Sweet Water by Christina Baker Kline Read Free Book Online Page B

something.”
    “Well, okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s a stupid, naive, ridiculous thing to do. Maybe I’m out of my mind. But so what? What do I have to lose?”
    He licked his spoon. “Me. I’m what you have to lose.”
    “Oh, Drew.”
    “Really,” he said. “Not to mention the Met, Central Park, the Staten Island Ferry.”
    “I’ve never even been on the Staten Island Ferry.”
    “But that’s just it! You know it’s there.”
    “I’ll call you,” I said. “I’ll write.”
    “You won’t write. You never write. Where are all those friends you had in high school? In college? You never bothered to stay in touch, so you lost them. It’s out of sight, out of mind with you, Cassie. I’ve been there, I know.”
    “My coffee’s cold.” I brought the mug to the counter and poured myself another cup. “How many high school friends do you still talk to? We go through life meeting people and exchanging addresses; it’s not the same as friendship.”
    “Thanks for clearing that up for me.”
    “Oh, stop it, Drew. You’re so boring when you’re peevish.”
    “When I’m peevish?” he said. “
Peevish?
Where on earth did that word come from?” We both started laughing.
    “Well, you are,” I said. “Peevish. You are.” I sat down at the table. “My ice cream is soup.”
    “Forget the ice cream. Let’s go out for a drink,” he said. “I could use one.” I nodded and pushed the ice cream away. He looked at his watch. “I doubt you’d be able to find a bar open in Tennessee at this hour, Cassie. Just one more thing to think about.”
    “Without you there, Drew, I probably won’t need one.”
        “Rising Sun Gallery.”
    “Could I speak to Adam, please?”
    “May I ask who’s calling?”
    “Veronica, it’s Cassie.”
    “Oh, hello, Cassie.” Her voice was dry and polite. “Hang on, will you?” She put the phone down. After a few minutes she picked it up again. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid he’s in meeting right now. Can I have him return your call?”
    “Um …”
    “Oh, just a second,” Veronica said.
    “Hi,” said Adam briskly. “I’m running. I’ve got an appointment across town five minutes ago.”
    “I thought you were in a meeting.”
    “Veronica’s started screening my calls. It’s amazing how much more I get done.”
    I laughed. “Start acting like a bureaucrat and maybe you’ll turn into one.”
    “Thanks for the warning. Well? Is there something you need?”
    “No,” I said. I looked around my apartment stacked with boxes. “I’m just getting ready to leave, is all. I wanted to say goodbye.”
    “Well. Goodbye.”
    “How is everything going?”
    “Fine,” he said. “Great.”
    “Great. Me too.”
    “Great. Look, the cab’s out front. Give Veronica your address and we’ll put you on the mailing list. West Virginia, isn’t it?”
    I sucked in my breath. “Tennessee.”
    “And leave a number so she can reach you if she needs to. She’s redoing the files.”
    “Fine. I’ll leave a number.”
    “Have a nice trip.”
    “Have a nice life.” The words were out of my mouth before I even thought about them.
    For a long moment there was silence. Then he said, “Is that what you called to say?”
    “I guess it is. Isn’t that funny? I didn’t know it, but I guess that is what I called to say.”
    “Funny,” he said. “Here’s Veronica.”
    “Hello,” said Veronica after a bit of shuffling.
    “I don’t have an address and I don’t have a number.”
    “You can send them when you’re settled. No hurry, I’ve got things pretty well under control. There’s not much to it, really. I can’t imagine what I’d need to ask.”
    “Neither can I, Veronica,” I said.

T hey read the will out loud, all of us sitting there in straight chairs in the magistrate’s office, and from the moment they spoke her name I knew there would be trouble. Whatever else he was, he was not a frivolous man. Nor was he especially thoughtful. If