May
The double buzz of his phone, muffled by the weight of his discarded pants, vibrated against the wood floor. He’d been in a deep sleep, and when he opened his eyes, the first light of morning was coming up beyond the curtains of the window opposite. The window itself seemed to be in the wrong place at first, like a portal in a dream. Where was he, even? This was a room he’d only been in this once.
As he shifted beneath the sheets, he felt the long-forgotten stresses and relief of having had sex, but the details were still trying to reassemble themselves in his mind. The phone buzzed incessantly. Behind him, there was soft snoring, and before he turned around to look, he remembered Lynne, remembered the night before. The long drive to Sydney. The hug at the door. All the things that had happened after that hug.
“Hello? Hello?” he spoke into the cold glass of the phone. The thing remained silent and still a moment, then buzzed angrily again against the side of his face. There had been a notification on the screen, but his eyes were not focusing yet.
“Uncle Ray? Uncle Ray?” The voice came at last. The person on the other end was upset. Shouting, more or less.
“It’s Ray,” Ray said.
“Ray?” came Lynne’s soft, half asleep voice from the bed behind him.
“Uncle Ray! Something bad has happened. Oh my God! Ray! Something very, very bad. I know it’s first thing. I waited until six to call. I need help, Uncle Ray. It’s Patty. Something terrible has happened to her. I don’t know who else I can count on.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Ray hung up and pulled his feet from beneath the bed covers. He sat on the edge of the mattress a moment, scrubbed his face with his palms.
“What is it, Ray?” Lynne said. She came to his side and sat as he was sitting, both feet on the floor.
“Family. Family thing.” Ray himself did not fully understand. He took in the stark white intimacy of Lynne’s bare toes. He smelled the scent of her shampoo, her skincare products, her stale morning breath. They’d known each other a little in high school, but that was a long, long time ago. And they’d shared a lot recently through months of Facebook Messenger contact. But last night had been the first time they’d actually seen each other in decades.
“What family, Ray? Is everyone okay?”
“I don’t think so,” Ray said. “I don’t think everyone’s okay. I don’t think anyone’s dead. But it sounds bad. I’m going to have to drive to the Valley. Right away.”
“The Valley? The Annapolis Valley?”
Ray nodded and stood up, naked in daylight in front of a woman for the first time in years. “I’m sorry. This is a terrible thing to do to you. Rush off first thing in the morning like some irresponsible…”
“Nonsense,” Lynne said. “You’ve got…”
“It’s my niece. And her daughter. It sounds bad. They don’t have anyone else.”
“Let me get you breakfast and coffee,” Lynne said. She stood up and turned to face him. She put her arms around him and drew his body to her own. “Let me send you off with coffee and breakfast. It’s a long drive.”
“I’d like that,” Ray said. “I can’t drive to the Valley on an empty stomach. But I have to get out the door fast.”
“Let’s move fast, then,” Lynne said. She pulled a robe off a hook on the back of her bedroom door and made her way quickly to the kitchen, pulling the robe around her.