Ready to Fall: A Novel - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

By Claire Cook

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Excerpt

Date: Friday, June 5, 1:03 P.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: Apology to Thomas Marsh from Beth Riordan

Thank goodness! I found your e-mail address on theback of your lovely travel book, Walden Pond and ItsEnvirons: The Transcendentalist's Tour. I am writing toapologize again for this morning's incident at thelibrary. I assure you that it was quite by accident thatyour book made it into the stack I was dropping off atthe library's "Take It or Leave It" pile.

As I explained during our brief encounter, I had spentthe morning weeding out my children's bookshelves,deciding that Charlotte's Web could stay but Goosebumpswould have to go, that sort of thing. I hadn'teven attempted to thin out my own collection, otherthan to grab a couple of paperback novels I was sure I'dnever look at again. I must also add that I was only contemplatingfiction this morning, which should be furtherproof that discarding your guidebook was anhonest mistake.

And what an awful coincidence that you should happenby at the very moment I was abandoning yourbook. I was so humiliated when you picked it up, wroteBest Wishes, Thomas Marsh with an elegant flourish, andhanded it back to me. If that wasn't enough to makeme suffer from terminal embarrassment, I discoveredyou were the same Thomas Marsh who lives next door.And I'd always thought you were in sales.

I don't mean to pressure you, but unless I am sure youhave forgiven me, I will find it difficult to leave myhouse for fear of running into you. By the way, I rereadyour entire book the moment I got home from thelibrary. I must say it was even better the second timearound. During my original reading I may have beentoo focused on planning a family outing to fully appreciateits scope. I particularly like Thoreau's statementabout how he put a piece of paper under his pillow sothat he could write in the dark if he couldn't sleep, andthe way you tied it in with the suggestion that thereader consider keeping a travel journal.

I hope this e-mail finds you since I'm not sure I'd havethe nerve to seek you out in person. I don't think I everquite believe that e-mail will actually get to its intendedrecipient, but that might be because I haven't beenonline for very long. That is the appropriate expression,isn't it? I always want to say inline, but then I rememberthat inline is for skates and supermarkets.

Well, Thomas, I'll bet you're in the middle of writinganother wonderful book, so I won't keep you.

Here goes. I'm going to push Send now.

Date: Friday, June 5, 1:10 P.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: Thank you

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I did halfexpect you to simply open your window, stick your headout, and yell, "I forgive you, Beth!" across our yards.

Oh, and it was sweet of you to tell me that my e-mailwas perfectly sent and that I have "the makings oftechno talent". Not even close to being true, but niceto hear anyway. Sometimes I wonder how it is that I livein a house bursting with computers and yet have managedto stay so functionally illiterate. It seems that myfamily moved into the computer world and I was leftbehind licking my stamps.

You see, my children meet their friends in private cyberrooms to talk in fancy fonts and brilliantly coloredwords. They send each other mysterious communicationsthey refer to as IMs, which I eventually cameto understand simply means "Instant Messages",although it sounds far more menacing. My husband,Pete, spends his workday surrounded by the trappingsof this new world. Each day he comes home from workI understand him less, not that he ever suggests bringingme up-to-date. If you asked me what his companydoes, I would have to say that all I really know is at onetime they invented a kind of improved track for the ballof the computer mouse to roll around in. It seems, ifyou turn your mouse upside down and unscrew itsunderside (something I admit I couldn't bring myself todo), there is a free-rolling ball inside that must beguided but not inhibited by a collection of tiny metalstrips. Apparently Pete's company improved the existingtechnology with just the right combination of slipand grip so that the mouse could more efficiently escortthat tiny little arrow around the computer screen. Thatwas several years ago, and probably the last computerdevelopment I understood in any real depth.

Well, enough about me. Again, I greatly appreciateyour forgiveness, and I thank you for upgrading mytechno self-image.

Oh, I almost forgot. I was so sorry to hear about yourmarital troubles. I'm glad you felt you could talk to meabout them and that you could even ask me for a favor.Of course I'll help you out. I'm always happy to help aneighbor, especially one who has forgiven me for mycompletely unintentional insult.

Date: Friday, June 5, 10:12 P.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: Quick Question

This is absolutely none of my business but do you haveany idea why your wife left you? Feel free not to answerthat, Thomas. And let me assure you that, whatever youranswer, should you decide to answer, I will still be happyto keep an eye on your house whenever you travel.

I guess I've just been wondering lately about relationships.Exactly how happy should one expect to be atthis stage of one's life?

Date: Friday, June 5, 11:25 P.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: What a Nice Surprise

I didn't think you'd be awake and reading your mail solate at night, and I certainly didn't expect you to answerso promptly. But, what you said about relationships—that"everything has a shelf life, be it marriage or brusselssprouts". Do you really think that's true? Do youthink there's an expiration date stamped on some out-of-the-waycorner of every marriage?

Date: Saturday, June 6, 9:02 A.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: Your Opinion, Please

Do you have a minute, Thomas? Pete has taken thegirls to swim practice, our son P.J. is watching cartoons,and I really could use someone to talk to. I did try totalk to my husband earlier but that wasn't exactlya resounding success. I got up this morning when hedid, even though technically it's my morning to sleepin, put on a pot of coffee and brought in the paperwhile he was taking a shower, I even made blueberrypancakes.

"Pete," I said, before the kids came downstairs. "I'msorry I've been so grouchy lately. Maybe we should tryto talk about it. Because it seems to me as if everythingis about someone else. Either you or the kids or thehouse. I feel as if the only time anyone even talks to meis to complain or criticize or to place an order for somethingthey need."

"Uh-hmm."

"Uh-hmm? That's all you have to say—uh-hmm?"

And my husband of almost two decades put down hisfork and looked at me over his reading glasses. He tookoff his glasses, placed them on the newspaper besidehis plate and said, "I think I'm getting conjunctivitis inmy right eye."

Answer me this, Thomas, if I'm not too presumptuous.Does it sound to you like Pete and I are having maritalproblems, and, if so, how do they compare with yours?

Date: Saturday, June 6, 10:37 A.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: Seriously?

I can't believe you once forgot your wife's name whenyou were introducing her to someone. That's really bad,Thomas. Thank you for making me laugh, whether ornot it's actually true or you made it up just to make mefeel better.

Date: Sunday, June 7, 12:03 P.M. EDT

From: SwimSlave

To: Wanderlust

Subj: Quick Note

Pete and I will be leaving soon to pick up the kids fromtheir overnight at his parents' house. I'm glad I have lastnight to think about...