The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Author:Gigi Levangie Grazer [Grazer, Gigi Levangie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781597220453
Google: gpF1PwAACAAJ
Amazon: B000FCK6TI
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2005-06-01T16:00:00+00:00

CRAZY FUCKING RICH people, Sam thought to himself, as he shook off his encounter with the front end of a Jaguar. He could’ve been killed, minding his own business, biking to Sav-on for a bottle of that antidiarrhea medicine Mrs. Kennicot needed. The Jag had come out of nowhere. The driver, some older guy, wasn’t even looking at him when Sam rolled over the front of the car. Just before impact, before he went flying, Sam could see that he was talking to the woman at his side. But she, she was looking at Sam; their eyes had met as he flew forward. It’s funny, Sam thought, the images people remember right before a traumatic event. He remembered bits and pieces—laughter, cigarette smoke, a friendly blow on the back. Then boom. One rocket (apparently), the jeep flies up in the air (apparently), three weeks in army hospital in a coma (apparently), and all you can remember are the seconds before impact. The life-changing event is not worth remembering, according to the human brain. It’s what came before that matters.

Sam locked his bike outside Sav-on, limped past the guys sleeping on benches, past the empties—generic vodka bottles—decorating the ground. His ribs hurt, his legs were on shaky ground, his bike was screwed up—the chain, which was never perfect (the bike was old when he “got” it), was now totally bent out of shape—but nothing was going to keep him from getting that bottle of medicine to Mrs. Kennicot. He was late as it was.

HOW MANY TIMES, Gracie thought, do I have to walk back and forth on this stretch of beach? She’d been up at six that morning, quite the feat considering she’d had two drinks more than her usual (which was no drinks) the night before. She’d awakened with a feeling of determination—she would find her mystery man once and for all, and put an end to the cycle of anticipation, self-flagellation, and eating boatloads of processed sugar.

Jaden had spent a good forty-five minutes with her, digging holes in the sand while Mom meandered back and forth in front of the opening leading onto the beach,which the tenants on the land-side houses used. But then Ana, who was driving Jaden back to Kenny’s place, had arrived and flagged them down; she spent a good amount of time chastising Gracie for providing only dry cereal and a juice box for Jaden while she went on her wild-goose chase searching for a good-looking phantom.

Finally Gracie sat down in the sand and let the water, which was moving toward high tide (she’d taken to reading the tide charts in the newspaper) tickle her feet. She closed her eyes and let the sun seep into her skin, pretending to be unafraid of wrinkles, sunspots, sunburn, and sagging. Was there nothing she feared?

“Trying to drown yourself again?” she heard a man ask as she felt a shadow edge across the upper half of her body.

“No,” she said without opening her eyes. She realized she was afraid of something: actual intimacy.

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