She Matters (33 page)

The affair ended after a few months. “We argued,” my mother told us when we asked why she'd dumped him. They must have done it privately. I missed the famous lyricist hanging out in our bedroom when my mother's knees hurt or her back was out. He was calm, and he was generous. Right at the start of things, he had taken us to FAO Schwarz and said, “Anything, yes, anything,” and we chose an immense stuffed animal each, near the entrance. We didn't even wander into the store, in case he revoked the offer. He bought Penelope a panther as long as her bed and a giant leopard for me. No one we knew had anything like that, and when our friends from school came over we said, “Guess who gave us these?”

© MARION ETTLINGER

SUSANNA SONNENBERG
is the author of
Her Last Death
. She lives in Montana with her family.

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Her Last Death

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Copyright © 2013 by Susanna Sonnenberg

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First Scribner hardcover edition January 2013

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012010731

ISBN 978-1-4391-9058-6 (print)

ISBN 978-1-4391-9061-6 (eBook)