The very mention of Jasmine sent a calming wave through Trent’s mind.

“You have no idea. Melissa told me Jasmine’s been talking nonstop about the holiday since I left for the east coast.”

“You’ll all love Pine Bluffs,” Lester assured him.

“I’m sure we will, Les. Thanks again for the use of your cottage.”

“See you back here in two weeks?”

Trent shook Lester’s offered hand. “In two weeks.”

*

Evening air gusting through the open car windows rejuvenated Trent as he followed the bias in the two-lane roadway. Toronto long behind him now, he strained to untangle the stress knots in his psyche.

“Hello? Earth to Trent?”

He glanced over. Melissa dangled a bottle of water between her fingers. Trent uttered an apology. Melissa uncapped the bottle and handed it to him.

“You’ve been a million miles away all evening. Did something happen at the meeting today?”

“No, Lester liked the recut footage. Well, as much as Lester likes anything.”

“So what is it then? Your episode’s been approved and now you’re on a country holiday with your charming wife and beautiful daughter.”

He glanced at her. Melissa winked.

“Oh, I know,” Trent began, “believe me, I know. This is just what I need. Stupid as it sounds, this story got under my skin.”

“That’s not stupid at all,” Melissa returned. “It’s a freaky subject. But it’s just a theory, isn’t it?”

“Well, they do have evidence that Dark Matter is all over the universe, but it’s so alien they can’t figure out its purpose. It just blows me away that there is scientific evidence, proof, that everything we know about reality makes up only four percent of the universe. Four percent! For all our talk of colonizing Mars or beating cancer, we’re like one tiny candle guttering inside a massive cave. And the cave wasn’t designed by us. Or even for us. ”

“You know what I think? Even if everything we know is only a little candle that’s going to be snuffed out a billion years from now, so be it. We’re here now, and that’s good enough for me. ”

Trent brought her hand to his lips. “Me too,” he said through a kiss. How he wished that it was the truth.

The last mottles of daylight appeared as burnished coins as the hatchback approached the tiny hamlet.

*

They were gobsmacked to discover that their holiday accommodations were nearer to a beachfront bungalow than a humble cottage. The cold supper they ate on the back deck seemed to nourish not only Trent’s body but also his spirit. At bedtime the three of them were lulled by the susurrus of the distant surf. All was right.

Still the shadows managed to puncture this airtight calm.

Dream spirited Trent back into the bowels of Bell Island. But now the laboratory was submerged in brackish water.