The Anniversary by Amy Gutman Read Free Book Online Page A

sheet.
    17
    Happy Anniversary, Melanie. I haven’t forgotten you.
    18
    She stared at the words for several seconds. Even without a sig-19
    nature, she had no doubt whom it came from. But why? That was 20
    the question. Why was he doing this? She felt like an insect stuck 21
    on a pin, unable to escape. It was bad enough that he’d left that 22
    message last week when she’d told him not to call. All she’d 23
    asked was that he leave her alone. Was it really so difficult? It cer-24
    tainly hadn’t seemed so during the years that they were married.
    25
    But trust Frank Collier to make an appearance at the worst of all 26
    possible times. Like last week, when she’d needed to focus on 27
    preparing for today’s hearing. And today, when she deserved to 28
    be happy, savoring this morning’s victory.
    29
    Happy Anniversary, Melanie. I haven’t forgotten you.
    30
    The words seemed to mock her. She hadn’t failed at many 31
    things, but her marriage had been a disaster. She sometimes felt 32
    as if all of her successes were consolation prizes, attempts some-33
    how to compensate for the love she’d never have. Then, sternly, 34
    she stopped herself, silenced the creeping self-pity. Her life was 35 S
    not unusual. Marriage, betrayal, divorce. Nothing that hadn’t been 36 R
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    T H E A N N I V E R S A R Y
    experienced by thousands of women before her. Hundreds of thou-1
    sands. Millions. Important to keep perspective. And, she reminded 2
    herself, many had it much worse. She was lucky to have a suc-3
    cessful career, more money than she could spend. And of course 4
    there was Paul Freeman, the man she planned to marry.
    5
    Paul.
    6
    She really did need to call him. Vivian was right. She also 7
    needed to ask him about that cocktail party this week. Was it to-8
    morrow or the day after? She glanced at her flip-page calendar, 9
    still turned to Tuesday’s date. Today was, what,Thursday? Right.
    10
    Thursday, April 6.
    11
    Thursday, April 6.
    12
    It was like she’d been slugged. They’d gotten married on De-13
    cember 17. Frank was more than three months late. Just when 14
    she’d thought he couldn’t hurt her more, he managed to twist the 15
    knife deeper.
    16
    Happy Anniversary.
    17
    And he couldn’t even get the date right.
    18
    She welcomed the blast of anger, how it clarified her percep-19
    tions. Pressing her lips together, she picked up the sheet of paper.
    20
    She folded it once, ripped it in half, then tore the pieces in two.
    21
    It’s over. It’s over. It’s over.
    22
    Frank Collier, you’re out of my life.
    23
    24
    h
    25
    Curled in a wooden deck chair, bundled in a heavy parka, Diane 26
    Massey stared out over cliffs and dull gray sea. A cold gust 27
    whipped her face, and she burrowed deeper into her sweater. One 28
    thing she hadn’t remembered was how long the Maine winters 29
    lasted. But cold as it was out here on the porch, she didn’t want 30
    to go inside. Back to the cluttered dining room table piled with 31
    manuscript pages. Back to the tortured confusion of the story she 32
    couldn’t tell.
    33
    She’d always been a disciplined writer, meeting deadlines with 34
    practiced ease. Her true-crime books were read by millions, ea-S 35
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    A M Y G U T M A N
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    gerly anticipated. Eight consecutive New York Times bestsellers, 2
    and she’d never once been late. But, from the start, this project 3
    had been different, plagued by repeated setbacks.
    4
    For months, she’d struggled in her New York apartment, trying 5
    to find a rhythm. But the more she worked, the more confused 6
    she got. Something wasn’t working. For the first time in her writ-7
    ing career, she’d begun to avoid her desk. Started to accept the 8
    dinner invitations she’d never had time for before. Even took 9
    to answering the phone during the time she’d blocked out for