Reine-Marie watched as he flicked his head around to rid his phantom hair of the lake water, as he’d done the first time they’d visited. And for years after that, until there was no longer any need. But still he did it, and still she watched, and still it stopped her heart.
“Come on in,” he called, and watched as she dived, graceful, though her legs always parted and she’d never mastered the toe-point, so there was always a fin of bubbles as her feet slapped the water. He waited to see her emerge, face to the sun, hair gleaming.
“Was there a splash?” she asked, treading water as the waves headed into the shore.
“Like a knife you went in. I barely even knew you dived.”
“There, breakfast time,” said Reine-Marie ten minutes later as they hauled themselves up the ladder back onto the dock.
Gamache handed her a sun-warmed towel. “What’ll you have?”
They walked back describing for each other impossible amounts of food they’d eat. At the Manoir he stopped and took her off to the side.
“I want to show you something.”
She smiled. “I’ve already seen it.”
“Not this,” he chuckled and then stopped. They were no longer alone. There, at the side of the Manoir, someone was hunched over, digging. The movement stopped and slowly the figure turned to face them.
It was a young woman, covered in dirt.
“Oh, hello.” She seemed more startled than they. So startled she spoke in English rather than the traditional French of the Manoir.
“Hello.” Reine-Marie smiled reassuringly, speaking English back.
“Désolée,” the young woman said, smearing more dirt onto her perspiring face. It turned to mud instantly, so that she looked a little like a clay sculpture, animated. “I didn’t think anyone was up yet. It’s the best time to work. I’m one of the gardeners.”
She’d switched to French and she spoke easily with only a slight accent. A whiff of something sweet, chemical, and familiar came their way. Bug spray. Their companion was doused in it. The scents of a Quebec summer. Cut grass and bug repellent.
Gamache and Reine-Marie looked down and noticed holes in the ground. She followed their gaze.