(Continued from August 13, 2010)
The content of Doug’s e-mail was pretty well what I had expected. There was a lengthy description of the excitement that my message had created. Thea’s farm had provided the focal interest. Before her beautifully undulating acreage had come into play, there had been some hesitation on the part of Doug’s wife concerning the best time for a trip to the North West. It appeared that shortly after she had grasped the farm’s wealth of possibilities, she decided that as soon as possible was the best option.
Since Alice still had a copy of the common-area key, the girls were able to walk right up to my condo entrance. I could hear the faint sound of their laughter in the hallway, which, I reasoned, was caused by the strange sentiment of passing the former dwelling place of an ex-boyfriend.
I had swung open the door seconds before they had reached it and the pleasant aroma of food preceded them. They each carried two bags, which they set on the empty surface of my dining room table.
Alice’s hug was relatively short compared to Thea’s lengthy embrace. I got the impression that they were wearing the same brand of perfume. It had been a long time since a fragrance, which one associates with ladies, had been able to permeate the air of my apartment. Since the girls would stay for a while, that pleasant smell would linger for days.
“Can you wait until after dinner?” I asked Alice as I pointed at the bottle of Calvados.
“Yes, I want to build up a strong longing for that liquor by staring at the bottle now and then,” she joked. “In the meantime, you and I will be able to sip from the white wine which we brought. The main dish will be fillets of cod tonight.”
“I will be the Perrier sipper tonight,” Thea asserted. “I’ll try to be as good a sport about being the designated driver as Alice was during our visit to the French restaurant.”
We set the table together. I took the dishes, the glasses and the cutlery out of the cupboard and handed them to Alice. She passed them on to Thea who gave them a quick rinse. We all got involved in the act of drying the items. It provided me with the opportunity of showing off the colorful dishcloths that I had brought from France.
Minutes later, we were enjoying the cod fillets and the pan-fried potatoes. They were delicious. Apparently, Thea had ordered everything from the restaurant of aunt Dorothy’s chef. The green salad and the dessert were also excellent.
(To be continued)