The Qualities of Wood Read Free

like they were on the same team.
    Nowell rose from the table and came back with a plastic tub of butter. She had a sip of beer and studied him. His hair had grown too long and he needed to shave the back of his neck. She thought maybe he had gained a few pounds. The older women who worked at the water management agency told Vivian that once you get married, men have no reason to keep themselves in good shape. They warned her about feeding him too much. But Nowell was tall and slender and had remained so, despite his sedentary job. Youth, the women told her. Just wait until you hit thirty.
    â€˜How are your parents?’ he asked.
    â€˜They’re fine. I think four weeks is beyond my threshold.’
    â€˜Pretty tough going back?’
    â€˜They haven’t changed.’
    â€˜Did your mom have one of her formal dinners for you last night?’ He smiled. ‘I like the way she folds the napkins and puts place cards on the table.’
    â€˜You wouldn’t like it so much if you grew up with that stuff. All that ceremony. And it’s more than just holidays. It was just the three of us this time.’
    It had probably been Nowell’s lack of formality that had attracted Vivian to him in the first place. They met in a large Geology class in college: a hundred students enclosed in a theater-like lecture hall. Nowell arrived late, then ducked along the back row to avoid the professor’s gaze. As he slid into his seat, he grinned at her and she noticed his brown eyes, the playful cocking of his eyebrows. Later, they were assigned to a laboratory group together. He was impossible to resist – handsome in the dark way that she liked, smart, confident. Nowell told her later that he’d thought she was funny and independent.
    Even back then he knew he wanted to be a writer. He took literature and history classes and published short stories in the undergraduate literary journal. Vivian didn’t settle on the focus of her own studies until her third year, when Nowell helped her decide on a Business major. She took the job at the WMA while still in school and just stayed on after graduation.
    Nowell tore off a piece of bread with his teeth. ‘Did you get the whole deposit back from the apartment?’
    â€˜Yes,’ she said. ‘I also have my last paycheck, with the vacation time I didn’t use. And since I stayed the extra month, they said they’d forward my bonus.’
    â€˜Good, we’ll need every bit. No paychecks for a whole year…’
    â€˜But we’ve planned for this,’ she reminded him. ‘We’ve got the money from your first book.’
    â€˜That’s not much.’
    â€˜And the money your grandmother left, and the savings. As long as nothing unexpected happens.’
    Nowell looked up from his food. ‘Did your parents drive you to the airport?’
    She shook her head. ‘Dad had an early class, so it was just my mom, harassing me all the way.’
    â€˜She thinks you should have kept your job since mine’s so lucrative.’
    â€˜No. She still believes I’ve missed my calling in life, that I’ve overlooked some hidden talent.’
    â€˜She thinks I’m holding you back.’
    â€˜From what?’
    â€˜From something that isn’t me,’ Nowell said.
    â€˜I told her the move isn’t just for you. If I can get this house cleaned up,’ she motioned with her hand, ‘and it looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me, then we can make a little for us when your mom sells it.’
    â€˜She sent some money,’ Nowell said. ‘My mom. She said buy supplies, paint, cleaning stuff, whatever. Keep the receipts.’
    â€˜Do you really think the place will sell?’
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    â€˜It seems so out of the way.’
    â€˜Lots of people want to live in the country.’ Underneath the table, he surrounded her feet with his larger ones. ‘Besides,