Page 104 of A Moment In Time

Gage pushed his cup toward her. “Fill it up.”

She filled his cup and Sydney’s. “Do you need time? Or do you know what you want?”

Gage looked at Sydney, and she smiled at Becca. “We’re both having the biscuits and gravy, please.”

Becca grinned. “So cute. You like the same things.”

Gage scowled. “Just go order our food, Becca.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Mayor.”

Becca left, and Sydney reached for his hand. “I still think you should have some sort of celebration tonight.”

“I’d rather just celebrate with you.”

“Okay. How about after they make the announcement, we come back here for a late dinner?”

“The announcement won’t come until after seven. Remy will be closed.”

“Pizza then? It hardly seems celebration worthy.”

“How about pizza to go? We can eat it at the office.”

“That’s pretty crazy. I don’t know.”

Gage laughed. “We’ll figure it out.”

When Becca returned with their food, she set it down and refilled their coffee. “Remy says he’ll keep the kitchen open if you want to come in for dinner after the votes are counted.”

Gage nodded. “That would be great. Thanks.” She left, and he looked at Sydney. “Better than pizza?”

“Much better. A private dinner.”

Gage’s hope for a quiet day didn’t quite work out. The townspeople were in and out all day to wish him well and let him know they’d voted. He tried to be gracious and thanked every one of them. But he didn’t get much work done. And work was what he needed to do to distract himself. By mid-afternoon, he had to get away.

He called Sydney into his office.

“Yes, boss?”

“Can you run interference for me for a while? I’m going downstairs. I need a break from…everything.”

“Of course. Go. I’ve got this.”

“Thank you.” He stood and went to her, then took her hand. “You’re the best.” He kissed her. “I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”

“Go before someone else comes in.”

Gage went downstairs and turned on the overhead lights. The darkroom was a refuge for him. He lit the gas stove, which decided to work. Then got a beer from the old refrigerator. The only two things in it were his unused film and beer. He sat on a stool and drank some beer while he took in the quiet. After a few minutes, he thought about what he’d like to develop. He always had a few projects going besides the photos taken exclusively for the paper. When he remembered he hadn’t developed the film from the camera he had on him the morning of his accident, he chose to do that. His memory of the morning still hadn’t come back, and he was quite curious about what had brought him out of the house that morning. He was surprised he’d forgotten about it. Perhaps it was his sub-conscious trying to protect him from the memory.

He shrugged. It was time he found out.

He prepared his chemicals, then switched off the overhead light and turned on the red light. He developed the film, then transferred the images from the negatives to a contact sheet. When that was done, he turned on the light over the counter and looked at them with a magnifying glass.

“What the hell?”Owls? I almost died over some owls?

The images were of a pair of barn owls. They were probably in search of a place to build a nest, but the late snows might have confused them a bit. Gage picked out several images and developed them. When he was done, he turned on the light again and studied the eight-by-ten photos. They were beautiful shots of the pair, who obligingly stayed in the spot they’d picked out in a large oak.

A memory floated around in his brain, but he couldn’t quite bring it up. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. He tried to relax and clear his mind of everything else. It was hard considering what was happening today. But after a few minutes, he let everything slip away. The memory lingered on the edgesof his conscious memory for a moment, then came crashing into his reality.

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