The Weekend: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

copies of Neo This, Neo That I ordered had come in, and when I went to pick them up, she asked me why I had ordered so many. She knew about you. And I said you were a friend. She seemed very interested, so I invited her to dinner.”
    “How many books did you order?”
    “Five,” said Marian. “So I’ll tell her Saturday?”
    “Yes,” said Lyle.
    “You’ll like her, I think. She’s very chic and intelligent. But come on Friday, if you can. Or come whenever. You haven’t been up in ages. It’s getting very boring up here in the country without you. You told me when we moved up here that you’d visit all the time.”
    “I’ve been so busy,” said Lyle. “How’s John?”
    “I hardly see him. When he’s not in the garden, he’s building a stone wall in the meadow. He goes out in the woods with a wheelbarrow and digs up big stones and drags them back. It’s a complete waste of time and energy, but it keeps him busy.”
    “He’s not looking for another job?”
    “No. He says maybe in the fall, but I doubt he will. If you don’t need a job, and you don’t like working, and you hate the city, what’s the point?”
    “One needs to be occupied.”
    “Well, this wall should keep him occupied for a couple of years.”
    “And Roland? How’s he?”
    “He’s fine,” said Marian. “He misses his godfather.”
    “Is he talking yet?” asked Lyle.
    “Goodness, no,” said Marian. “He’s barely a year.”
    “Well, I wish he would hurry. I really prefer babies that talk.”
    “The thing about babies is that they don’t talk,” said Marian.
    “Then I don’t really get the point of them,” said Lyle.
    “You’ll get the point of Roland when you see him,” said Marian.
    “How are you doing?”
    “Fine. It’s been a really lovely summer.”
    “You’re feeling O.K.?”
    “Yes,” said Marian. “Better than O.K. Very calm and stable. Knock on wood.” Lyle heard a faint knocking sound, and then a gush of Marian’s laughter. “Oh, isn’t it awful,” she asked, “to aspire to stability? It’s really pathetic, isn’t it?”
    “No,” said Lyle, “not at all. I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.”
    “The only thing that’s wrong is my missing you. What have you been up to?”
    Lyle heard the toilet flush and Robert descending the stairs. “Actually, lots,” he said. “But I’ll tell you next weekend, all right?”
    “What? No, no, no. Tell me now,” said Marian.
    “No,” said Lyle. “When I see you.”
    “Try to make it Friday, will you?”
    “I’ll try,” said Lyle.
    “All right. Have a good breakfast.”
    “You, too. Bye.”
    He hung up as Robert entered the kitchen. “Good morning,” he said.
    “Good morning,” said Robert.
    “Would you like some coffee?” asked Lyle.
    “Yes,” said Robert, “but I’ll get it.”
    Lyle watched him get the coffee. He was wearing his black waiter pants and no shirt. “How did you sleep?”
    “O.K.,” said Robert. He stepped out on the terrace with his coffee. There was a woman sitting at a table in the garden below them, reading the newspaper. Most of the garden was paved with
moss-mottled slate. Around its perimeters were beds of ivy in which stood copper urns full of lipstick-red geraniums. In the middle, near the woman, was a stone birdbath.
    “Who’s that in the garden?” Robert asked, stepping into the kitchen.
    “Daphne,” said Lyle. “She lives below me. She rents the basement apartment.”
    “Do you own this building?”
    “Yes,” said Lyle. “Now I do. It was Tony’s.”
    “It’s beautiful,” said Robert.
    “I know,” said Lyle.
    Robert stood by the terrace, studying the garden.
    “Come here,” said Lyle. He indicated his lap.
    Robert considered a moment and then sat on Lyle’s lap. Lyle wrapped his arms around Robert’s chest and held him.
    “Who were you talking to so early?” asked Robert.
    “A friend of mine. She lives upstate. I’m going to visit her next weekend,” he said.
    “That