thank God every day for lithium. My sister has been married three times, all to cardiac surgeons, but refuses to see anything significant in the fact. She is now engaged, at forty-two, to her fourth cardiac man. My brother is chronically single because he lives for the thrill of the chase and finds stability boring, which I have told him is only an overreaction to our tense childhood." Alex shrugged. "Other than that, we don't have secrets. We're just your standard family of obsessive-compulsive yuppie doctors."
Nina tilted her head at him. "And what's your secret?"
Alex stirred in his chair. "I don't have any secrets. My life is an open book."
"Bull." Nina got up to rinse out her cup. "You're so defensive you won't talk about yourself. You tell all about your family but you won't say what you want." She turned back to him. "So what do you want, Alex Moore? If you could have anything you wanted, right now, what would it be?"
He sat very still on the chair, his eyes on hers, and she stopped breathing for a moment, sure she saw heat in his eyes, that he wanted her, but that was so ridiculous she shook her head to clear the thought.
Then he relaxed. "I want Oreos," he said very seriously. "And I want to be able to come back here and talk when I'm not drunk."
"Sure," Nina said and pushed the package toward him. "Help yourself. Anytime." His eyes met hers again, and she blushed and added, "To the Oreos."
"Right," Alex said. "That's what I thought you meant."
Three
"Then what happened?" Charity said the next day when Nina had spilled her guts on the phone.
"Then Fred threw up everything, and the mood sort of died." Nina scratched Fred behind the ears as he stretched out next to her on the couch, getting dog hair on her baby blue sweats as he wallowed himself a place beside her. "I got a book out of the library today on how to take care of dogs, and it said never to feed them people food. We could have killed the poor baby feeding him all those Oreos.
From now on, Fred eats only dog food."
Fred lifted his head to give her a dirty look, and she scratched him behind the ears again until he relaxed.
Charity, as usual, had a one-track mind. "Does Alex still get Oreos?"
"No." Nina felt the warm little tingle she'd been getting every time she thought about Alex. That was one tingle she was going to get rid of. "Alex gets nothing. I'm staying away from that man."
"Oh, come on, live a little," Charity said. "I admit the doctor bit is a letdown, but he's still ten years younger. That qualifies as toy boy. Go for it."
"You're telling me this based on your years of experience," Nina said.
"No, if I was basing it on my experience, I'd tell you to run like hell. Kenneth was a doctor, remember?"
"Just vaguely," Nina said. "You weren't married that long."
"A year," Charity said. "Long enough to know marrying a doctor was a bad idea. Don't get serious about him. Just toy with him for your memory book."
The thought was attractive, but Nina shoved it aside. "Speaking of memory books, how is yours coming along?"
"It's wonderful," Charity said. "I wrote all night. It was so exciting. I just love this!"
"That's great!" Nina tried to make her voice sound enthusiastic while she prayed that Charity's book would be publishable. "Tell me about it."
"Well, first of all, I guess I should tell you that I'm going to use 'she' instead of 'I.' I just can't write it with 'I.' It's too embarrassing."
"You're using third person," Nina said. "Sure. That's not a problem."
"And instead of using my name, I'm going to use my middle name," Charity went on. "Charity seems sort of... not very serious, you know?"
"What's your middle name?"
"Jane," Charity said. "That's serious, don't you think?"
"Yes," Nina said, beginning to worry that Charity was going to plan forever without ever writing anything. "Did you write any of the book yet?"
"Of course I wrote part of the book." Charity sounded indignant. "I finished the first chapter. It's about
Nina tilted her head at him. "And what's your secret?"
Alex stirred in his chair. "I don't have any secrets. My life is an open book."
"Bull." Nina got up to rinse out her cup. "You're so defensive you won't talk about yourself. You tell all about your family but you won't say what you want." She turned back to him. "So what do you want, Alex Moore? If you could have anything you wanted, right now, what would it be?"
He sat very still on the chair, his eyes on hers, and she stopped breathing for a moment, sure she saw heat in his eyes, that he wanted her, but that was so ridiculous she shook her head to clear the thought.
Then he relaxed. "I want Oreos," he said very seriously. "And I want to be able to come back here and talk when I'm not drunk."
"Sure," Nina said and pushed the package toward him. "Help yourself. Anytime." His eyes met hers again, and she blushed and added, "To the Oreos."
"Right," Alex said. "That's what I thought you meant."
Three
"Then what happened?" Charity said the next day when Nina had spilled her guts on the phone.
"Then Fred threw up everything, and the mood sort of died." Nina scratched Fred behind the ears as he stretched out next to her on the couch, getting dog hair on her baby blue sweats as he wallowed himself a place beside her. "I got a book out of the library today on how to take care of dogs, and it said never to feed them people food. We could have killed the poor baby feeding him all those Oreos.
From now on, Fred eats only dog food."
Fred lifted his head to give her a dirty look, and she scratched him behind the ears again until he relaxed.
Charity, as usual, had a one-track mind. "Does Alex still get Oreos?"
"No." Nina felt the warm little tingle she'd been getting every time she thought about Alex. That was one tingle she was going to get rid of. "Alex gets nothing. I'm staying away from that man."
"Oh, come on, live a little," Charity said. "I admit the doctor bit is a letdown, but he's still ten years younger. That qualifies as toy boy. Go for it."
"You're telling me this based on your years of experience," Nina said.
"No, if I was basing it on my experience, I'd tell you to run like hell. Kenneth was a doctor, remember?"
"Just vaguely," Nina said. "You weren't married that long."
"A year," Charity said. "Long enough to know marrying a doctor was a bad idea. Don't get serious about him. Just toy with him for your memory book."
The thought was attractive, but Nina shoved it aside. "Speaking of memory books, how is yours coming along?"
"It's wonderful," Charity said. "I wrote all night. It was so exciting. I just love this!"
"That's great!" Nina tried to make her voice sound enthusiastic while she prayed that Charity's book would be publishable. "Tell me about it."
"Well, first of all, I guess I should tell you that I'm going to use 'she' instead of 'I.' I just can't write it with 'I.' It's too embarrassing."
"You're using third person," Nina said. "Sure. That's not a problem."
"And instead of using my name, I'm going to use my middle name," Charity went on. "Charity seems sort of... not very serious, you know?"
"What's your middle name?"
"Jane," Charity said. "That's serious, don't you think?"
"Yes," Nina said, beginning to worry that Charity was going to plan forever without ever writing anything. "Did you write any of the book yet?"
"Of course I wrote part of the book." Charity sounded indignant. "I finished the first chapter. It's about
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