As much as I see myself gone, I can just as clearly see us in that fast-food parking lot. It’s close enough that I can feel the sunshine on the macadam and inhale the orange smell of the food inside. I look over and there you are. Staring at me, in this way. I can’t believe you’re really there. You’re more real than I dreamed you. And you’re looking at me like I’m your mother.
We will enter the drive-through and you’ll whisper your order to me. I’ll add two chocolate shakes and a box of fries to share. Then we’ll park. You’ll have my mother’s golden waves and my father’s astonishing blue eyes. We will drop shredded lettuce into the seams of our seats and laugh and you will tell me to chew with my mouth closed because suddenly I’ve reverted to one of my mother’s peasant habits. We will have money to live well and yet we will eat dirty things in dirty cars. We will never lie to each other. You will always look at me like this.
More from the Author
Three Women
About the Author
LISA TADDEO is the author of the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Three Women. She has contributed to New York, Esquire, Elle, Glamour, and many other publications. Her nonfiction has been included in the Best American Sports Writing and Best American Political Writing anthologies, and her short stories have won two Pushcart Prizes. Lisa lives with her husband and daughter in New England.
@LISADTADDEO @LISATADDDEO
AvidReaderPress.com
SimonandSchuster.com
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Lisa-Taddeo
@avidreaderpress @avidreaderpress @avidreaderpress
ALSO BY LISA TADDEO
Three Women
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.
AVID READER PRESS
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Woolloomooloo, LLC
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Avid Reader Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition June 2021
AVID READER PRESS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Interior design by Carly Loman
Jacket design by Alison Forner and Zak Tebbal
Jacket Photograph: Bendik Stalheim Møller/Eyeem/Getty Images
Author photograph © J. Waite
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
ISBN 978-1-9821-2212-6
ISBN 978-1-9821-2214-0 (ebook)