Contents ( 85)
- Contents
- Part I
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Part II
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Part III
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- One
- Two
- Reading Group Guide
- A Conversation with the Author
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
“Tasha?” I say. I can’t even pretend to hide my distaste. “I don’t even know—”
He holds a hand up. “I know. You don’t have to say anything. Just don’t hold it against me. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Tasha Collins was the clichéd popular girl in high school, though everyone I knew hated her. Her popularity stemmed from her physical gorgeousness. She was hated because every other part of her was ugly. A massive flaunter of money in a place where everyone was swimming in it already. Dumb as dirt. And bitterly mean to anyone she spoke to, including her friends. Last I heard of her, she was going off to Tufts for college, though I can’t imagine how she ever would have graduated.
“Tasha still lives here?”
“Oh yeah,” Alec says. “Only reason I’m still here. I won’t give up seeing my boy.”
So Tasha Collins married an African American man. I have to admit, that’s more progressive than I would have credited her with being.
“When I was twelve, she once called me Pancake Tits,” I tell him. I can’t believe I just said this, but the memory came back with such jarring force I couldn’t help myself.
Alec looks properly taken aback for about two seconds before laughter takes over. From-the-gut laughter, and I can’t help but join in.
“Yeah, that sounds like her,” he says.
“Maybe she got better after high school?”
Alec wipes a film of sweat off his forehead and shakes his head. “Nope.”
“But you still married her?”
He grimaces. Only word for it.
“Let’s just say I didn’t know Tasha well when she got pregnant. Not sure we would’ve ever stayed together if not for Micah—that’s my boy. We made it last as long as we could. And I can’t say I was the perfect husband either. Micah’s better with his mom and me under different roofs, that’s for sure.” He shifts his footing and gives me a gaze I could get lost in.
“I can understand that.”
Alec lets out another laugh, this one softer. “I’m normally not so open. Certainly not with someone I just met.”
“How does it feel?” I ask.
He thinks about it for a moment, then smiles. “Good.”
The ensuing silence lasts long enough to make me nervous. I brush a few stray strands of grass off the backs of my thighs and say, “I better finish my run.”
“Okay, Rose. Nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
“Okay, then,” I say, hearing a tiny bit of Wisconsin accent come out. I turn and carefully make my way across the grass and onto the street, where I start jogging again.
The only thing distracting me from the uncomfortable wet stain on my butt is wondering if Alec notices.
Ten
What kind of woman is attracted to another man less than two months after her husband’s death?
Maybe it’s a defense mechanism, a way of dealing with grief. Or perhaps it was such a transient, innocent attraction that it doesn’t even warrant analysis. After all, I’m just human, and a still-youngish, heterosexual female version at that. I’d challenge any others in my category to stand face-to-face with Alec Wallin without the smallest of stirrings.