Wildflower (4 page)

“Well ma’am, I’ll be honest with you,” he
sighed over the phone. “It’s way out in Jamaica Point. It belonged
to my wife’s grandmother and she has recently passed away in the
old folk’s home. The place has been pretty much abandoned for a few
years now and the family in Alberta wants it sold. I’ve been
looking after the maintenance, but it is a real pain in the butt,
especially in the winter time.”

“The winter?”

“Ma’am, you could get stranded out there for
days in the winter,” he replied. “It would make you a nice summer
home though. It’s got a wonderful view.”

“I’d love to see it. Is that possible?”

“Of course. I can give you directions and
meet you there.”

“I don’t have a car.”

“Well ma’am, if you’re considering buying a
house out of the city, you’d better get one. If you’re serious
about Jamaica Point, I would recommend a four wheel drive.”

“That’s sound advice,” agreed Abby, “and I’ll
certainly give it full consideration. I’d still like to see the
house though.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “Are you free
tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’m free tomorrow.”

“Shall I call for you at ten? Tomorrow is my
morning to go out there and check the place over. I’ll drive you
out and show you around. It would be worth it to sell the darn
thing as it is driving me nuts and eating savagely into my personal
time.”

“Wonderful,” laughed Abby. “Call for me at
Edna Parson’s B&B. I have the address here somewhere.”

“I know the place. I’ll see you at ten then
Miss MacKai.”

Smiling to herself, Abby wandered slowly
through the mall, browsing a bit as she went. At a newsstand, a
magazine about money management caught her attention. There was a
woman on the cover who claimed to have retired in her thirties even
though she had never had a big salary in her life. Abby bought the
magazine and read the article. The key seemed to be a natural
frugality and a lack of an elaborate lifestyle. The woman lived
alone and seemed to like it that way. She wasn’t completely
retired; she still did some part time work.

Mulling the possibilities over in her mind
occupied Abby for a while. She could afford to buy that little
house and a car and still have a fine nest egg left over. As for
part time work? Well, in reality she could still work for Harry,
writing up proposals and such just as she had done before. All she
would need would be an internet connection and a good computer set
up.

Abby found herself back in the food court
with another coffee and muffin still mulling over the dream in her
mind. “What is the purpose of working, Miss MacKai?” she asked
herself silently.

“To earn money.”

“Why?”

“To live, to enjoy the living.”

“So what are the things we want to enjoy that
we are working for?”

“We like to enjoy peace and tranquility. We
enjoy the ocean, long walks in the country, reading in bed, plenty
of good music, going to the movies...”

“Now then, this house is close enough to town
that we could drive in for whatever we wanted to do, and far enough
out that we would have some peace and quiet,” she mused as she
sipped her coffee absentmindedly. “We can set up a small office
right in the house, and with almost no expenses, one or two
contracts each year would be plenty; we would have the rest of the
time to ourselves. Thank you Miss MacKai that was a wonderful bit
of reasoning.”

“You’re welcome, Miss MacKai,” she replied to
herself, “and I am so very glad there are no mind readers in the
crowd today.” Abby almost giggled as she rose and headed back to
the B&B. She arrived at five minutes to six.

“Well, you’re timing is perfect, Abby,”
declared Edna as she set the table for two.

“My grandmother always used to say the same
thing,” smiled Abby as she pulled up a chair.

“Did you find your way around alright
today?”

“No problem at all. Mmmm, Edna, this smells
delicious.”

“Eat up my girl, you need to rebuild your
strength,” Edna smiled warmly as she seated herself across the
table from Abby.

“Edna, do you know anything about a place
called Jamaica Point?” asked Abby as she finished her meal and laid
her utensils on her plate.

“Jamaica Point? Well, it was a haven for rum
runners at one time, but there’s not a lot there anymore. A few
summer houses, about a dozen or so families year round I guess.
It’s about forty five minutes drive from town I think. Why do you
ask Abby?”

“I’m going out there to look at a house
tomorrow.”

“Why on earth would you want to live way out
there?”

“I’m setting up a small home based business
and I have to have complete peace and quiet; it seemed like it
would be just the place.”

“Well if peace and quiet is what you want,
Jamaica Point would certainly be a likely place to find it alright.
Come on, let’s leave the mess and go watch the news on the TV for a
while.”

Abby followed her to the living room and
settled herself into a big plush chair. She sank back into its
waiting arms and sighed. Abby had not realized how tired she really
was. They watched in silence for a while then suddenly Edna called
Abby’s attention to an automobile ad on the set. “That’s the car
you’ll be after wanting if you’re going to be living out around the
bay,” she stated firmly.

Abby saw a man with a dog team sitting in the
back of the car, driving across a snow covered landscape. “An
Outback, Edna you could just be right about that. It has lots of
room and should be able to get me around in the winter. Is there a
dealer in town?”

“There’s one over near the mall,” replied
Edna. “You can’t miss it.”

“That’s right, I remember passing it on my
way to the mall earlier today. Edna, can I make a few long distance
calls? I’ll add whatever you like to my bill.”

“Help yourself,” replied Edna as she rose and
shut off the TV. “Phone’s right there, I’ll be in the kitchen
washing up.”

“Shall I help?”

“Make you calls dear, let me take care of the
kitchen.”

As Edna left the room Abby turned in her
chair, picked up the phone and dialed. She had two very important
calls to make tonight. “Hello Harry? It’s Abby calling,” she said
as the phone was answered.

“Abby, where are you? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine Harry. Sorry it took so long to
call, but I’ve been resting up and traveling a bit. As for where I
am, well, I’m in Newfoundland.”

“Newfoundland? What the heck are you doing
there?”

“Starting a consulting business, got any work
for me?”

“Are you serious?”

“Completely serious Harry.”

“Then I do have work for you Abby, and I am
delighted that you will be able to do it for me. That young fellow
I sent to take your place is a good administrator, but he can’t
write a proposal to save his life. You and I both know it is all in
the way it is worded that makes or breaks a proposal. Could you
please finish the Sabasco proposal for me?”

“Dear gods Harry, that is due in three
weeks,” exclaimed Abby. “I’d need everything that I left on my old
computer in San Francisco. He must have thrown that out by
now.”

“No way, it’s still there,” laughed Harry.
“He couldn’t break your passwords so he created his own identity
and is using the same computer. Whatever you had done is still
there; can you network with it and get what you need?”

“Ok, truth or dare time Harry,” sighed Abby.
“I had already completed the Sabasco proposal the day before the
roof fell in on me. It’s all on that computer. All he has to do is
print it off.”

“Great, Abby that’s wonderful. Give me the
passwords and I’ll send your fee, bonus, and severance all in one
package.”

“He needs three passwords Harry. There will
be no fee for this one as I was still working for you when I did
it.”

“Stop haggling and give me the darn
passwords.”

“They are, in this order, ‘Harry&Alice,
and then Sugardaddy,” grinned Abby. “The folder is called Proposals
and the file is Sabasco. The final password is ‘baby’.”

“Awe honey,” sighed Harry.

“None of that now. Here’s my new cell number.
As soon as I have an address I’ll call again.” She gave him the
number then said her goodbyes and dialed her mother’s number.

“Hello?” asked a slightly slurred voice.

“Hi Mom, it’s Abby.”

“Abby, where the hell are you? I’ve been
trying to call you, but they say your phone has been disconnected.
There are a lot of boxes addressed to you here at the house.”

“I’m in Newfoundland Mom.”

“So you got yourself pregnant and ran for
cover,” said her mother harshly. “Have you had the abortion
yet?”

“Always so nice to talk to you Mom,” sighed
Abby. “You’re always so understanding and supportive. Actually I
came home with a fair sum of money and I am setting up a consulting
business here in Newfoundland. I left the States in a hurry and had
no address to send my stuff to, so I sent it to myself at your
house. As soon as I have an address I’ll send you some money so you
can forward the boxes to me.”

“Listen Abby, those boxes are cluttering up
the place and I don’t want to have to take a day off work
to....”

“Never mind Mom, I’ll come collect them
myself next week,” sighed Abby.

“Good god Abby, that will take you all week
to do and cost you a fortune,” exclaimed her mother. “Just send me
a couple of hundred extra and I’ll take a day off so I can ship
them to you.”

“Sure Mom, just as soon as I get an address
to send them to, call you then, bye now.”

Abby had hung up before her mother could say
anything further. “No way in hell Mom,” muttered Abby. She knew
full well if she sent money her mother would go on another drinking
binge, spend the lot of it, and Abby would never see her boxes of
personal treasures again. No, Abby would take care of this herself,
and soon. With a sigh Abby went to see if she might get a cup of
tea from the kitchen.

On The Road

With a deep sigh, Hazel finished packing her
suitcase with the last of her worldly goods. She sat on the lid to
snap the closures then took a hard look at herself in the mirror.
Her hair had grown back to a passable length and the holes where
she’d had her nose and eyebrow pierced hardly showed at all. The
red shirt and faded blue denim jeans seemed a lot more like herself
than the all black outfits she’d worn for the past two years, and
that made her smile softly.

Hazel had arrived in Toronto as green as
grass, but two years and three failed relationships later she was
as canny and street wise as the rest of them. She had thrown
herself into the joys of freedom and lived it to the hilt. Six
months later Hazel awakened from a drug induced stupor to realize
that she wasn’t really having any fun at all. Yes she had a lover,
but they seldom saw each other sober and more seldom still did they
actually have a conversation. She’d broken it off and moved out to
her own place.

The demands of school and trying to maintain
her own apartment had proved too much for Hazel and she’d nearly
flunked out. Allowed to remain in school on probation, she moved
back into residence and applied herself to her studies to the
exclusion of all else. A few months later she met and went steady
with “the girl from Goth” as Hazel had called Irene. It was Irene
who’d convinced Hazel to shave her head and get her nose pierced.
(She’d balked completely at the idea of tattoos.) The relationship
failed, but Hazel did manage to get her grades back up.

Desperately tired of the city and longing to
see a friendly face again, she’d contacted Tommy out at UBC in
Vancouver. He’d convinced her to transfer out. At the end of term,
Hazel had moved to Vancouver and settled into the spare room of
Tommy and Jack’s apartment.

“Tommy, it’s so wonderful to see you,” Hazel
had shouted as she threw herself into his arms at the bus
station.

“Easy fella, let’s introduce ourselves
first,” sputtered Tommy as he tried to escape the embrace.

“Screw you Tommy Reid,” laughed Hazel as she
punched him on the arm and danced out of his reach.

“Hazel?” he exclaimed, startled at her
appearance, “dear Jesus woman, what have you done to yourself?”

“Aw Hazel,” he said gently, and swept her
into his arms as a tear sprang to her eye, “I’m sorry honey. It is
really good to see you again. Come on; let me introduce you to
Jack.”

Hazel grinned as she remembered that meeting.
Tommy truly had not recognized her at all, and she had kept the
gothic look just to embarrass him. She’d moved into a small
bachelor apartment near theirs and set about trying to make a new
life. Hazel spent the next school year tying to study, working two
jobs, and having a less than satisfying relationship with a girl
from Victoria.

Hazel shook her head slowly as she remembered
the screaming match when she and Shelly had broken up. That had
been the final straw for Hazel, or so she’d thought at the time.
Three weeks later she been informed that she’d flunked out and
would have to make up three courses if she wanted to return. Hazel
could neither afford the courses nor did she have the desire to
try. She’d sat in her apartment and cried for a week until Tommy
found her there. Hazel was almost suicidal by this time.

Somehow Tommy had pulled her through and
she’d gotten back on track a bit. She’d given up on school for a
while and taken a full time job as well as keeping one of her part
timers. Hazel had started to let her hair grow back and she’d
renewed her interest in running. The area around UBC was ideal for
this and soon Hazel was returning to her old self once again.

They’d been sitting around in Tommy and
Jack’s apartment when the conversation had begun. Jack had sparked
it off and it had soon taken on a life of its own. “Lucky bugger,”
Hazel had said as they watched a program about a man who had found
a way to turn his hobby into his living.