In six months, Gwen Johnston turns thirty, and when she does, she vows she'll have her life together. She'll no longer be jumping from one job to another, from one relationship to the next. A new, more mature, Gwen will have emerged. She's giving he...
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Gwen and I are renting a small cottage on Manitoulin Island. We could be living in the communal housing owned by Doctors International, but after the first few months of me joining the Northern Canada project, it didn't seem right to be there as a couple. Gwen enjoyed it when it was just her, but with the two of us, it started to feel like we were always on the clock. Before Gwen, that wouldn't have bothered me. Now, despite the fact we both work on the same project, I like to be able to switch off from work. With her, I like to be fully present. There's never a dull moment.
Today, I was done earlier than her, and since it's the three-year anniversary of when we boarded the tourist bus together, I've made the house look as much like an amusement park as I can. There are lights and decorations everywhere, and I've set up mini game stations in every room of the house.
We celebrated this day the first year, or rather, Gwen did, and then I realized it was a day we were going to celebrate. Last year, we planned the day together. But this year, she hasn't said a word about it. I have my suspicions about why, but I'm not pushing her.
The front door opens when I'm in the kitchen making fish tacos from the walleye I caught at the lake yesterday on my day off.
"Happy three years!" Gwen yells from the front entrance before practically bouncing into the kitchen. "I love everything about this day."
"Me too," I say as I lean toward her for a greeting kiss. She wraps her arms around my neck and drags me away from the stove to deepen the kiss.
"Fish tacos," Gwen murmurs against my lips. "If you weren't already my favorite human on the planet, you'd be closing in on first place with this meal alone."
"I am the hunter-gatherer of your dreams."
She leans back to make eye contact. "You really are."
"Want to know what else I gathered?"
She raises her eyebrows and waits for me to continue.
"I bought one of Philomena's strawberry rhubarb custards for dessert."
Gwen moans and then kisses me again, pressing herself flush against me. "You've got my heart."
"And I plan on keeping it." I place a quick kiss on her lips and follow it up with another on her temple and the top of her head before returning to the stove. Burning the fish would waste the meat and ruin the tacos.
Behind me, I can sense Gwen going very still, and then she turns on her heel and walks quickly to the two-piece bathroom in the hallway. The fan flicks on, and I'm not sure if she thinks it disguises what she's doing or not, but I can still hear her throwing up. A few minutes later, she's back in the kitchen, but she's still pale.
"You okay?" I ask, which is the closest I've come since the first time she flew to the bathroom a few weeks ago, to asking if she's all right.
