Yak Read online

  He stormed out of the cooler and past a stunned Elliot who was standing next to the door. Tossing the night manager his apron, Ed announced, “I quit. I’ll send for my paycheque.”

  Darla Mae stumbled out of the cooler, tears flooding her face as she watched in stunned disbelief as her erstwhile lover deserted her.

  Aislin instantly moved to her side, putting an arm around her for support as she murmured soothingly to her.

  Ed’s car roared to life outside, and we all looked out the window to see him spinning out across the parking lot, barely missing my car and the day manager’s truck.

  I glanced at Aislin and was taken aback by the utter fury on her face as she stared after the departing muscle car.

  When the sound of a horrendous collision rocked the restaurant, some part of me wasn’t surprised, but I joined the rest of the staff in running outside. Across Jester’s big lot, Ed’s car had piled into a semi that had been pulling in off the highway. The red muscle car was consumed in flames and the driver of the semi had bailed out of his cab. Apparently unhurt, he was standing a good distance away, staring helplessly at the conflagration.

  Patrons poured out of the restaurant, and two of the highway patrolmen that had been inside having breakfast ran toward the wreck. There was nothing they could do for Ed. His car had exploded on impact, and the fireball was so intense that the officers couldn’t get within twenty metres.

  Darla Mae began to scream—terrible, piercing, unending screams—as Elliot and Aislin tried to coax her away from the horrible scene. They finally got her back into the kitchen, but the sound of her keening could be heard over the approaching wail of fire engines.

  I just stood—staring at the chaos, too stunned to move as excited voices rose and fell around me. My brain caught fragments of conversations. No one expressed surprise about the accident. Everyone agreed that the young man was terribly foolhardy to be driving so fast under such treacherous conditions.

  Me, I couldn’t shake the memory of Aislin’s anger. I tilted my head to the sky, letting the falling rain cool my face. And in the low-lying clouds, I imagined I saw that ghostly image again, but this time it slowly melded with my lover’s features.

  Half a dozen emergency vehicles had responded, and the firefighters were working frantically to knock down the flames when a soft hand wrapped around my cold clenched fist. Aislin gently tugged me away, taking my keys from my numb fingers as she guided me toward my car.

  She drove so slowly and so carefully, taking the exit on the far side of the lot, well away from the charred and smouldering hunk of metal that was wedged under the blackened side of the semi. The only thought in my mind as she drove toward Seventh Avenue and the former Decker place was that Herman would’ve been impressed with how well she navigated on my old, tread-bare tires. Though there were cars off the road in ditches everywhere, and fender benders all around us, Aislin brought us home without so much as a near miss.

  Epilogue

  They said it was the worst storm in thirty years: seven dead, a score injured, and more accidents than anyone could count. The coroner’s inquest ruled that Ed had been solely responsible for his own death. Darla Mae is getting bigger by the day, and Elliot is already looking for a replacement for when she goes on maternity leave. He’s not very optimistic, though. It took him longer than a month to replace Ed. Prospective employees just seem to shy away from the Jester’s Court. Aislin was great about buckling down and doing the work of two until a new cook could be found, though, and I helped out, too.

  Aislin and I have been living together for almost seven months now, and I couldn’t be happier. Most of my family loves her. Even Grandma’s welcomed her into the clan. And Von’s come around—pretty much. At least she doesn’t still call my partner Yak, but then not many people do anymore. I suspect it’s because I started insisting she be called by her given name or else I was going to knock some heads together. Only Aunt Helene seems to have her reservations, but that’s probably just because she misses having me around at the house.

  I still can’t believe that I wake up beside the woman I love every afternoon. Sure, the sex is incredible, but it’s the way her eyes adore me that makes me feel like I can walk on water. I can’t even imagine my life without her. I’d do anything for her, and I know with all my heart, she feels exactly the same way.

  Aislin’s begun to take yoga classes recently. She says they really help her stay calm and centred, but I know she’s doing it mostly for my sake. That’s just the way she is—always thinking of little things to make my life even better.

  As for me, I’ll be getting these stitches out next week, and I don’t think you’ll even be able to see the scar this time...

  ###

  About Lois Cloarec Hart

  Born and raised in British Columbia, Canada, Lois Cloarec Hart grew up as an avid reader but didn’t begin writing until much later in life. Several years after joining the Canadian Armed Forces, she received a degree in Honours History from Royal Military College and on graduation switched occupations from air traffic control to military intelligence. Having married a CAF fighter pilot while in college, Lois went on to spend another five years as an Intelligence Officer before leaving the military to care for her husband, who was ill with chronic progressive Multiple Sclerosis and passed away in 2001. She began writing while caring for her husband in his final years and had her first book, Coming Home, published in 2001. It was through that initial publishing process that Lois met the woman she would marry in April 2007. She now commutes annually between her northern home in Calgary and her wife’s southern home in Atlanta.

  Lois is the author of three novels, Coming Home, Broken Faith, Kicker’s Journey, and a collection of short stories, Assorted Flavours. Her most recent novel, Kicker’s Journey, won the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards "IPPY" bronze medal, 2010 Golden Crown Literary Awards best historical winner, 2010 Rainbow Romance Writer’s Award for Excellence - first place win in the historical category, and 2009 Lesbian Fiction Readers Choice Award for historical fiction.

  Visit her website: www.loiscloarechart.com

  E-mail Lois at [email protected]

  Excerpt from Walking the Labyrinth

  by Lois Cloarec Hart

  Published in June 2013

  by Ylva Publishing

  Lee straightened with a groan.

  Gaëlle called from the other side of the rubble pile, “Are you okay, old woman?”

  “Who you calling old, Ms. Soon-to-be-a-Senior-Citizen?” Lee twisted slowly and worked the kinks out of her lower back. “You know, I think we need to re-examine the terms of my contract.”

  “We do, eh? I don’t know. It’s a pretty iron-clad document.”

  “It’s a napkin.”

  “But an iron-clad napkin.”

  Lee laughed and stretched. “Well, Eileen did witness it. I’ll give you that.”

  “Lee, I found it!”

  Lee looked across the remains of the old barn to see Gaëlle wrestling something out from under a broken tress. She quickly clambered across the debris. “What have you found?”

  “The stone for the threshold. I knew there would be one in here somewhere.”

  In the last six weeks, Lee and Gaëlle had transported and laid enough of the old barn’s fieldstone to pave five of the labyrinth’s seven circuits. But Gaëlle had her heart set on finding what she deemed the perfect threshold, and nothing they’d found to date had measured up.

  Lee eyed the stone dubiously. Aside from being much larger than most of the ones they’d transported, it didn’t look particularly outstanding to her. As she had discovered, however, Gaëlle had a precise vision of her labyrinth, so if her friend said this was perfect, so be it. “Okay. Then let’s see if we can get it on the cart.”

  Lee retrieved the odd-looking cart from where they’d been loading it. The first day they’d begun sorting, hauling, and laying stone, they’d used Gaëlle’s garden cart, but they’d soon realized the sides were too hig
h. Even working together, lifting fieldstones up over the sides had strained their muscles unnecessarily.

  When they quit at the end of the first day and returned to the house, they found that Wally had solved their problem. He’d constructed a flat cart with a folding ramp. The cart ran on what appeared to be tricycle wheels. The cart bed was only six inches off the ground, so they didn’t have to lift very far, and it trundled over the rough terrain without difficulty. The ramp allowed them to roll larger stones onto the cart rather than lifting them.

  Lee had been amused when she recognized various pieces of their new cart as things she’d seen on Wally’s junk wagon. But for a Rube Goldberg contraption, it served their purposes perfectly. They moved twice as many stones the next day and on subsequent days.

  Lee rolled the cart into position and lowered the ramp, and they pushed, pulled, and rotated the stone into place for transport. Both were gasping for breath by the time they finished. Lee sank down on a pile of rubble and worked to catch her wind.

  Gaëlle was bent at the waist, doing the same.

  “Damn, I’m glad I quit smoking.”

  “Me too.”

  They grinned at each other, and Lee stood up. “I think we’ve got enough of a load for another trip.”

  “Agreed.”

  They grasped the long handle together and started pulling. By now they knew every metre of their route, where to ease to the left or right to avoid gopher holes, and when to put their backs into it to get up a rise. Lee enjoyed how harmoniously they worked together without any direction needed.

  “So, I was thinking.”

  Lee glanced at Gaëlle. “Yeah? About what?”

  “I told you I need to go to Regina on Wednesday to meet Dale’s flight, right?”

  “Do you think he’s really going to make it this time? He’s postponed twice just since I’ve been here.”

  “I know. His heart is there, not here, but Dechontee told him last week that she needs to study for her exams and it was a good time for him to return to Canada.”

  Lee chuckled. “Basically she kicked him out of Guinea.”

  “Pretty much. The point being, he will be on the Wednesday flight. Why don’t you come with me? We’ll go down a day early and have a bit of a break. The hotel I always stay at has a wonderful spa. We’ll treat ourselves royally—have a nice dinner, maybe take in a play or concert. We can even do some shopping if you like. You said you needed new work gloves and safety boots.”

  “I do, but I could just pop into the Donegal Co-op for those. Still, I like the idea of a respite from our labours. Someone’s been working me like she’s an overseer on the pyramids.”

  “I wasn’t an overseer. I was a stonecutter.”

  Lee didn’t even flinch. Over the past month and a half, she’d grown accustomed to the odd things that came out of Gaëlle’s mouth. They’d long ceased to irritate or confuse her. Lee occasionally challenged Gaëlle, but mostly she simply accepted the statements for what they were—Gaëlle’s unconventional beliefs.

  “Dragging you back on topic, a trip to Regina sounds good.”

  Gaëlle clapped her hands in delight.“Wonderful. I’m so looking forward to this.”

  “And, I imagine, to seeing Dale again.”

  “Absolutely. I always miss that boy of mine, even if we do talk every second day.”

  “I look forward to meeting him.”

  “You two will get along well. You’re kindred spirits.”

  “You mean he’s into hauling hundreds of kilos of rocks too?”

  “Silly. No, I mean he’s also a strong, solid, dependable soul. He’s quieter than you, but you’ve both got the same staunch values, particularly love and loyalty toward friend and family.”

  “Sounds like he’s a good man.”

  “And you’re a good woman.”

  They’d arrived at the labyrinth, so Lee was relieved not to have to respond. Gaëlle was not one to hide her affection, and Lee wasn’t always sure how to react.

  Gaëlle was never flirtatious; she was simply straightforward. She was very fond of Lee and apparently saw no need to disguise that. Lee was accustomed to the love of her friends and family and returned it in great measure, but Gaëlle... Gaëlle didn’t fit neatly into any slots. She wasn’t lover or family, but she had rapidly become more than friend.

  Lee banished the thoughts that had become her standard bedtime reverie and set to work helping grapple the threshold stone into place.

  “A little to the left. That’s it. Right there. Ease it down. There—good.” Gaëlle stood back and admired their handiwork. “Is that not a superb fit?”

  “I have to admit, you have a great eye. Well done.”

  Gaëlle extended her hand with a grin. “Congratulations.”

  “For what?”

  “For a one-time overseer, you’ve certainly mastered working in the trenches.”

  Lee played along. “I was an overseer? Did I have a chariot?”

  “No, but you had a whip, and you sure knew how to use it.”

  “Ouch. Did I use it on you?”

  “Once or twice, but I was an excellent stonecutter, and you mostly left me alone.” Gaëlle picked up another stone off the cart and carried it to the end of the circuit they were working on.

  Lee watched Gaëlle carefully place her stone and shook her head. To listen to Gaëlle speak, millennia past were as real to her as last night’s excursion to the Four Corners Café. The woman was a walking cryptogram. Lee doubted she’d ever break the code. She wasn’t entirely sure she even wanted to try.

  “Hey, did someone call a coffee break that I don’t know about?”

  The teasing words echoed across the labyrinth, and Lee picked up a stone. “Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” I’m sure I liked it better when I was overseer!

  Available at all major online bookstores.

  Other books from Ylva Publishing

  http://www.ylva-publishing.com

  Walking the Labyrinth

  Lois Cloarec Hart

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-050-7 (epub), 978-3-95533-049-1 (mobi)

  Length: 65,000 words (novel)

  Is there life after loss? Lee Glenn, co-owner of a private security company, didn’t think so. Crushed by grief after the death of her wife, she uncharacteristically retreats from life.

  But love doesn’t give up easily. After her friends and family stage a dramatic intervention, Lee rejoins the world of the living, resolved to regain some sense of normalcy but only half-believing that it’s possible. Her old friend and business partner convinces her to take on what appears on the surface to be a minor personal protection detail.

  The assignment takes her far from home, from the darkness of her loss to the dawning of a life reborn. Along the way, Lee encounters people unlike any she’s ever met before: Wrong-Way Wally, a small-town oracle shunned by the locals for his off-putting speech and mannerisms; and Wally’s best friend, Gaëlle, a woman who not only translates the oracle’s uncanny predictions, but who also appears to have a deep personal connection to life beyond life. Lee is shocked to find herself fascinated by Gaëlle, despite dismissing the woman’s exotic beliefs as “hooey.”

  But opening yourself to love also means opening yourself to the possibility of pain. Will Lee have the courage to follow that path, a path that once led to the greatest agony she’d ever experienced? Or will she run back to the cold comfort of a safer solitary life?

  Second Nature

  (revised edition)

  Jae

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-031-6 (epub), 978-3-95533-032-3 (mobi)

  Length: 143,000 words (novel)

  Novelist Jorie Price doesn’t believe in the existence of shape-shifting creatures or true love. She leads a solitary life, and the paranormal romances she writes are pure fiction for her.

  Griffin Westmore knows better—at least about one of these two things. She doesn’t believe in love either, but she’s one of the not-so-fictional shape-shifters. She’s also a Saru, an elite soldi
er with the mission to protect the shape-shifters’ secret existence at any cost.

  When Jorie gets too close to the truth in her latest shape-shifter romance, Griffin is sent to investigate—and if necessary to destroy the manuscript before it’s published and to kill the writer.

  Natural Family Disasters

  Jae

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-073-6 (epub), 978-3-95533-072-9 (mobi)

  Length: 28,560 words (novella)

  Five short stories that give us glimpses into the lives of Griffin, Jorie, and the other characters from Second Nature.

  Bonding Time: Griffin has been looking forward to a little feline bonding time with a special lady. Leave it to her sister Leigh to interrupt.

  Coming to Dinner: Jorie and Griffin are having second thoughts about their decision to invite Griffin’s shape-shifter relatives and Jorie’s mother for dinner on Christmas Day. What could be more nerve-racking than eight cat-shifters who don’t believe in Christmas celebrating with a human woman, allergic to cats, who doesn’t believe in the existence of shape-shifters? Will it end with peace on earth, or will fur fly?

  Babysitter Material: It’s Rufus and Kylin’s anniversary—and no babysitter for the triplets in sight. Kylin has a desperate idea, but is her gruff father Brian, ruler of the pride, really babysitter material?

  When the Cat’s Away: When a mouse takes up residence in Griffin and Jorie’s house, Griffin calls her fathers over. With three cat-shifters on the hunt, the house will be a rodent-free zone in no time. Or so she thinks.

  Plus One: Griffin accepts Jorie’s invitation to be her “plus one” at Jorie’s high school reunion, eager to find out more about her lover’s past. But the food at the buffet has an unexpected effect on Griffin.

  Something in the Wine

  Jae

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-006-4 (epub), 978-3-95533-007-1 (mobi)