“I lied for your sake. I wanted you to be happy. I...”
“The boy is Ron’s?”
“Yes,” she said in a ragged whisper. “Don’t hate me for it. Please don’t hate me.”
“Thelma, Thelma, you are my love, how could I ever hate you? You’ve told me the truth. That’s the first step.”
“Step?”
“To atonement, to peace.” He looked up at the sky, smiling and composed. “You see that single cloud up there, Thelma? That’s one of the signs I’ve been waiting for.”
“It’s only a cloud, Harry. Don’t imagine...”
“Only a cloud? Ah, no. This is the day.”
“Stop.”
“Don’t you feel how different it is from other days? You, Ralph, don’t you feel it, too?”
“It’s an ordinary day,” Turee said. “How about that drink you offered me a while ago?”
“Not now. You can pour it yourself after I’ve gone.”
“You just got here, don’t talk about leaving.”
“I must. Look, Ralph. There. See it? A bird flying across the cloud. If I’d had any doubts at all, that would dispel them.”
Turee tried to catch Thelma’s eye for some hint on how to handle the situation. But her eyes were closed. She seemed to have fallen into a troubled sleep. Her hands twitched and tears glittered on her lashes.
“You can’t leave Thelma.”
“No,” Harry said. “I won’t leave Thelma. She’s coming with me. She wants to.” He reached down and touched her gently on the shoulder. “You want to, don’t you, Thelma? We’ve been down some pretty dreary roads together. This last won’t be any rougher.”
Turee said, “Stop this foolishness and let me help you.”
“It’s too late to do anything for me. Help the boy, if you can. He’s a good boy. He deserves to be brought up by a good man. You don’t have to be afraid he’ll grow up to be like me.”
“I won’t let you walk off like this...”
“You can’t stop us. Besides, I don’t think you really want to. They still hang people in Canada.” He leaned down and kissed Thelma on the forehead. “Come on, dear.”
Thelma rose silently, hanging on to his arm.
“For God’s sake, don’t go with him, Thelma,” Turee shouted. “Stop and think.”
“I’ve already thought,” she said quietly.
They walked together hand in hand across the patio and up the steep path along the side of the house.
A minute later Turee heard the roar of a car engine. He thought of the cliffs of Santa Monica above the sea, like the cliffs of Wiarton above the lake, and he could see behind the next corner of time the last dreary road Harry had chosen.
They still hang people in Canada, Turee thought. It’s better this way. Better for the boy. He’s got a life to live, I must see that he lives it right... My God, I wonder what Nancy will say...