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Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Abbi Waxman and her novels
  3. Berkley Titles by Abbi Waxman
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Summer
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. Fall
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. Readers Guide
  56. Questions for Discussion
  57. About the Author
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

“Anyway,” she said, starting to back away, “I’ve got to get home, so . . .” She turned to leave, narrowly avoiding squashing a ninja turtle who barely came up to her thigh.

“I’ll drive you home,” said Bob, lowering Annabel to the sidewalk.

“We’re all heading that way,” said Lili, looking tired. “We parked in Larchmont, too.”

So the procession turned and made its way through the crowd, the kids chattering the whole time. Lili and Rachel kept close behind them, leaving Bob and Laura to bring up the rear. Laura was painfully aware of him next to her, as the crowd occasionally pushed them together, but she didn’t say anything. He had spent the weekend with an old girlfriend, he was going away for a few months, and then he was going away to grad school; there was no way they were going to be a thing, and she should be grateful to have met and made friends with someone she liked so much.

That was going to have to be sufficient.

FORTY-TWO

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, and gradually the candy wrappers on the streets disappeared, replaced by leaves and occasional rain puddles. Laura found herself avoiding Bob, not wanting to bring up Rachel, or really anything at all. He was leaving, and that was that. The air between them thickened, and though both of them were perplexed and cranky about it, neither was convinced it wasn’t all in their own head anyway.

One evening Laura came home from school quite late and found Maggie sitting in the kitchen, alone. Only the oven light was on, and at first Laura didn’t see her at the table. When she flipped on the overheads, Maggie jumped.

“Oh, sorry!” said Laura. “Sorry . . .”

Maggie shook her head. “No worries. I should go to bed anyway.”

Laura frowned at her. “Are you OK?”

“Sarah called Asher today,” said Maggie. “She’s pregnant.”

“That’s great,” said Laura reflexively. She paused. “Right?”

Maggie nodded, pushing her wineglass back and forth on the table. “Sure. Who doesn’t want to be a grandma?” Her eyes welled up suddenly, and Laura walked over and sat at the table. “If she even lets me,” Maggie said.

“Why wouldn’t she?” asked Laura. “I mean, I get that you guys argued last time, but it’s been months, surely you can patch it up?” She was ready to listen.

Maggie looked at her, her eyes dry again. “It might not be patchable.” She sighed. “Quite a few years ago now, after Sarah finished college, she came to live here for a while, a month or two while she looked for work. She started an affair with one of our neighbors. He was much older, he was married, he had kids, and I was . . . critical.”

Laura stayed quiet and let Maggie talk.