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Carolyn was the one who first raised the issue of what she referred to as his "drinking proble the number of beer, wine, and liquor bottles that went into the trash He wasn’t sure how long this had been going on, but she’d finally put her foot down He was of Scots descent, fair-haired, blue-eyed, with a coe of pink to his cheeks and a faint puffiness to his face He knew he’d packed on a few pounds the last couple of years At thirty-eight, he was on the high side of the suggested boundaries for his height and weight He’d quit satory fifteen pounds While he intended to work out, there wasn’t , Carolyn’s concerns were misplaced Even when he’d belted down a few, he wasn’t boisterous His speech wasn’t slurred He was never goofy, or maudlin, or sloppy, or mean-spirited Drunk, he looked and behaved exactly as he did when he was sober--at least according to his perceptions Nonetheless, he’d proed him to join AA, but he’d balked at that He didn’t need outside help to get his drinking under control He had absolutely no intention of standing up at a publichis sins, and looking for approbation He’d always been a man who held his liquor well, and his heft actually allowed hie He had to admit that after a couple of hours at the club, if he were stopped by the CHP, he could probably pass a field sobriety test, but he’d blow a blood-alcohol level that would put hied to restrict his drinking the past eightin the yard, or he’d sip the occasional glass of Cha an occasion such as a birthday or an anniversary He made sure Carolyn knew and approved of these exceptions because it underscored his stance of moderation She’d never believe it if he claiether She knew him better than that

Now at business lunches and dinners he bypassed hard liquor in favor of white wine, which scarcely registered on his internal alcoholdeal He made do with iced tea, or soda water with liy, but he noticed he was often bored Friends and cohorts, who’d seeet on his nerves He wasn’t as smooth or relaxed as he’d been in the past and he are that certain of his friends now shied away froht teetotalers were a tiresome bunch and he was sorry he’d been thrust into their ranks It was also true that the temptation to drink ith hirade headache he didn’t kno to shake

With Carolyn gone, he tooled along Via Juliana, actively fantasizing about the highball he’d ot home He planned to sit on the back patio, which Carolyn had recently refurbished with faux wicker furniture, upholstered in a fabric impervious to the elements Rain and sun could beat down on the cushions without ill effect The view fro across the hills and treetops all the way to the ocean The air would be still, s a predinner cocktail Then he’d have a pizza delivered and eat in front of the television set, uy flick of the sort Carolyn would find tedious He htcap, but he’d wait and see what his mood hen the time came He didn’t feel the same compulsion to drink as he had in the past This was purely for the pleasure of it

On his way home from the office, he’d stopped at the liquor depot and picked up a pint of Maker’s Mark, a quart of vodka, and a six-pack of Bass Ale, which he intended to parcel out to hione All he had to do then was dispose of the eht not He’d keep his drinking simple--whiskey with a water back, vodka over ice--and re No mixers in the liquor cabinet, no bottle caps in the trash, no cut lilass-topped table, where he’d be sitting while the sun went down

Ahead of him at the curve, cars had slowed and he wondered if there’d been an accident Maybe sood it wasn’t a kid on a bike Fletcher had justa tricycle, and then only in the park He wasn’t sure he’d ever permit them to take their bikes on a public road There wasn’t h Horton Ravine, but at the end of the workday, when people headed for home, they often drove faster than the posted limit