Triptych (41 page)
Authors: J.M. Frey
“I…you!” Basil spluttered and tore his gaze from the reconciliation going on in the house. “You!”
“I?”
“You…the payment is the proposal, innit?”
“Sure.”
Basil stripped off his gloves and slapped them down on the lawn under his feet. “So I’ve been sloughing through cow shit for your sheer amusement?!”
“Yup.”
“Sonofa — !” Basil started, but then he remembered who he was talking to. The man who was asking Basil to marry his daughter. To heal the hurt of a whole family. And offering a ring to do it with. “Fine then,” he huffed, reaching out and snatching at the box, even as he said “Ta.” Basil pushed open the stiff hinges, and Mark dropped his free hand back into his pocket.
“Whoa,” Basil said, staring at the cluster of small blue and white. “That’s flash. Real sapphires?”
“Yup. Was my mother’s,” Mark said, and now he finally sounded sheepish. “It was supposed to go to Gwennie, but then she ran off to…teach aliens n’ stuff, n’ I thought…she should have it, you know? And you’re already with her, so you know, it should be you, I reckon. Seems sorta fair. Gwen Grey — sounds nice, yeah?”
It was the longest stretch of words Basil had heard Mark utter yet, and from his downcast, anxious eyes, the firm line of his mouth, it was a stretch he’d been practicing.
“Yeah, okay,” Basil said. Something warm and wonderful was blossoming in his chest, an affectionate feeling of finally being welcomed to the family.
Inside the house, Evvie leaned back and raised a thumb to clear her daughter’s tears off of her cheeks. They smiled at each other, broken and awkward, but genuine. Trusting.
Trying.
“One thing, though…” Basil said, snapping the ring case shut with a sharp click. He grinned, because he was about to be cheeky. “What if I don’t want to?”
Mark looked back up, eyes devilish and mouth pulled wide with little-boy mischief once again. “I’ve still got that shotgun.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.M. Frey holds a BA in Dramatic Literature, where she studied playwriting and traditional Japanese theatre forms, and a Masters of Communications and Culture, where she focused on fanthropology. She is an active in the Toronto geek community, presenting at awards ceremonies, appearing on TV, radio, podcasts, live panels and documentaries to discuss all things fandom through the lens of Academia. She loves to travel (disguising it as research), and has visited nearly every continent. She also has addictions to scarves,
Doctor Who
, and tea, all of which may or may not be related.
Triptych is her first full-length novel. She has previously published poems, academic articles, and short stories.
Visit her at:
http://www.jmfrey.net
THANKS TO…
Elizabeth, who gave Kalp his body and sexuality, and lent me some of her incredible words; Stephanie, who was the first to mourn for Kalp; Karen, whose passionate knowledge of sci-fi helped to flesh out the plot; for all those who did read-overs and made suggestions, and whose names pepper the text in thanks.
The stunningly clever Gabrielle Harbowy, the lovely editor whose interest in the novel helped make it strong.
And especially to my mother and father, who’d had me by my age; the realization of this fact gave me the impetus for this story.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
