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“Did you also read e in The Sound and the Fury?”
“Passed on that one Toowords”
She went back to her toad “Mickey was my first manuscript,” she said “Couldn’t sell it to save my life That copy is the last one I burned all the others along with the rejection letters”
“I thought it was great,” he said
“Did you?” Her voice ry
“Mot choked up a little”
“Really”
Jarinned “Well, there were fire trucks involved Doesn’t every boy love fire trucks?”
“Not if you work in publishing, apparently”
“How’s the writing co?” he asked
She sighed “I haven’t hit on the right idea yet Guess the Holy Rollers burned me out a little bit”
They were quiet for a few minutes The sky was completely clear, and the stars so brilliant they looked al care not to move too quickly, or to look at her, Ja allowed it Taking that as a sign, he decided to go for it
“Can I ask you a personal question, Parker?”
“How is it that a Harvard grad can’t recognizethe last bite of toad in the hole to her dog, who took it delicately
“Why don’t you and Harry get along?”
She didn’t ers Then she poured herself a little hed He could smell her soap from here
“I don’t know, Thing One,” she said quietly “Maybe he wanted a son”
“Do you think that’s it?”
Another pause “No” She cleared her throat “So I guess I owe you a real answer, huh? Since you bailedlike an ox”
“You don’t owe ”
“No, I do I do” She shifted in her seat and looked at hilas Point “Okay, here’s the deal When I was little, I worshipped Harry I irl doesn’t love her dad?”
“I guess they all do”
Parker took a sip of wine and petted her dog, her hand very close to Jah she didn’t appear to notice “It was hard not to He had the whole package—looks, charhts, you felt like theperson in the world”
Jah
“And I don’t know, it was a long tio, but he seemed to adore me, too I used to—” She broke off for a second, not choked up asinto Welles Financial and his whole staff would treat me like a princess And it didn’t , he’d tell whoever it was that his daughter was here and kick them out, or he’d introduce , like I was sh to understand”
“So what changed?” he asked
“The suht him in bed with my babysitter”
James flinched “Ah, shit”
“Indeed” She stroked Beauty’s ear, not looking at him
“I’m sorry, Parker”
She didn’t say anything for a minute “Keep that to yourself, okay? Nobody else knows Well, my mother And the babysitter, but she was paid off” She finished her wine “It’s been a long day Thank you for everything, Ja her path
“Is that it?” he asked
She tilted her head “What more should there be?”
“I don’t know, Parker You drop an announcement like that and then hike off to bed?”