by Dee Mann
Mark felt an ache in his chest as he remembered Suzy extracting that promise, not once, but at least half a dozen times. He still missed her so much, sometimes he couldn't bear it. But he knew Laney was right. He had to start living again.
"Mark? You still there?"
"Yeah. I'm still here. I was…I was thinking about what you said."
"So?"
"So maybe tomorrow I'll try."
"Good. I'm proud of you. Suzy would be proud of you. Now hang up, 'cause all this talk has made me horny and I'm either going to go jump Greg's bones or pull out the vibrator. Which would you pref…"
Click.
Friday, May 13
5:54 AM
When he awakened, snippets of a dream echoed in Mark's consciousness. He and Suzy were walking across a field of grass. She was saying something, but he could not quite hear her. The recurring dream began just before last Christmas. Even in the few instances where he realized he was dreaming, and tried to focus, he could never quite catch what she was saying.
As he lay in bed, the images fading, his thoughts turned to last night's conversation with Laney. He wondered if she, too, still dreamed of Suzy. Though separated by a thousand miles of highway, the two grew so close over the years, thanks in large part to being cut from the same cloth when it came to things like family, politics, and spirituality. The only really big difference between them was food. Suzy lived for heat and strong flavors while Laney was a steak and potatoes girl. Kindred spirits, he called them once, and soon after they began calling themselves the "Kindred Sisters."
He glanced at the cell phone on the nightstand, tempted to call Greg to find out just how late Laney kept him up last night. That led to memories of how Suzy used to keep him up half the night, how she would refuse to let him sleep until he satisfied her to the point of exhaustion, and he felt the familiar emptiness hollow him out.
"Don't do this to yourself," he said aloud. "Nothing will bring her back. Laney was right…they're all right…you have to move on…you can't hold onto a ghost forever." But as he rolled out of bed, he knew his heart did not want to give up the ghost—her ghost. Still, the life of a recluse was a lonely one, and lately, he could feel the loneliness wearing him down.
His reflection, with its three-day growth of beard, stared back at him from the bathroom mirror and he noticed a few of the whiskers were grey. With a sigh, he pulled off his tee shirt, stepped out of his boxers and into the shower. "Maybe," he said as the stinging-hot water cascaded down his body, "maybe it is time."
11:54 AM
"Afflictive," Mark muttered under his breath, "that's what this damn thing is."
Two hours ago, he parked himself in the only spot in the library that kept him reasonably hidden, thanks to some revolving book racks full of science fiction paperbacks, yet afforded a nearly complete view of the front desk. Naturally, the chair was worn and uncomfortable, which only added to the discomfort he felt about what he was here to do.
"Afflictive," he repeated, summing up the whole situation.
Laney's advice consumed him all morning. Denials and rationalizations made the path tortuous, but ultimately, it led where he had not wanted to go since the moment he turned away from Suzy's grave two years ago.
Maybe that's why I keep having that dream. Maybe Suz is trying to tell me to get on with my life, but I won't listen.
He sighed.
Glancing down at the open book he was pretending to read, he realized he could not remember the title. With an uncaring shrug, he lifted his eyes and resumed watching Shane move back and forth behind the front desk, scanning bar codes, answering questions, issuing new library cards; always keeping herself busy.
She was in the back room when he arrived and scoped out the layout, then settled into this torturous butt-bucket. About half-an-hour into his vigil, he decided to donate the cost for some new, comfortable armchairs, but for now, he was glued in position, unable to muster the courage to approach her, afraid of how his body might react and how she might react when he voiced his proposition.
What the hell's wrong with me? I'm acting like a pimple-faced teenager who wants to ask the prom queen for a date. Geez, if Suzy is up there watching, she must think I've turned into a total loser. Even imagining Suzy telling him to get his ass off the chair and get on with it didn't work. I need an icebreaker…something to get a conversation going so I'll feel comfortable. But what? I can't just… Then he realized he was sitting on the answer.
She was arranging the shelf of books being held for patrons when behind her she heard, "Hello, Shane. May I speak with you for a minute?"
It's him!
As she turned, Mark caught the same moment of panic in her eyes he saw Monday, and though it made him feel odd, at least he wasn't getting aroused again. Looks like Laney was right.
"May I help you?" she asked, praying her face was not betraying the butterflies churning in her stomach.
"I've uh…I've been sitting over by the windows reading for awhile and I wanted to let the library know, well, frankly, the chair was pretty uncomfortable."
"Oh, you must have been sitting on Lord Rich. Why didn't you just move to another chair?" Thank you, Lord, for not letting me trip over my tongue again.
Oh, crap. I was so focused on getting my ass up here, I didn't prepare for the most obvious question. What can I say. I can't tell her it was the best seat to spy on her. I know…
"Lord Rich? Do all the chairs here have names?"
Mark drank in her smile as she said, "No, just that one. Rich was a 16th century baron who didn't mind getting his hands dirty, so to speak, when it came to torture. He was one of the people who prosecuted Sir Thomas Moore. People have been complaining about that chair for a long time, but the director says there's no money in the budget for new furniture."
"Well, if someone wanted to make a donation so the library could buy some comfortable reading chairs, to whom would one speak?"
She grinned at the formal sentence structure as she looked around to see who might be within earshot, then lowered her voice and said, "The truth is, if you make a donation, odds are they'll use it for something more pressing than a new chair. If you really want the library to get a new chair, my advice is to buy the chair and have it delivered as a gift. Just make sure it's vinyl or leather—something easy to keep clean."
"I see. Thanks." He noticed the panic was gone now, replaced by something else. "You're not going to get in trouble for telling me that, are you?"
"Only if you squeal on me." Ohmygod, did I really just say 'squeal on me' to him? She was relieved when he chuckled softly.
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe."
There was a long pause during which Shane held his eyes and suddenly realized he looked as uneasy as she felt inside. Why would donating a chair make him nervous?
"Look, uh, Shane, I uh…" Just say it, stupid! "I was pretty impressed the other day by how much you knew about hydroponics. I mean…well…I guess I just mean I was impressed that someone your age would have read so much about a subject like that and remembered it all."
The butterflies in Shane's stomach shifted into overdrive. No man except Daddy ever said he was impressed with me! She felt her face flushing but strangely, she didn't care. And I'm carrying on an actual conversation with him and haven't stumbled even once!
"Thank you," she said, unconsciously treating him to another smile. "I've always had a good memory and, well…" Her hand swept in an arc between them, indicating the main part of the library. "…books are my life."
That drew from him another soft chuckle. She's actually pretty easy to talk to. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. "Look, I read Hydroponics from H2O and you were right on the money. It really does lay out everything one needs to know. Still, I'm not ready to give up on the subject. I just need a different hook. Do you know what I mean?"
"Sure, you want to find something new about the subject."
"Exactly. But that's going to take a good deal of read
ing and research, along with some brainstorming. The truth is, brainstorming is almost always more productive when you have someone to bounce ideas off of."
He paused, and took a deep breath, knowing what came next would be hard for him. Shane noticed a sadness come into his eyes as he said, "I used to bounce ideas off of my wife…"
He's married. I should have known.
"…but she's not with me any more and…uh…what I'm trying to say, or ask, really, is…"
Not with him? Okay…so he's divorced.
"…well…you already know so much about hydroponics, and you work in a library, so I'm guessing you're good at doing research, and you're obviously pretty smart, so…well…I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping me with the new book?"
* * *
Thanks for reading the beginning of Plaine Shane. The book is available for the Kindle and in print from Amazon or go to http://masonmarshall.com for links to it.
~Dee Mann
Coffee in Common
* * *
Dee Mann
Mason Marshall Media
Contents
Prologue
Part 1 - The Date
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
7:40 AM
10:01 AM
11:30 AM
12:15 PM
6:20 PM
7:10 PM
7:35 PM
7:45 PM
7:55 PM
10:05 PM
10:45 PM
10:55 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 6
7:35 AM
10:10 AM
10:25 AM
12:15 PM
3:30 PM
5:45 PM
6:50 PM
7:10 PM
8:05 PM
8:37 PM
8:50 PM
8:54 PM
9:10 PM
11:05 PM
11:25 PM
11:58 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 7
7:40 AM
8:20 AM
10:10 AM
11:50 AM
2:15 PM
2:40 PM
6:25 PM
6:45 PM
6:55 PM
8:30 PM
8:35 PM
9:55 PM
10:10 PM
10:45 PM
SATURDAY, MAY 8
1:15 AM
3:10 AM
PART II - The Rest of the Story
SATURDAY, May 8
11:30 AM
1:10 PM
5:20 PM
7:10 PM
7:50 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 9
7:15 AM
MONDAY, MAY 10
6:45 AM
8:07 AM
12:50 PM
5:20 PM
5:50 PM
TUESDAY, MAY 11
7:55 AM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
4:55 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 13
12:05 PM
7:45 PM
8:25 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 14
4:30 PM
5:10 PM
5:20 PM
9:45 PM
10:35 PM
SATURDAY, MAY 15
12:10 AM
SUNDAY, May 16
7:10 AM
11:17 PM
MONDAY, MAY 17
12:50 PM
2:10 PM
7:15 PM
TUESDAY, MAY 18
6:05 PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
10:00 PM
10:22 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 20
9:25 AM
9:40 AM
7:50 PM
11:40 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 21
12:05 AM
12:35 AM
4:10 AM
6:12 AM
10:40 AM
12:10 PM
12:35 PM
1:15 PM
MONDAY, MAY 24
7:50 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 27
9:15 AM
SUNDAY, MAY 30
5:10 AM
MONDAY, MAY 31
6:05 PM
9:10 PM
9:25 PM
TUESDAY, JUNE 1
5:40 PM
6:15 PM
8:10 PM
9:35 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 3
8:30 PM
FRIDAY, JUNE 4
6:40 PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 5
9:45 AM
10:20 AM
11:25 AM
EPILOGUE
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2005
6:15 PM
9:45 PM
10:00 PM
11:25 PM
Preview
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgements
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, persons, or anything else is entirely coincidental
No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any manner by any means, known or unknown, without express written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Copyright © 2004, 2010 by Dee Mann and Mason Marshall Media. Cover art Copyright © 2010 by Mason Marshall Media. All rights reserved.
For information, please contact:
Mason Marshall Media
P.O. Box 324,
Medford, MA 02155
Lyrics Acknowledgements
Always And Forever
Words and Music by Rod Temperton
Copyright © 1976 RODSONGS
Copyright Renewed
All Rights Administered by ALMO MUSIC CORP
All Rights Reserved Used by permission
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation
SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (from "Oh, Kay")
Music and Lyrics by GEORGE GERSHWIN and IRA GERSHWIN
© 1926 (Renewed) WB MUSIC CORP.
All Rights Reserved
Used by Permission of ALFRED PUBLISHING CO., INC.
Wedding Bell Blues
Words and Music by Laura Nyro
© 1966, 1976 (Renewed 1994, 2004) EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC
All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured Used by permission
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation
Acknowledgements
I owe a debt of gratitude to the following fine folks:
Liana Peterson, who helped me discover I didn't understand certain people quite as well as I thought, and without whose eagle eye and verbal flogging, this story might still be bouncing around inside my head.
Catherine Oteri, and her musical instinct for finding the right songs with the right lyrics.
John Silveira, who was kind enough to let me steal one of his jokes.
Carol Henriquez, whose proofreading saved me from several embarrassing errors, both major and minor.
And, of course, the lovely Martha, for reasons too numerous to mention.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part 1 - The Date
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
7:40 AM
10:01 AM
11:30 AM
12:15 PM
6:20 PM
7:10 PM
7:35 PM
7:45 PM
7:55 PM
10:05 PM
10:45 PM
10:55 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 6
7:35 AM
10:10 AM
10:25 AM
12:15 PM
3:30 PM
5:45 PM
6:50 PM
7:10 PM
8:05 PM
8:37 PM
8:50 PM
8:54 PM
9:10 PM
11:05 PM
11:25 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 7
7:40 AM
8:20 AM
10:10 AM
11:50 AM
2:15 PM
2:40 PM
6:25 PM
6:45 PM
6:55 PM
8:30 PM
8:35 PM
9:55 PM
10:10 PM
10:45 PM
SATURDAY, MAY 8
1:15 AM
3:10 AM
PART II - The Rest of the Story
SATURDAY, May 8
11:30 AM
1:10 PM
5:20 PM
7:10 PM
7:50 PM
SUNDAY, MAY 9
7:15 AM
MONDAY, MAY 10
6:45 AM
8:07 AM
12:50 PM
5:20 PM
5:50 PM
TUESDAY, MAY 11
7:55 AM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
4:55 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 13
12:05 PM
7:45 PM
8:25 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 14
4:30 PM
5:10 PM
5:20 PM
9:45 PM
10:35 PM
SATURDAY, MAY 15
12:10 AM
SUNDAY, May 16
7:10 AM
11:17 PM
MONDAY, MAY 17
12:50 PM
2:10 PM
7:15 PM
TUESDAY, MAY 18
6:05 PM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
10:00 PM
10:22 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 20
9:25 AM
9:40 AM
7:50 PM
11:40 PM
FRIDAY, MAY 21
12:05 AM
12:35 AM
4:10 AM
6:12 AM
10:40 AM
12:10 PM
12:35 PM
1:15 PM
MONDAY, MAY 24
7:50 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 27
9:15 AM
SUNDAY, MAY 30
5:10 AM
MONDAY, MAY 31
6:05 PM
9:10 PM