Or maybe you could make it to the library? Just for a brief visit?
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, January 27, 2017 4:13 a.m.
I can’t. I’m sorry.
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, January 27, 2017 6:11 a.m.
No need to be sorry. You told me from the beginning that you couldn’t. If you could, I imagine we wouldn’t be writing right now.
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, January 27, 2017 6:17 a.m.
And that would be tragic. From the very start, a message from you brightened my entire day.
Not because it came from you in particular, of course. I just love talking about e-book downloads and lending periods. Nothing like a good chat concerning MOBI files to cheer a man up, I always say.
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, January 27, 2017 6:20 a.m.
Haha. Same here. Nothing makes the work day move more quickly than troubleshooting devices I can’t actually see using apps that differ depending on the specific device used.
Wait, did I say quickly? I meant painfully.
(Kidding. I don’t mind. I really do like helping people.)
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, January 27, 2017 6:25 a.m.
I know, Mary. Believe me, I know.
1 MESSAGE SAVED IN DRAFTS FOLDER
FROM: [email protected]
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 8:58 a.m.
We’ve been writing for weeks now. I wish I could
You should know how much I
Fuck, I’m a coward.
FROM: [email protected]
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 9:46 a.m.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Mary.
1 MESSAGE SAVED IN DRAFTS FOLDER
FROM: [email protected]
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 9:55 a.m.
Are you alone today? I’ve never asked if you have a girlfriend. Or even a wife, I suppose. You seem so…isolated, I guess.
Maybe I could come visit you at some point? Would that be okay? We could
Would you like to
Don’t be stupid, Mary Louise. The man probably has three wives and twenty-seven children scattered across North America.
FROM: [email protected]
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 10:00 a.m.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Miles.
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, March 24, 2017 11:22 a.m.
It occurs to me that we’ve been writing each other every day for a couple of months, and I still don’t know whether you grew up in Nice County. Have you ever lived anywhere else? And do you like it here?
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, March 24, 2017 12:13 p.m.
I grew up here in Nice County. My dad is the chief of police, and my mom is vice president of a regional bank, so we were always very committed to the community. No moving around. On the first day I worked here at the library, I already knew the names of most of the people who walked through the doors. That didn’t make me any less nervous, of course.
I hope you won’t take this the wrong way. I love my hometown. I love the orchards and the farmers markets and the mountains. I love my coworkers, who’ve become my closest friends. I love (most of) our patrons. But I wish we had more museums and cultural opportunities. I also wish more families like mine lived here. Nice County itself is somewhat diverse, but the Battlefield area…not so much.
Anyway, that’s why I ended up going to UCLA for college. I stayed there for a few years after I graduated, but it didn’t work out. I moved back home about two years ago.
What about you? Where did you live before here?
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, March 24, 2017 1:49 p.m.
I moved from LA to Nice County in December. What a coincidence, huh?
Anyway, back to you. I can’t imagine how it felt to grow up in such a small, homogeneous community. If you don’t mind telling me, what was that like for you?
And are you dating anyone? Engaged? Married?
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, March 24, 2017 2:04 p.m.
Single. For the moment.
Can you tell me more about what you did back in California? Do you have family out there? Why did you move?
FROM: [email protected]
Friday, March 24, 2017 5:08 p.m.
I did carpentry. But my old job didn’t work for me anymore, so I left. I’m trying to figure out my next step here in Nice County.
I have one brother who still lives in LA.
Mary? Did I offend you with my question about your childhood?
FROM: [email protected]
Saturday, March 25, 2017 9:17 a.m.
You didn’t offend me. Don’t worry. But I’m not sure if I’m comfortable sharing such personal information about my life with a man who doesn’t really tell me much about himself in return.
FROM: [email protected]
Saturday, March 25, 2017 10:01 a.m.
What do you want me to tell you?
FROM: [email protected]
Saturday, March 25, 2017 10:15 a.m.
Please forgive my nosiness. But…we’ve