“In a hurry?”
“Things are pretty hectic at the office.”
“It’s not what you think,” she said. She came up to me and touched my arm. “That man is my father.”
I looked at her. “You never said anything about your father.”
“There’s a lot I never said.”
I shrugged.
“So,” she said, “is it all over?”
“In Cortland, you mean?”
She nodded.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s all over.”
“I want to hear about it.”
“It’s a pretty long story.”
“This is California,” she said. “We always have time for long stories.”
I smiled.
“We’ve got a kettle of jambalaya on the stove and a sixpack of ale in the refrigerator,” she said.
“Sounds good.”
“Then you can call Julie, tell her you’ll be home in a few weeks.”
“A few weeks?”
“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” she said. “I figure we need at least one week to prowl around. I haven’t been to Yosemite yet, and there are the wineries in Sonoma and Mendocino, and you’ve got to see the redwoods in the Muir Woods, plus you still owe me at least one day at the beach. Then it’ll take a couple weeks at least to load up the Jetta and drive home. There’s a lot to see between here and there. It’ll give us the chance to talk about all the things we’ve never talked about.”
“You’re coming home?”
“Home is where you are,” she said.
Also by William G. Tapply
THE BRADY COYNE NOVELS
Scar Tissue
Muscle Memory
Cutter’s Run
Close to the Bone
The Seventh Enemy
The Snake Eater
Tight Lines
The Spotted Cats
Client Privilege
Dead Winter
A Void in Hearts
The Vulgar Boatman
Dead Meat
The Marine Corpse
Follow the Sharks
The Dutch Blue Error
Death at Charity’s Point
NONFICTION
Pocket Water
Upland Days
Bass Bug Fishing
A Fly-Fishing Life
The Elements of Mystery Fiction
Sportsman’s Legacy
Home Water
Opening Day and Other Neuroses
Those Hours Spent Outdoors
OTHER FICTION
Thicker Than Water (with Linda Barlow)
PAST TENSE. Copyright © 2001 by William G. Tapply. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Design by Michael Collica
eISBN 9781429981460
First eBook Edition : March 2011
First Edition: October 2001
Past Tense Page 26