Chapter 19
Ember
I’m back in my seat, warming my hands up, a smile forcing itself onto my lips despite my best efforts. Never a dull moment with this group. There was always some kind of drama, though I don’t remember it ever being vicious, but that was the classic Joss that I remembered.
Also, a small part of me respected that she was about to go off on her own into the Ontario countryside. I was almost a little envious.
I can’t stop thinking about what Alex said, about getting off the train at Winnipeg and travelling north to Churchill to see the polar bears. Instead of going to Bryn.
The thought of it causes a stirring, a glimmer, deep in my soul. The wilderness is calling to me, the animals, the big sky and vast forests. More so than the city of Vancouver.
My parents saw polar bears once. They took a holiday to Greenland and said it was the most magical experience. They had matching bright white Arctic coats that they’d bought specially, and I still have one of their photos framed on my wall, because they looked like a couple of polar bears wearing them in the snow. I smile, just thinking about it.
Is this my gut telling me it’s the right thing to do?
But, I can’t. Not now. I have important things to do.
Speaking of . . . I get my phone out of my pocket and tap on it with icy fingers, bringing up Bryn’s social pages. She’s posting daily, nuggets of her life, excited-sounding snippets of her upcoming nuptials. I see you, Bryn.
‘Hi,’ a caramel, Canadian voice says beside me.
‘Alex!’ A smile spreads across my face, and I go to put my phone away. Then I stop. ‘Look, what I was talking about last night, about my ex who’s getting married. I don’t want you to think I’m imagining this, and look at what she just posted.’ I show her a photo of a pine cone centrepiece. She knows I love pine cones.
‘Okay,’ Alex says in reply, taking my phone from me for a closer look, her fingers grazing mine. She studies the photo for a moment and then hands it back, a thoughtful look on her features, then changes the subject. ‘I heard your friend – sorry, non-friend – tried to escape.’
I laugh, and Alex takes an empty seat across from me. I lean forward, and she does the same. ‘That’s pretty typical of her, Joss, she’s kind of dramatic. From what I remember.’
‘Why?’
‘Why’s she dramatic? I don’t know, that’s just her, I guess. She got back on board just in time though.’
‘That’s good.’ Alex nods, and holds my gaze.
I clear my throat. ‘You’re probably sick of hearing all about me and these people I’ve found myself travelling with. Tell me about you. What are you heading to Vancouver for?’
Alex sits back in her seat. I mirror her again. Then notice I’m doing it so move to a cross-legged position instead, tucking my thick-socked feet up under me.
After a pause, where Alex stares out of the window at the trees passing, she says, ‘I’m going to see family.’
‘For the holidays?’ I ask.
‘Yeah.’
‘Where do they live?’
‘Just outside Vancouver, in the countryside. I love it out there.’
‘Do you normally live in Toronto?’
‘Kind of,’ she says. ‘I rent an apartment there, sorry, a flat,’ she teases, switching to a British accent, which makes me laugh and lean in towards her again. ‘But I do love travelling, camping, heading out to the mountains when I can. But I need to have a base in the city for work.’
‘Do you always work on this route?’
‘Not always, but often.’
‘Do you like it?’
‘I do,’ she answers, her smile wide and inviting, and I find myself watching her lips as she talks. Alex stands up. ‘Did you think about Winnipeg?’
