescent.“The old bastard wasn’t sick.By the time I realized, Dickens and I had already parted.I tried to stick around Whitehorse, but I got fed up with my grandfather’s bullshit.”He pressed a finger to his lips.“Sorry.”

I made a big deal of looking down at Buddy, who was fast asleep on my feet after his beef-stew feast.“It’s okay, tender ears didn’t hear.”

That, as I hoped, made him smile.

“I came out to my grandfather.In spectacular fashion.He told me to leave and never come back, and I was happy to go.”He rubbed his eyes.“My parents died in a plane crash when I was little.My father’s family was from Jamaica and my mother was from the north.The Canadian authorities didn’t want to send me to the Caribbean when I had a perfectly good relative here in the country.In my heart, I doubt my mother would’ve wanted me to go to her father.He railed on about my ‘heritage’.”

He said the words with air quotes.

“You mean because you’re Black?”

“Nailed it in one.My grandfather was a racist.He didn’t like the Indigenous people either, and there were plenty where we lived.He was just a hateful old man.”

“Are you conflicted now?”

He tilted his head.

“About his death?”

A vehement shake.“No, as far as I was concerned, he died five years ago.This week was just the burial.”

He bit into his burger and I glanced out the window into the dark.We were nearly upon the winter solstice, and night came early this time of year.“Look, I need to run Buddy out.But let’s do something fun tonight, okay?”

Sorrowful brown eyes lightened.“What did you have in mind?”

“Leave that up to me.”With a wink, I grabbed Buddy’s leash, and we headed out.Now I needed to track down supplies.

Chapter Six

Isaac

Fun?

I should’ve been vaguely concerned what Ben had up his sleeves, but I wasn’t.

Why did I tell him all that?

Because you’re feeling raw.

All that’s in the past.

So you tell yourself.

I munched on the last few fries as I contemplated my life.Job I loved?Check.Sense of purpose and fulfilment?Check.Lonely as fuck?Check.

Oana brought me the slip, and I signed my room number.I’d have to pay for Ben’s meals from my own pocket, but that’d be my pleasure.Five years in lighthouses, despite the paltry salary, left me with few places to spend my money.

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