O+F

iling list all week. He

e into his mind regular

efore he fell asleep; h

ac

He didn't want to put screws through the sides of the box, and if he put supporting ledger strips on the inside, the bottom would be raised too high. He fastened a small block to the lower inside of each corner. The blocks strengthene

s to cover the cracks. "Thank God for routers," he said to Je

had your tale

ent; it's pig

er said. "They get a bad rap." S

e and asked him whether

that she wanted, you should be the judge-since yo

. "I'll have Mary mail you a check o

ank

nk you should be entitled to a member discount. We have some nice trips line

buggy,"

nts, silly. No-

n across the night,

ia is a popular trip. Sometimes I g

e reached for his arm, to shove him o

llows,"

I'll let you know,"

ou on the ma

called over

hasp and a lock that were well-matched. He would inlay the hing

ited for him to finish. They were sitting on the couch in her living room. She was wearing a black silk blouse that f

acky's face was firm and concentrated, her eyebrows raised slightly. He looked into her eyes and fel

ed only in her house and only for a few intense hours at a time. His reward was to be allowed to come at her command as she counted slowly to twenty or twenty-five. If he came too soon or not at her number, she whipped him with a riding quirt. "You are not thinki

ver was well aware of what was coming after dessert. She would encourage him to be assertive and then she wou

gh school but too small for the team at the University of New Hampshire. "Same game, different scale," she said. "I

uniform," he teased

of your neck," she said. "I know you

"I need you to come over," she said and hung up. This wa

rdi. She's

ecommend and install an accounting system. They'd gotten a generous donation, Je

" he said,

ked her about it. "Comm

munity," O

the family,"

ns were crossing the bridge in both directions. Oliver parked

a disappoi

tly. Her eyes narrowed and

ythin

stards," she said and swung the ruler. Oliver groaned for her. He had learned to wait out the i

ards," she said again. She took her time, winding up for each swing, not speeding up. Oliver began to groan for real. He

he cracked him again. S

ry!" Crack. "W

ss," he

in. A hot tear squeezed fro

!" C

Crack. "Please."

k him. He cried so convulsively, so hard, that he didn't register the moment when she stopped

d came back from the dresser with a condom. Oliver lay on his back, numb and floating, as she te

rward. She caught and braced herself with her hands on his shoulders, crying out with each new number as he strained up into her. At fifty, he exploded; a blind white jet took them drenched and mingled into the universe. He hea

white bathrobe. "You are beautiful," she said, pulling tight the cotton belt

ch movement of his body as though it were for the first time. Jacky watched silently.

she said, looking a

ful. He was hungry. Alberta's. Why not? He found a parking spot, walked into his f

e knew perfectly well. Women always do. Oliver imagined a

y," he

place. Good halibut tonigh

t's a red

, rosemary and Dijon

ate there once a week or so on nights when he wanted to think. They left him alone to make notes and sketches, to stare out the wind

He ordered espresso and Death By Chocolate, then lingered over Courvoisier. Verdi was aggrieved when Oliver finally got home. Oliver made a great

nto her eyes and felt no impulse to surrender. She reacted immediately. "Not tonight," she said. And then, "That's all right. It

ked if he would meet her fo

aces, for a change," she sa

ent to recognize Jacky when she arrived. She was wearing a broad-brimmed straw

. Lip gloss accented the color of her dress-a pale but deep pink, fresh and elegant, white but tinged with the sadness of de

ng to drink?" Claudine'

e a martini?

udine glanced a

Goodbean entered. He was thinking about something and

he said, look

ly Moly means he wants to p

"Who wouldn't?" He th

d him and set a marti

about it another time

s." He walked up the st

to burst into ari

i. "Ah . . ." She put t

ike

inter." He told her about the casting ad

ease me in so many ways, Oliver." She put down her fork. "I've been transferred. That's why I was in such a bad mood t

nsfe

said. "It's a pr

d. He put down h

t was part comman

id the words. Am I crazy? he thought, looking at h

of one hand on the tabl

roblem." He n

h." She shook her head. "Who trains who?" she asked the window in a tight

y overlap. Sometimes, if you're real lucky, they overlap a lot. Most people settle for a little of one

"Good night, Oliver.

ge of her walking away down the sidewalk. He had an urge to run after her, to sink to his knees with his arms around her hips, to make her happy, but a dum

e stairs to George's t

high road," h

as . . ." George's eyes e

ver said.

ess! Tha

little Courvo

er had made his whole family jump through hoops during his last years and then had snuck off to Atlantic City and s

omplete. It angered him, refuted his mood. He put it on the floor. "Fuck it," he said and lifted his right foot high over the box. Verdi let out a loud wa

e valentine stared up at him. "Shit," he said. Verdi rubbed against his ankle. "Fucking box," Oliver said

on the other end was silent. He knew it wa