Page 10 of Touch the Sky

She sighs. “Ouais. We put them up all around town three months ago. We are trying to rent it now that my nephew has moved out to Alberta. He was living with us for a few years. It’s been hard to find someone for a long-term lease in La Cloche. Most people who move here want to buy, and the renters just want it for summer or ski season.”

I turn to squint at her instead of the paper.

“This is your house?”

She tilts her head. “Yes?”

I whip my attention back to the ad, and I realize Ihaveseen the house before, up at the top of the gravel drive leading past the bright red barn.

“You’re renting this house out?”

Gabrielle lets out a titter edged with confusion. “Yes, Tess. Is there a problem?”

“It’s just, I’m looking for a house.”

I blurt the words before I can stop myself. Despite our lengthy chat yesterday, I managed to keep from filling Gabrielle in on our housing issues. I figured it would be best not to seem like too much of a disaster in front of a client I’d just met.

“Well, for somewhere to live,” I add, since there’s no backtracking now. “Somewhere to rent. The place I had set up before we arrived fell through at the last minute. We’re in a short-term let at the moment, and it’s been hell trying to find somewhere else in Saint-Jovite that ticks all our boxes. Like you said, most of the rental market around here is only seasonal.”

The creases in Gabrielle’s forehead deepen. “I had no idea you were still trying to find somewhere to live. That sounds stressful.”

I shrug and do my best not to grimace too much. “It, uh, hasn’t been fun.”

Gabrielle looks back and forth between me and the advertisement a few times.

“You’d like a place in Saint-Jovite?” she asks, her tone hesitant, like she’s trying not to get too hopeful.

“I’d like something anywhere, to be honest,” I answer. “Just as long as it’s on a bus route to Shel’s school.”

She waves a hand like she’s batting away a fly from landing on her dessert. “Ah,pas de problème. All the kids here get bussed into Saint-Jovite.”

I shift my weight from foot to foot. “They do?”

She nods.

We stare at each other for so long the couple in line ahead of me moves up a few more paces. I should move too, but my feet are glued to the spot.

“Tess, I hope this is not too much,” she says after a final glance at the poster, “but do you and your daughter want to come see the house sometime?”

Behind Gabrielle, I can see Shel still shuffling through her postcards, admiring the glossy watercolour designs. She said she wants to put them up in her bedroom once we have a permanent place.

I promised her a home out here. I promised her everything would work out.

“Yes,” I tell Gabrielle. “I think we would.”

Chapter 3

Jacinthe

“Christe alors, do I have a story for you,” I announce.

I grunt as I step up onto the porch of Balsam Inn, the giant pack of toilet paper I’m balancing in my arms almost slipping out of my grip.

Our big order of hospitality supplies arrived today, and the company dumped all the boxes in the middle of the driveway. Natalie and Maddie, my best friends and soon-to-be co-workers at this fine establishment of ours, were already busy hauling things into the house when I arrived.

My back is screaming at me to stop, but I can’t slack off today, not when we’re so close to the grand opening. My tailbone is so covered in bruises it looks like someone came at me with a two-by-four, and even the Super Mega Extra Strength Tylenol that’s harder to get down your throat than a golf ball hasn’t been enough to make the ache in my muscles go away.

I really did a number on myself chasing after that donkey yesterday. Leading two group trail rides all by myself this morning didn’t help either.