“Then he’s the one who owes us an apology,” I told her, “not you.”
“Also,” she said, nervously, “I want you to know that we had no idea.”
Nate was grinning now. Apparently the story had cheered him up. “You believe her?”
I shrugged. “Officer Nuñez didn’t. In her opinion they had to know.”
“But you do.”
I nodded, aware that if Ellie had been there, she’d have rolled her eyes. This right here, she would’ve thought. This is what I’ve had enough of.
“Why?”
I thought about it. “I guess because if I’m going to be wrong, that’s the kind of wrong I’d rather be. What do you think? Am I an idiot?”
“Yeah, but not about that.”
“What then?”
“Where are you going to find another woman like Ellie? Go to San Diego. Make things right with her.”
“You think?” I said. “Just show up? Knock on the door and wait for her to answer?”
“Exactly.”
“What do I say?”
He made a face. “How should I know? Say some damn thing. If it doesn’t work, say something else.”
I’d actually tried to give myself that same good advice half a dozen times, but I liked it better coming from Nate. “You going to be okay?”
“I have no idea,” he said, then frowned. “It’s the strangest thing. I keep thinking I’ve forgotten something important. You know when you have one of those dreams where you can fly and you think to yourself, How did I forget about this? How did I forget that I could fly? That’s what it feels like. Does that make any sense?”
I said it did, actually, and told him about how as a boy I’d hidden in the choir loft and watched strangers come into the church, kneel before the altar, bow their heads, and offer short, silent prayers. How vital and urgent the experience had seemed. How strange it felt that I could no longer recall why.
“Well, if it comes to you,” Nathan said, “you’ll have to tell me. Maybe we forgot the same thing.”
I was halfway out the door when he said, “Do me a favor? Plug that back in?”
I bent down and picked up the plug. “You’re sure?”
“No,” he said, then, “yes.”
ALSO BY
RICHARD RUSSO
* * *
THE DESTINY THIEF
Essays on Writing, Writers and Life
“I’ve written a lot about destiny in my fiction,” admits Richard Russo, “not because I understand it, but because I’d like to.” In each of the pieces collected here, Russo considers the unexpected turns of the creative life. From his grandfather’s years cutting gloves to his own teenage dreams of rock stardom; from his first college teaching jobs to his dazzling reads of Dickens and Twain; from the roots of his famous novels to his journey accompanying a dear friend—the writer Jennifer Finney Boylan—as she pursued gender reassignment surgery, The Destiny Thief powerfully reveals the inner workings of one of America’s most beloved authors.
Essays
TRAJECTORY
Stories
The characters in these four expansive stories are a departure from the blue-collar denizens that populate so many of Richard Russo’s novels, and all are bound together by parallel moments of reckoning with their pasts. In “Horseman,” a young professor confronts an undergraduate plagiarist—as well as her own regrets. In “Intervention,” a realtor facing a serious medical prognosis finds himself in his late father’s shadow. Shot through with Russo’s inimitable humor, wisdom, and surprise, Trajectory is the work of a masterful writer continuing to discover new heights.
Fiction
EVERYBODY’S FOOL
In these pages, Richard Russo returns to North Bath, the Rust Belt town first brought to unforgettable life in Nobody’s Fool. Now, ten years later, Douglas Raymer has become the chief of police and is tormented by the improbable death of his wife—not to mention his suspicion that he was a failure of a husband. Meanwhile, the irrepressible Sully has come into a small fortune, but is suddenly faced with a VA cardiologist’s estimate that he only has a year or two left to live. Filled with humor, heart, and hard-luck characters you can’t help but love, Everybody’s Fool is a crowning achievement from one of the great storytellers of our time.
Fiction
ALSO AVAILABLE
Bridge of Sighs
Chances Are . . .
Elsewhere
Empire Falls
Mohawk
Nobody’s Fool
The Risk Pool
Straight Man
That Old Cape Magic
The Whore’s Child
VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES
Available wherever books are sold.
www.vintagebooks.com
Discover more at PenguinRandomHouse.com
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