“You’re driving like me. What are you thinking?” She resisted the impulse to berate him for having kept a secret, the poor chagrined man.
“I’m going to build a menagerie of animal instruments. Paws and tails will control timbre and attack. Breath will control timing. Not a gimmick among them.” He stared straight ahead, nodding yes.
“Sounds electronic.”
“In part.”
His jaw clenched. She waited for his words.
He glanced at her, then back at the road. “I watched Jack’s friends behave like nine-year-olds, and I saw Jack didn’t give a damn about the work. He has another agenda.”
“He wants to sell, and he’s probably good at it.” She kept her voice neutral. “Why did you hook up with him in the first place?”
She could see him thinking.
“I wanted something different. A different platform for my work.”
Warning flags fluttered in her head. “Are you unhappy at D-Three?”
She held her breath.
“I thought people would behave differently in a gallery and it would be thrilling. I thought I’d feel different about my work, and myself. I didn’t.”
“Jack and his buddies had fishing on their minds. Don’t be too hasty.”
He didn’t respond. He maneuvered the truck into the right lane, checking the giraffe in the mirror. She wanted to draw him out.
“I’ll negotiate with Jack if you want me to. Are you willing to give him an inch of control?”
He paled again. “I guess I expected everything to be on my terms.”
“Jack could make you famous, if that’s what you’re after.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care about fame.”
“Then what do you want? You’ve been fanatic about something for months.”
He paused, as if collecting his thoughts. “I guess I wanted to go back in time. What if I’d gone to art school in West Virginia, what would I be building now? Who would be my peers?” He took his eyes off the road to look at her. “When Jack slammed the giraffe I realized I’d been deluding myself. You can’t redo history.”
She felt she could probe now. “Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”
“I thought you’d be jealous.”
“Of what?”
“You wouldn’t want me to go out on my own.” He paused. “I shouldn’t have shut you out. You’re the one who makes things happen. I’m an idiot without you. I can’t talk to clients. I can’t put first things first. You hold it together.”
She felt a whoosh of relief. D-Three was safe. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been deluded, too. I went after the Saudi job for the wrong reasons.”
“You went after glory.”
“If you thought I was wrong-headed, why didn’t you correct me?”
“You can be hard to dissuade.”
True, she thought. It takes a plane crash.
He signaled to exit the freeway. “I’m sorry about Becca. She was so enthusiastic about the show that I let it go on. I should have listened to you.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Thank you.”
She watched him steer the truck down the ramp and up the hill, careful and steady, a man who respected the rules of the road and the laws of nature. A genial soul whose vanity had run away with him. She could overlook vanity. He had demonstrated his constancy, the better part of love. He was a partner she could count on.
She decided to let him off the hook. “Speaking of Becca, Diane said she’s coming to visit Joey. I’m going to help her get a good job.”
He glanced at her. “Very generous.”
Yes, she thought, now I can afford to be. “If we get busy again, maybe she’ll come work for us.”
He pulled the truck into their driveway. A eucalyptus nut clunked on the windshield as he turned off the engine, and they both laughed. She faced him.
“If you’re really going to make a musical menagerie, I’m going to find you a buyer. Even if I have to cold call every museum in the directory.”
He eased out of the driver’s seat. “I’m not kidding.” He slammed his door shut.
She slammed her door shut and spoke to him across the hood. “Neither am I.”
The next morning in the studio, she watched him disassemble the giraffe-xylophone. He placed the pieces one at a time into cushioned slots in the wall of the crate he had built especially for the instrument. He handled them with delicacy, the same way he handled the cacti growing infinitesimally slowly on their kitchen windowsill. The same way he’d tuned and retuned the exhibits in Al Khobar.
Al Khobar flashed into her head, the mother–daughter meeting with Myriam’s club. She pictured the women and girls sitting around her, eager and shy, having driven hours to hear from her. Back then, the mothers’ hopes for their daughters, despite all the obstacles in Saudi society, had stirred Jo to the core. Their gratitude to her for serving as a beacon had been a gift, a small consummation of her desire to make a difference. She wanted to give Ev such a gift; she wanted to accommodate his deepest desires. She made up her mind.
“I’ve had a thought. You need another animal for your menagerie.”
He looked up from the crate.
“Do you still want a dog?”
“What are you saying?”
“I want to get you a puppy.”
His face lit up. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I’m in no hurry to traipse around the world solving other people’s problems. Time for something new.”
He abandoned the xylophone and approached her.
She stood tall. “Only there’s one condition. You’re in charge. You worry about accidents and diseases. I don’t drive to the vet in the middle of the night.”
“I’ve thought about rescuing a mutt like Joey’s.”
“Okay, but …”
“I want a male with a problem,” he interrupted. “Three legs. One eye. Terrible temper. I’ll make him whole.” He pulled her toward him and hugged gently. “You’re going to love him.”
“Whatever you say.” She suspected they both thought she might not. But she was all in.
READING GROUP GUIDE
If your group wishes, the author will participate in your discussion by Skype or Facetime (or in person if you are in greater Phoenix). Contact her via her website, www.sheilagrinell.com.
1. There are four contracts in play in this novel:
1) the deal with the Saudi government to build a children’s museum, which doesn’t materialize;
2) the subcontract D-Three is forced to sign with Owen Associates;
3) the exhibition contract offered to Ev by the gallery owner; and
4) the marriage contract between Jo and Ev.
How does Jo feel about each of them at the start, and how do her feelings change?
2. Jo and Ev have such different personalities, yet they’ve developed a successful business together. How have they managed it, and at what cost?
3. Myriam follows the conventions of her society despite its restrictions. Jo finds those restrictions hugely burdensome. Yet Jo and Myriam develop a mutual fondness. What enables them to bridge the cultural divide?
4. Diane and Jo have been at odds for decades, at least in Jo’s mind. Entrenched family relationships tend to persist, yet the relationship between these two sisters manages to undergo redefining. What makes this possible?
5. At the start, Ev and Jo disagree about the value of the Saudi job. As things progress, Ev grows further disenchanted and turns his attention elsewhere. What drives his interest in showcasing his work at an art gallery? Is there a subtext of resentment toward Jo? Is there a subtext to Jo’s response?
6. Jo and Becca are both people who are set in their opinions. They disagree about the Saudi job, among other things, yet they work well together. What pulls them together? What forces them apart? Should Jo have fired the girl?
7. Jo pursues personal redemption in the form of business success until the pl
ane crash forces her to re-evaluate her motives. Do you expect her to develop different pursuits as a result?
8. After years of disinterest in bringing another creature into their household, Jo decides to give Ev a puppy. What will it mean to each of them? How do you envision the future of their relationship?
9. Is there a pattern to the discoveries Jo makes as a result of her year of struggle in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank museum colleagues in Saudi Arabia and the US for sharing their work and their worlds with me, especially Bushra Aldraihim, Ahmed Al-Shible, Robert Grover, Yasser Refai, Peter Wissa, and my consulting partner, the late Alan J. Friedman, PhD. Thanks also to Michael Damschroeder for suggesting that I write about my stint in Saudi Arabia in novel form. A few of the exhibits described here were inspired by the work of Doug Hollis, Norman Tuck, and the incomparable Bob Miller. I learned about tree root structure and function in Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees and about the equivalence of extreme joy and extreme pain in a story by Alice Munro.
I am grateful to my editor, Carol Test, and writing group partners, Pam Hait and Emily Hinchman, for sticking with me to the end. Three beta readers provided gentle course corrections: Jan Goodwin, an award-winning journalist who looked behind the veils of Muslim women; Rachelle Marmor, poet, artist impresario, and healer; and Barbara Meyerson, a leading authority on children’s museums. My thanks also to the other Finalists in Kevin Canty’s section at the 2018 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Masters Workshop for their comments on the opening chapters. I am grateful to Duffy McMahon, Ellie Sutter, Gillian Thomas, and Lois Zachary for taking a final read. Thank you, also, to Lauren Wise at She Writes Press for caring.
SG
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheila Grinell spent forty years developing science centers in the US and consulting on museum projects around the world, including in Saudi Arabia. She turned to literature in her sixties, publishing a debut novel, Appetite, in 2016. The Contract is her second work of fiction. Born in a taxi in Manhattan, she studied at The Bronx High School of Science, Harvard University, and the University of California at Berkeley. She lives in Phoenix with her husband, Tom Johnson, and their dog.
To learn more about Sheila, her work, and to subscribe to her monthly newsletter, see www.sheilagrinell.com.
If you enjoyed this book, please help other people discover it. Your comments on social media and your reviews on vendor sites can make all the difference. Please take a few minutes to:
• Write a short review and post it on Amazon or your preferred vendor’s website
• Post your review on Goodreads or Instagram, or wherever you prefer to share comments about books
• Tell your friends.
Thank you!
To hear about readers’ reactions to The Contract and Sheila’s other work, subscribe to her monthly newsletter at www.sheilagrinell.com.
You can follow her on:
bookbub.com/authors/sheila-grinell
@ sheilagrinell
Sheila-Grinell-author-778119465648171
linkedin.com/in/sheila-grinell-041b915
SELECTED TITLES FROM SHE WRITES PRESS
She Writes Press is an independent publishing company founded to serve women writers everywhere. Visit us at www.shewritespress.com.
Appetite by Sheila Grinell. $16.95, 978-1-63152-022-8. When twenty-five-year-old Jenn Adler brings home a guru fiancé from Bangalore, her parents must come to grips with the impending marriage—and its effect on their own relationship.
Play for Me by Céline Keating. $16.95, 978-1-63152-972-6. Middle-aged Lily impulsively joins a touring folk-rock band, leaving her job and marriage behind in an attempt to find a second chance at life, passion, and art.
Again and Again by Ellen Bravo. $16.95, 978-1-63152-939-9. When the man who raped her roommate in college becomes a Senate candidate, women’s rights leader Deborah Borenstein must make a choice—one that could determine control of the Senate, the course of a friendship, and the fate of a marriage.
Shelter Us by Laura Diamond. $16.95, 978-1-63152-970-2. Lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mom Sarah Shaw is still struggling to find a steady happiness after the death of her infant daughter when she meets a young homeless mother and toddler she can’t get out of her mind—and becomes determined to rescue them.
American Family by Catherine Marshall-Smith. $16.95, 978-1631521638. Partners Richard and Michael, recovering alcoholics, struggle to gain custody of their Richard’s biological daughter from her grandparents after her mother’s death only to discover they—and she—are fundamentalist Christians.
A Work of Art by Micayla Lally. $16.95, 978-1631521683. After their breakup—and different ways of dealing with it—Julene and Samson eventually find their way back to each other, but when she finds out what he did to keep himself busy while they were apart, she wonders: Can she trust him again?
The Contract Page 22