Angels Crest by Leslie Schwartz

Author:Leslie Schwartz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307275073
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2005-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

Angie’s was crowded. Rocksan hardly recognized anyone. She hoped that it would snow harder and get colder and that everyone would go back to the city, or wherever they’d come from. She didn’t want anyone to discover her secret. She had chosen Angels Crest because it was a frumpy town that eschewed the vanities of modern culture—drive-through espresso stands, frilly banners on the streetlamps announcing some art show, teahouses with pretentious names like Cheshire Knoll.

Angels Crest, with its dowdy stores and its backdrop of craggy peaks, had been a found paradise for Rocksan. She loved its frigid winters and its silences, which were inhabited only by numbing winds and the sounds of birds. She loved being near her sister. All these people made her nervous. She knew how a place could get overrun.

“Would you look at this?” Rocksan said. “Who are all these assholes?”

Jane shook her head. “It’s so sad. The boy is dead and no one seems to have any respect.”

A TV was blaring over the counter, and on-screen one of the drunks from Trevor’s bar was talking to a reporter about Ethan. He seemed so much larger on television, so much more legitimate somehow, as if the airwaves could shroud even the lowly with a shred of dignity. He was saying that Ethan had always been a loner. He was telling the reporter, a stranger whom no one in town had ever met before, that Ethan and Cindy had had a vicious custody battle. He said, “Ethan seemed like he just wanted to live alone in the woods with his son.”

“That’s just great. Now the world will think he’s some kind of survivalist,” Jane said.

George looked at Melody. He said, “This is a bad omen. You’re having a baby in a town where a kid just died.”

“It’s only an omen if you say so. Now take that back,” Melody said.

“I take it back,” George said.

They were so weird. Rocksan looked at Jane to try to get her to see how weird she thought they were, but Jane was busy staring at the floor.

Just then, Angie walked up. She appeared serene, unflappable. How could her sister be so calm?

“Can you get us a seat, Ang?” Jane asked.

“There’s a wait.”

“Oh, come on,” Rocksan said. “Show some balls. Let the media people wait.”

“Okay,” Angie said. “I’ll give you the next table, but you get to quell the riot.”

Angie then trained her eyes on George and Melody. Jane actually blushed. “This is my son, George, and his . . . girlfriend, Melody.”

“Glad to meet you,” Angie said.

“Melody’s pregnant,” Jane said.

“Jane,” Rocksan said. “You don’t have to announce it to everyone you introduce her to. It’s pretty obvious on its own.”

Jane looked like she was about to cry. Then Melody, in a gesture that spoke to Rocksan of Melody’s character, put her arm gently around Jane’s shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Jane smiled and gazed at Melody with a mixture of gratitude and relief.

It was the first time since George and Melody had arrived that Jane seemed to relax.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.