"He brought wine and flowers. An exquisite Bordeaux and of course roses. Crimson deep red roses. The wine was rather much to pair with the simple fare we had to offer, various salads and cheese and slices of sausage, but altogether we did have a lovely visit. We talked about a lot of matters in politics, religion, the church, the state of the nation, the weather and climate change, but two things he seemed almost to be actively omitting: his work as a professor of theology, and the book he was writing. Or I should say three things. He never once mentioned his ex-wife or daughter. Sarah asked about his family, but he simply replied that they were in Montreal and seemed in good hands. Nothing else. I asked him about McGill, because I did my undergrad there in English. None of his observations, rather vague and rapidly strung together, corresponded even remotely to what I knew of the place. He didn't even appear to recognize the name of the head of the theology department, with whom I am still exchanging the occasional email. I later did some of my own research and asked questions. No one there had even ever heard of him.
"We sat out in the garden for dinner, since the weather was lovely. Afterward, we took him on a tour of the place. There is a particular spot in the garden with benches, where we often sit together and pray. There is a granite cross there, that a friend had carved for us. And then, well, tell us what you saw, Jennifer."
Jennifer says, "Well, it appeared that my obsession with birds was about to come in rather handy. "Jean Pierre suddenly directed all our attention to a rather interesting formation of clouds that the setting sun was just beginning to pass through. But then, just behind me, I thought I heard a Steller´s jay, so I wanted to have a look. Just as I turned to look for the bird, there was Jean Pierre pouring some mysterious substance from a tiny flask in his hand in front of the granite cross. We caught each other's eye, but not wanting to cause a scene, I kept my mouth shut. That was when Sarah mentioned wanting to go out and see the fireworks, since it was the first evening of the Celebration of Light. Neither of us wanted to join her, but somehow, it all rapidly deteriorated into one nasty quarrel, with all three of us irrationally squabbling and bickering..."
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