Stanley Park (55 page)

When the roasts were in, he checked the bread oven. The baguettes were done. He cracked the oven door and the room filled with that very particular hot and delicious smell. Jules was bent over the food processor. She was seasoning the salmon mousse with salt and pepper. Adding a bit of cream.

Jeremy removed the baguettes to a rack and stood for a moment watching her. There was some kind of cataclysmic drum solo going on in the background, and he found himself smiling uncontrollably.

He went out front later. The little square tables were silent under their checkered cloths. The candles sat unlit in the centre of each. There was a fresh sheet tucked under the corner of each candle holder.

The room was warm. There were bottles of red wine on a sideboard. Jeremy lit the candles and glanced at his watch. He turned back to the kitchen just as Jules emerged, wiping her hands on her apron.

“All set?” she said. She came close, slid an arm around his waist, leaned her head over onto his shoulder.

He kissed her hair, breathed in her smell. They stood like that for several seconds.

All set.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to a lot of people who helped and encouraged me as I wrote
Stanley Park
. (None of whom, naturally, should be held personally accountable for what’s in the book.)

First and always, thank you Jane.

Thanks to Allen Hepburn, co-editor at
Descant
, for reading an early version of the manuscript and for making persuasive suggestions. Many thanks also to my agent, Dean Cooke, for guidance and for his work in getting the novel published. Thanks Diane Martin and Noelle Zitzer at Knopf Canada for wise editing advice. I would also like to thank Louise Dennys and others at Knopf for believing in this novel.

I would like to acknowledge two chefs who talked cooking with me. Chef Barbara Alexander helped me design the kitchens that appear in the novel. She also made me aware that chefs have many more colourful ways of saying “busy” than merely saying “busy.” I am very grateful also to Chef Dennis Blaise, who let me visit his kitchen when they were truly “busy.”

Thanks to my brother, Dr. Dylan Taylor, who patiently answered questions on the topic of cardiology and heart disease. Thanks also Ross Crockford for talking with me about Czechoslovakia. Big thanks to the Montana Nelsons: Dr. Kirk Nelson, Helen, Cathy and my buddy Chris Sauvé. The week you put me up in Granny’s cabin on Flathead Lake was instrumental. Finally, thanks to the people upon whom I imposed various parts and versions of the manuscript. You were all game: Frances Bergin, Robert Duncan, Chris Elgin, Curtis Gillespie, Zane Harker, David Isenegger, Jill Lambert, John Meier and Kevin Williams.