Excerpt of Included!

DOWN RIVER“You can assume whatever you want,” I said.We stared at each other until Robin broke the silence. She spoke softly. “Ifthere is anything else that you want to tell us, Adam, this is the time.”I thought of my reasons for returning and of the things that Grace had saidto me. Then I thought of Robin, and of the passion we’d known such a shorttime ago; her face above me in the half-light, the lie in her voice when she toldme that it meant nothing; and I saw her at the farm, when she’d asked me toplease step to the car, the way that she’d pushed our past down deep anddraped herself in cop.“My father was right,” I said. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”I stood up.“Adam ...” she saidBut I walked out, walked to the hospital. I slipped past the nurse’s stationand found Grace’s room. I was not supposed to be there, but sometimes youjust know what’s right. So I passed through the dark crack of her door andpulled a chair close to her bed. She opened her eyes when I took her hand, andshe returned the pressure that I gave her. I kissed her forehead, told her that Iwould stay the night; and when sleep reclaimed her, it left a trace of comforton her face.117