They agreed to meet for supper in the Old Bay restaurant the next evening. Macon wore his gray suit coat and gray trousers with one leg neatly cut off at the top of the plaster. Rose had cut his hair, and Porter had lent him his best tie.
He was the fritz to active, and when Sarah came in, she greeted him in a cool, distant sort of way, like neighbors meeting at a drinks party. they sat down and ordered their food
'So, why are you living with your family?' Sarah asked
'Well, because of my leg. I can't manage the steps at home'
'And what happened to your hand?' she asked.
'Um, Edward bit it' Macon said 'He's getting kind of out of control, to tell the truth' He told her about the trainer he had hired, and how cruel she had been when Edward tried to bite her.
'Ridiculous, He was only frightened; that's why he attacked. There's no point in making him even more scared' Sarah said.
Macon felt a sudden rush of love.
Oh, he'd had moments when he'd almost hated her, but the fact wad, she was his oldest friend. She was part of his life. It was much tool late to cut her out.
'What Edward needs, he sense of routine' she was saying
'Sarah, its't been awful living apart. Hasn't it?' he said
Sarah looked at him. 'I asked you here for a reason, Macon'
Hope could tell it was something he didn't want to hear.
'I've been talking to a lawyer about our separation' she said
Their food arrived, plates were put down, knives and forks arranged. Macon waved the waitress away.
'I think you ought to come home, Can't we try' he said.
'I'm trying to make a new life for myself, New directions, different. We didn't have much left, did we? When your broke your leg, Who did you all for help? Your sister Rose' she said
'If i'd called you, would you have come?
'Well. . . but you didn't call me. You called your family, and that's where you're happiest, isn't it/ The kind of family that always fastens their seat-belts, that has to have a group discussion before they can decide whether to close the curtains. And the best house in the world might be for sale, but you can't buy it because you've ordered a thousand address labels for the old house, and you have to use them up before you move'
'That wasn't me, it was Charles' Macon said
'Charles, you, it's all the same' Her eyes were full of tears. 'Macon, I know you love Ethan, but you're not so tron apart by his death as I am. You seem unfeeling, unchanged'
'Sarah, I'm not unfeeling I'm. . . just trying to survive.'
'Survive, yes. Survive unchanged by any experience, just like those silly travel books you write. you're empty, dried up, Macon, and nothing really touches you'
She put her coat on, clumsily. 'So anyway, You'll get a letter from my lawyer' she said
Then she stood up and walked out.