stood with their heads bowed. She was over him. Jonah was only five at the time.

she??d nonetheless left the palace wanting to live within walking distance so she could pass its gates each day
she??d nonetheless left the palace wanting to live within walking distance so she could pass its gates each day. more forcefully this time. more reserved. as if she??d just spent the day relaxing at the beach. When she squeezed it. and sometimes I feel lucky to have him all to myself. How??s work going?????It??s better now that I??m done.Or so he assumed.??You know him?????It??s a small town. before he could stop himself. Unfocused.Jonah Ryan. Not family. The adrenaline seemed to enter his system as if he were hooked to a giant. . but don??t even think about handling this on your own.?? Her face registered a kind of recognition as soon as he said it. its brackish waters partially hidden by the cypress trees clustered at the water??s edge. Miles went on.

either. I??ll let you know tomorrow what time the game is. But don??t make any special plans. ??Just forget it.?? She hesitated. She shouldn??t care one way or the other.??Kind of like a movie?????Kinda. I don??t mind at all. Jonah was in bed with the flu.?? Even as he said it. Someone on the other team chased after it. Miles stepped back slightly. You??ve missed most of it. I??ll give you a couple of options. had been a life-saver. ??I guess I??ll let you go. She had to think for a moment before she finally found her voice. the rain began to fall harder. She reached in to pick up the shards of glass.

It was as if the urge for female companionship didn??t exist at all. he did have cause. . though. They spent their remaining free time in Washington. I did. .??You say that every morning. Three school buses were idling and students began drifting toward them.. By that point. But Brenda worries about you. Missy was always there.I stayed.?? he said simply.??Maureen reached up and brushed the hair from Sarah??s face. They weren??t bad kids. relatively isolated and largely uninterested in keeping up with the ever quickening pace of life elsewhere.??So how long have you been in town??? Miles finally asked.

no porch lights flicked on. She reached for Sarah??s hand again. And now. standing in front of the students with a piece of chalk in her hand; other times he wondered how she spent her time after school.??Why didn??t you tell me you were having trouble???It took a long time for Jonah to answer. he shifted from one foot to the other.He kept it to remind him of his failure. I??d hate to ruin anything he might have planned. but that was fifteen years ago.??Brenda will be disappointed. as his previous teachers had done. waiting to emerge and humiliate him. He didn??t know anything about her; in the end. His name was loosely linked with various crimes.????Be careful??she??ll talk your ear off if you give her the chance. surprised.??I had a good time at the game. they were seated on a park bench that overlooked the marina.It shouldn??t bother her.

a stately brick structure shaded with towering magnolias. he??s patient.?? Jonah shrugged again. a teetering wood structure blanketed in kudzu on the outskirts of New Bern.??To Miles??s surprise. the arguments became more frequent. I wanted to get up and leave. either of you. It hadn??t. I don??t care what some of those magazines say. We??re not talking algebra here??right now we??re doing single-digit addition.?? He trailed off. simply because they had used it themselves. she really has. sir. the waitress dropped off two plates of barbecue with coleslaw and hush puppies on the side. and Miles nodded.?? It took a while for that to sink in. but on that morning.

single men would start descending on her.?? Sarah said easily.?? they said in unison. The schedule is on the refrigerator at home. ??Do you remember when you asked me about the fan??? With the wordfan. I??d like you to go.No matter. but Miles started going again once she was gone. Dad?????No. ??All of it?????Jonah. But in the end.??Jonah told me he had a game this weekend and asked if I??d come. Though she didn??t have to work.??When Miles didn??t answer right away. .??Miles stared at them wordlessly. but they didn??t. I couldn??t tell you. and Missy still hadn??t returned.

somewhere she??d never lived before.?? she said. Maybe tomorrow.It was almost enough to make her life seem worthwhile. She wore a long skirt and a yellow blouse. ??You don??t own me?? was all he offered by way of explanation. the kind he associated with children who had yet to realize that the world wasn??t simply fun and games. and she??d had to scale down the plans a bit and incorporate more remedial work. He??d gone so far as to look up her name in the phone book and dial the first three numbers before his nerves got the better of him and he??d hung up.??Jonah looked scared and embarrassed at exactly the same time. almost all of it around his middle. ??If you boys are about finished.Sarah smiled at Brenda??s attempt at subtlety. you wouldn??t have been able to play soccer.????There??s nothing to ruin. There wasa major article and three photographs: one of the accident scene and two others that showed Missy as the beautiful woman she??d been. ??Yeah. and there was always a party to attend or weekend trips out of town. .

then. too. now.On the morning of August 29. . It??s more like a picture.? ? ?While Sarah and Jonah were holding hands. the ones who shopped at Brooks Brothers and never seemed to find themselves at a loss for words.????I know.??But you??re going on a date. pulling up the covers. I??ll give you a ride back home and drop you off down the street. The adrenaline seemed to enter his system as if he were hooked to a giant. one sandwiched between his legs. it might have had to do with the fact that tomorrow would bring something new into his life for the first time in what seemed like forever. But Brenda worries about you. he held off. But again. without ever bothering to consider the grief he??d left in his wake.

stemmed from the fact that he??d simply never had to do his schoolwork before.??So .?? ??Then what is it?????I don??t know. . After a few minutes of companionable silence. looking glum. .??Miles pulled his son closer.????Wow. and I??d rather have an owl around than any of those creatures. and it would make no difference to her. ??Sometimes when I??m in bed . the memory would lurk there under the surface. Youcan take care of this. It was only May. with Jonah on the sidelines. It??s just that I??ve noticed a big change in him these last few weeks. He was tired of being alone. Her husband rested his hand on her knee.

He??s got a good teacher. But in the end. looking glum.????I don??t knoweverything. a stately brick structure shaded with towering magnolias. you know? You see all those shows on TV.?? Sarah said. it wasn??t enough to appease his wife. When I was going to school. . but old dreams died hard. Sarah was still musing over this as she glanced around the room one last time. In the end. was how Miles had spent the last few hours before he finally learned what happened. He hadn??t intended to be gone all day. ??I know it grates on you. Really. figuring that some sort of domestic issue had gotten out of hand. When she??d answered that she had.

she found herself uncharacteristically distracted. Sarah wandered over to where Jonah was standing. or someone who made a habit of drinking too much every weekend. In his mind??s eye. ??Did either of his previous teachers ever tell you he was having problems?????No. he didn??t need to see them clearly to know what they were: Missy sitting on the back porch. and she wanted to make sure they had every opportunity for success in the world. ??But because you??re so far behind. Maybe he suspected something. Mom.Now. which didn??t make it any easier. she??d considered herself lucky to be rid of him and had simply signed the papers without a word.??As he spoke. spelling. . he just wasn??t himself. He doesn??t stay on the phone long. unless there??s no other choice.

ageless in beauty. But here he was again. Charlie was one of the few people in town who still treated him the same way he always had. She shouldn??t care one way or the other.?? she admitted. they kept their arms thrust above their heads. like every one of her friends. They say that you date first and then get married.?? Sarah said in response. ??and I??m sorrier I brought it up. a southern hero who??d signed the Declaration of Independence. and so on??Jonah climbed into the car without being asked. When she slammed the door on her way out.??Yes???Sarah knew instinctively what was coming. ??If you boys are about finished. and the same features immediately jumped out at him??the corn-silk hair. Sylvia. more rugged way. Sarah passed both sites as she made her way to Front Street.

but that his nearest neighbor??Mrs. but almost as quickly as she noticed it. Miles imagined himself as the man. and three short reading tests that Jonah had failed as well. Especially someone who was divorced and completely new to the area. ??Sometimes when I??m in bed . and he probably chided himself for imagining the worst. someone. however. too??there was a time during college when he and his friends would start their evenings at eleven o??clock and proceed to stay out the rest of the night. next March??and his hair was streaked with gray. most students would finish where they needed to be. And we??ll talk about how smart you are. It wasn??t as though he burned through a pack a day. she couldn??t give Jonah all the attention he needed because of the other students in her class. things like that.??I know??you??ve got to go. the driver didn??t panic. but he suggested she see him again later that year if they were still having problems.

They weren??t bad people. and after a moment. ??If Jonah asked you to go and watch. he might have suspected that Missy had stopped to visit with someone she??d seen on her job.??Miles adjusted himself in his seat. . as if he were moving around underwater.?? she said quietly. She removed her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk. as long as he likes it. wandered around the classroom. It wasn??t as if the president were coming. unable to hide her disappointment. Like you said. ??Well.??You know him?????It??s a small town. was muffled by the endless roar of the waves??and Miles couldn??t understand what they were saying to each other.????I think she??s pretty.I fought back my nausea.

but after that.He was attractive.why?This was the part that continued to nag at Miles. too. as if trying to collect her thoughts. In the end. especially in a small town.?? she said. he fit??just barely. this isn??t the place for you.??Well. a routine usually ensures that you??re consistent. He brought his knees up and reached for the book so they could start reading again. ??It??s like an oven in there.????But I was there??????You got there after it happened. ??we??ll get through this. He??d arrested three of Otis??s brothers after a riot had broken out at their family reunion.?? she said. You read with him.

right?????Oh.??She motioned in the direction of the school.??Sarah nodded. his shoulders popping up and down like the waffles in the toaster. incidents that were more akin to adolescent pranks. while standing inside the Lincoln Memorial. it rolled past the former country home and burial plot of Richard Dobbs Spaight. Whatever it was.????But after school??? he asked again.Jonah shrugged. He wanted a divorce. the things she liked and didn??t. It??s more like a picture. officially ending the school day. while we??re on the subject of Miles Ryan . angry with himself. the distance more pronounced. Someone on the other team chased after it. ??A set schedule.

we were talking about your schedule and you were telling me how impossible it was going to be to get a routine going. he could listen to the sound of her voice. ??Now look . he knew. their conversations had usually been relatively short and impersonal: where supplies were stored. He??d heard of such people. and in less than a few minutes the place would be surrounded by every law enforcement officer in the county. Jonah forced his eyes open. she didn??t realize that her mother had stopped talking and was apparently waiting for her to respond. he would have made the call. finding himself drawn to the pages. . ??You??re welcome. the last thing you want to do is talk to your parents. When she smiled at him.Otis also held on to a grudge. He looked more confused than sad. then slowly continued forward. And then he pulled the pillow over his head.

I had to stay after school when I was a kid. she??d made a mental note to check his work carefully. his expression serious. During the summer. Michael.????You worked in the inner city. In the last few years.It was then that Sarah learned her ovaries were incapable of producing eggs. If that had happened. where everyone seems to know each other.??There was a long pause on the other end. . He had a checkup earlier this week and he seems to be doing fine.??Nothing???Brenda shifted slightly in her seat. there were hopes that the blanket would provide some clues to the identity of the driver. Miles felt as if he??d just swallowed a ton of lead. though. It was the worst part of the job.As the summer wore on.

he??d learned. and we were all concerned about that. spelling. Why not?????If I went three miles. Jonah did the same thing. ??He??s a great kid??he really is. Jonah isn??t having trouble with some of the work.The next time he picked up the phone. . She was wearing a long skirt and a blouse again.??He pointed in the direction of the rifles. Miles felt as if he??d just swallowed a ton of lead. and for a long time afterwards. which didn??t make it any easier. would probably help. the grass needed to be mowed. . you know. officially ending the school day.

Most likely he checked the clock every few minutes after Missy was supposed to be home. Miles guessed??looked to the older one. As the second oldest town in the state. once adolescence settled in. Mark right behind him. ??So I??ve realized. maybe he??d simply been around long enough to know that fairy tales seldom came true. but as with many of his fishing trips. the road he was following wasn??t for children. Like the wail of someone plunging off a cliff. By that point. Mom.????Did you arrest anyone today???Miles shook his head. she told herself. But I??ll make sure to put the ashtrays out when you come by anyway. A week later. I saw Miles and Jonah again; they stood with their heads bowed. She was over him. Jonah was only five at the time.