An American Tune: A Novel

26 “Hazy Shade of Winter”

260 “Hazy Shade of Winter” She slept poorly and missed the lake when she woke–knowing it was there, knowing she could step outside and walk across the meadow to the path through the forest that would take her to the shoreline in moments. She missed the sight of Astro, all coiled energy, bursting into the morning. It was still dark outside. The clock on the bedside table said six o’clock: the time she always woke up. Tom left for work around eightthirty ,he’dtoldher.He’dalwayshatedgettingupinthemorning,she remembered.Alwaysslepttillthelastpossiblemoment,thendragged himself from bed like a gut-shot bear, grumbling, till he’d had his coffee. Had he ever gotten used to it? She got up, dressed. She put her few things away, sat down in the armchair, stood up again and paced the little apartment. Move, her body told her. So she slipped out, tiptoed down the stairs, and set out walking. She might have been Jane, she thought, hurrying down the street after Bridget on that long-ago night, a girl huddled against the cold, hurrying toward what would turn out to be her life. She let her feet carry her to the place at the edge of campus where she had stood, watching Bridget disappear into the trees. Then across University Avenue, up a brick path through the woods toward where she remembered the ROTC building had stood. 26 261 “Hazy Shade of Winter” Noradidn’texpecttoseeit,ofcourse.Butshewassurprisednotto find some evidence that it had been there once–a flat place, perhaps, a cluster of trees obviously younger than those around them, or even a new building replacing it. She picked a spot near where it must have been,stood,waitedtofeel–what?Butshefeltnothing,justcold.And a little foolish, though she told herself this wasn’t something she had planned to do. She continued on the path, which eventually wound its way to Third Street, where the big fraternity houses loomed like castles in the gauzy light of the streetlamps. TherewasaStarbucksopenonUniversityAvenue,andshebought a latte to take back to the apartment. Once there, she crept back up the stairs and closed the door behind her. She didn’t turn on a light. She sat down in the armchair and sipped her coffee, watching the sky slowly lighten. At eight-twenty, she heard the engine of a car start and looked out the window to see the little boy, Cody, run across the yard, his backpack bumping, his arms waving–heading for Tom like a ball for a glove. Kate was out of the car, scraping the ice from the windshield. Not exactly a kid, Nora thought. She looked to be in her early thirties, dark and slim, with a smile so dazzling that Nora could see it from where she sat. Tom walked toward her, his hand on Cody’s shoulder, Maxine zooming back and forth between them until Tom reached the car and settled Cody into the backseat. He and Kate stood talking for a moment. She glanced upward, toward the apartment . Tom nodded. Was there something more than friendship between them, Nora suddenly wondered? Tom hadn’t said there was, but he hadn’t said there wasn’t, either. Or, if not Kate, someone else? Someone who might also know he’d gone up to Michigan and was waiting right now to hear whether or not she had come back with him? A woman he’d expect her to get to know, to be with? How would she be able to do that? Maxine barked once when she heard Nora turn the key in the lock, but greeted her, tail wagging, as if it were perfectly normal for her to be here. Tom had left a note on the kitchen table. “Made coffee . Not much in the refrigerator, but help yourself to whatever you 262 An American Tune can find. How about lunch? If I don’t hear from you, I’ll meet you at noon at the Uptown Cafe. It’s on Kirkwood, near the old Indiana Theater. Take care.” Nora poured a cup of coffee. No half-and-half in the refrigerator and the coffee was strong; Tom always made coffee too strong. But she drank it anyway, wandering through the empty house. The living room,withitsbigflat-screenTV,wall-to-ceilingbookshelvesflanking the fireplace, black leather couches, and a deep, comfortable black leather reading chair. A guest room doubled as a study, with more...