Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman Page B

Diesel jeans, and my toothbrush. You even managed to get a bottle of shampoo that wasn't even mine! I love that shampoo, by the way. I still use that same brand. Bumble and Bumble. It is so fucking expensive, it's like a dollar fifty per hair folicle.”
    I won't let him distract me. “You've been so wonderful to me, ever since Isabel died.”
    â€œAre we going to get all maudlin now? Because if we are, then I'm going to need dessert. There's only so much drama I can stand without dessert. They're supposed to have incredible pie here.”
    â€œYou don't even
like
pie. You and William are the only two people in the known universe who don't like pie.”
    â€œHow
is
dear little William? What's he up to? Studying for his SATs? Applying to medical school?”
    Simon is faking this snide disregard for my benefit. He actually
likes
William. When he visits they invariably end up wrapped in an animated discussion of their shared appreciation for Philip Pullman or closeted in William's room hunched over some elaborate Lego model of the universe. I have a feeling that Simon sees reflected in William something of the child he once was, awkward and precocious, far more comfortable with adults than with children his own age, an outsider able to explain the shifting orbits of the moons of Saturn but unable to ask another child to join him on the jungle gym.
    â€œHe's in fine form.” I tell Simon about the eBay fiasco.
    â€œOh God,” he says. “You poor thing. What a nightmare.” He sips his sparkling water. “I'll bet he was just looking to earn some money. I was always trying to find ways to get money when I was a kid.”
    â€œHe doesn't need any money. His mother gives him everything he wants.”
    â€œStill. It's the
money
. The fact of it. I used to make my grandmother give me my birthday money in singles so I could have more of it. More bills. I just liked having them. I'd spread them out on my bed and roll around on them.”
    â€œHe's too little for that,” I say sourly.
    â€œWilliam? He's not too little for anything. Girlfriend, that stepson of yours is older than we are.”

Chapter