While I Was Gone by Sue Miller

Author:Sue Miller
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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hear, talking with a calculated hesitance about the place she thought she might live in with Stellie, about the job she might be going to get.

Nora had started in on what jerks those model-agency guys were-what did Cassie know about him? she ought to check out his reputation, Nora had some friends in that world, she could get phone numbers for Cass to call, and so on—when I called them to the table.

Several times through the meal I met Daniel’s eye as we kept things rolling innocently, interestingly, along. Daniel was open and easy with them, and all three were easy with him. As they always had been.

Even in arguments they listened to Daniel, “the fairest of us all,” as Nora once called him. He asked questions now, lots of them, which was more acceptable to the twins than my doing so. That was probing, a no-no. Sadie’s sweet enthusiasm about both their lives made them expansive and generous. Cass told funny, harrowing stories of the road. Nora talked about her film project, about money problems with it.

Sadie and Cass had just begun to tease her about when she might marry Brian, when she announced she wasn’t ever going to, that they were planning to stop living together in January. There was a serious turn after this, talk about relationships, trial periods. They were kind to one another, speaking of their failures, though they made fun of Sadie when she tried offering her high-school love as an example of this. I mentioned my divorce as a disaster brought about by not letting couples at that time experiment with living together.

“I always forget you were married before, Mom,” Sadie said.

“Me too,” I answered, and Cass laughed appreciatively.

They sent Daniel and me to the living room after the main course was over so they could clean up, and I felt some tension about leaving them alone together, but when I stepped in once to see how they were doing, there was the clatter of dishes, and then I heard Sadie say, “Is it a famous recluse?” and Nora answered, “No it is not Howard Hughes.” So I came back and leaned comfortably against Daniel in front of the fire.

By the time we’d finished dessert, it was after five. Sadie went upstairs to call some friends who would also be home for the first holiday since college had started. Cass picked up her guitar and began strumming in the living room. Nora went to her room, to change, she said, but maybe just to be alone. Daniel and I worked in the kitchen on food for the next day’s party, and then we sat at the table to sort out what our chores and duties would be. At six-thirty I drove over to the clinic to feed and exercise the animals again. The snow had stopped, though the plows were still working here and there.

When I got back, there were extra cars parked in the plowed-out drive. I could hear the bass line

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