This Will Be Difficult to Explain and Other Stories (17 page)

Ginny does not look at the river. She looks straight ahead, across the bridge instead. To the gas station at the corner, which is blinking. Then the impossible thing happens: the crosshairs, at that moment, hover and click so that of exactly that one moment she is perfectly certain. (She pauses, almost imperceptibly, her foot hovering for just a fraction of a second in the air; Susan does not alter her pace.) Prior to that, however—and of whatever happened afterward—she would never be entirely sure.

“What would you,” she says to Susan, when, after a moment or two, she catches up, “have named them, then?”

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CKNOWLEDGMENTS

With many thanks to those who read these stories and offered their indispensable advice and support: Mikhail Iossel, Fiona Foster, Kate Hall, Heather Jessup, Linda Swanson-Davies, Michael Ray, and John Melillo. Extraordinary thanks, also, to my editor, Nicole Winstanley, for her belief in, and affection for, these stories. Her editorial insights, as well as those of Shaun Oakey, have greatly strengthened this work—many thanks to them both. I would also like to thank my agent, Tracy Bohan, whose support, encouragement, and friendship I am continuously grateful for. Finally, I would like to express my love and unending gratitude to John, and to my family—my mother and stepfather, Janet and Sandy; my sister and brother-in-law, Kristin and Scott, and their four beautiful children, Mairianna, Lilah, Oliver, and James.