The Noel Letters (The Noel Collection #4) - Richard Paul Evans Page 0,35
he wasn’t in love with me, and he was ready to move on. Just like that.
“After almost seven years of being together, he ended our marriage over the phone. I found out later that he had been having an affair with one of his authors for several years.
“Then I miscarried. I was too embarrassed or proud to call my father and tell him he was right, and that Marc had left me. He found out on his own and invited me to come back home. I just told him, ‘I have a job, and New York is my home.’
“Then, about three weeks ago, I received a text from him saying that he was dying of cancer and asking me to come home. I decided it was finally time to see him. He just waited too long to tell me.”
Dylan asked, “Any regrets?”
I finished my glass of wine. “I’ll let you know.”
CHAPTER twenty
The purpose of the writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.
—Bernard Malamud
THURSDAY–FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12–13
I didn’t see Dylan for the next few days. There was some kind of Menswear Retailers show in Las Vegas that he needed to attend. It was held at one of the big resorts, and he vaguely hinted that the weather might be warm enough to swim or lay out. I wasn’t sure if he meant that as an invitation or not, but I didn’t take the bait. It was way too early to go on a trip together. Traveling is usually the best way to end a budding relationship.
I had a funny experience at the bookstore. A woman came in to return a book. Wendy had nicknames for some of our more eccentric customers, and this woman had definitely earned hers. Wendy called her the CURL—an acronym for “crazy ugly return lady.” Even though Bobbooks had a lenient return policy, this woman pushed it to the extreme, basically using us as a library with benefits. Actually, not even a library would put up with what she attempted. I’m sure they’d revoke her card.
Nearly every month she would return a book for a full refund, claiming to have never read it. Wendy told me that she once bought a travel book on Hawaii. Three weeks later, when she returned it “unread,” she was not only unseasonably tan but was wearing a lei and a flowered blouse.
Friday she brought in a copy of The Girl on the Train for a refund. It looked well read, as the spine was cracked.
“Is there something wrong with it?” I asked.
“I’ll say. The writing was awful.”
“It’s been a very popular book,” I said. “Let me see it.” Instead of handing it to me, she set it on the counter, probably hoping I wouldn’t examine it more closely. But even with it closed I could see that the pages were stained. I opened it to a massive grease mark that soaked through several dozen pages. I looked up at her for an explanation.
“Don’t mind that,” she said. “It’s just the bookmark I was using.”
“What kind of bookmark were you using?”
“Well, I was in a hurry and couldn’t find any paper, so I used a strip of bacon.”
“You used a strip of bacon as a bookmark?”
“Yes. It actually worked great.”
I sighed. “You know I can’t resell this.”
“Can’t you just return it to the publisher as defective?”
* * *
That afternoon I got another letter from Tabula Rasa. It was postmarked two days earlier.
Dear Noel,
It’s been written that “our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.” As you pursue your dreams, remember that when you turn the final page of life, what will matter most to you is only what can be held inside. Life’s book is written on the heart.
Tabula Rasa
I thought back to Dylan’s and my last dinner conversation and smiled.
I was happy when Dylan called me that night. There was a party that evening sponsored by one of the tuxedo makers but he had left early and gone back to his room to call me. We talked for nearly an hour.
“You could write a book about this place,” he said. “It’s like people just check out of their senses. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I think that just means your money.”
I laughed. “I wish you’d come home.”
“Are you missing me?”
“I am. And I’m lonely. And bored. When do you get back?”