When It Happens to You (21 page)

Greta took one of the unopened packets of sugar and put it in her purse. Then she slung her bag back onto her shoulder and stood up.

“I want another year to decide,” she said. He looked at her. “I'm not ready to let go of them yet.”

Phillip stood up beside her. He reached out to embrace her, and suddenly stopped, uncertain. It was Greta, then, who went to him.

From behind, Greta heard the clarion call of Charlotte. They broke apart and turned to see Charlotte holding the hand of an older female flight attendant. Charlotte dropped the woman's hand and burst into a sprint toward them. As she approached her parents, Charlotte froze, as if suddenly unsure whose arms she should run into.

“Come here, you!” Phillip cried out, scooping her up. Charlotte squealed with delight and reached an arm out to Greta while she wrapped the other one around her father's head.

“Mama.”

“She is a lovely young lady,” the flight attendant said as Greta signed the airline's release form. “Mine is twenty-seven now,” she continued. “I don't know where the time goes.”

 

Greta pulled off the Pacific Coast Highway and onto Ocean Avenue on their way back to the house.

“I painted rocks with Oma!” Charlotte said.

“Is that why your suitcase was so heavy?” Phillip asked. “Because, you know, I was going to ask you if you had rocks in there!”

Charlotte giggled. “Milo helped me find them in the bay. He was painting with me, too, until his ugly girlfriend came.”

“Don't call her ugly,” Greta said. “That isn't nice.”

“But she is!” Charlotte insisted. “And all they do is kiss, kiss, kiss all the time. It's
nauseating
.”

Phillip looked at Charlotte and then to Greta. “Where's she getting these words?”

“What?!” Charlotte leaned back and put her feet up on the seat. “Oma says that.”

“Mom.” Greta shook her head. She slowed down as a jogger jaywalked in front of her.

“Put your feet down, honey.” Phillip reached back and tapped on Charlotte's ankles. She dropped her feet, pouting, and then something caught her eye outside the window.

“Oooh! The pier! Can we go? Please, please?”

She leaned forward, sticking her head between the two front seats, arranging her face in the most persuasive expression she could manage. Greta called it her “sick puppy” face. “
Puh-lease?
”

Greta looked to Phillip.

“Your call,” he said.

 

The park was mostly empty, having just opened. After they'd purchased the all-day wristband for her, Charlotte ran ahead to choose her first ride. She hesitated between Inkie's Pirate Ship and the Moon Jumper and then chose the latter after finding out that she didn't meet Inkie's height requirement.

“Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?” Phillip asked as Charlotte extended her skinny arm to show the orange wristband to the man at the ride's entrance.

“I'm sure,” Charlotte said. “I'm not afraid.”

She sat in the center of the empty car with a solemn expression as the man strapped her in and tugged on the belt for safety. He took his time walking back to the controls. Charlotte gave a little wave to her parents and looked up above her head in expectation.

Greta and Phillip stood on the ground together. The man pulled the lever, and all at once they watched their daughter take to the sky.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following people:

Carrie Kania for not batting an eye when I told her that my second book would be a collection of short stories and for leaving me in very capable hands.

My publisher Calvert Morgan and the whole It! team for their continued dedication and support.

Especially Denise Oswald for her patience and astute editorial eye.

 

The following people whose love and wisdom have helped immeasurably to support and guide me through the writing process:

Matthew Freeman, Greg Henderson, Brandi Sanger, Meredith Arthur, Julian Fleisher, Julia Caston, James Sanders, Ingrid Bernstein, Molly Ryan, Will Ryman, Alex Auder, Cindy Sherman, Fergus Greer, Todd Thomas, Thomas Weems, Naomi Burns, Venia Skliamis, Hill Salomon, Barbara Foley, Wendy Waddell, Jason Weinberg, Greg Clark, and Victoria Leacock Hoffman.

In particular my friend Darcy Cosper, whose generous assistance and grammatical know-how were invaluable.

Eileen Funke and the Writers Junction.

Ms. Joan Didion for uttering the truest of words: “You must pick the places you don't walk away from.” You are the finest inspiration any writer could have.

My fierce and tireless advocate Kimberly Burns. You are worth a thousand and one Burberry trenches.

My agent Susan Raihofer, who somehow makes me believe that I can write anything.

David Daley, who has been patiently waiting for this book for at least a decade.

 

I would also like to thank my family:

Beth Ringwald Carnes and Dr. Kenneth Carnes, Kelly and Eileen Ringwald, and Chance Podrasky.

Katerina and Makis Tatsos, Irini Gianopoulos, and the memory of Stylianos Gianopoulos.

My parents, Robert and Adele Ringwald, for always trusting my voice.

My children, Mathilda, Adele, and Roman Ringwald Gianopoulos. Thank you for somehow understanding intuitively at such a young age that writing is indeed work and for being such a joy to come home to.

Most of all, I thank my beautiful husband, Panio Gianopoulos. You are my first editor, biggest champion, kindest critic, and greatest source of strength. Thank you for helping me get un-stuck, for believing in my writing, and for always delivering me home from doubt. You are my inspiration, my MFA program, my superhero, my love.
.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MOLLY RINGWALD
's work in film is characterized by what the renowned
New Yorker
film critic Pauline Kael called her “charismatic normality.” Throughout her extensive career, she has worked with such directors as Paul Mazursky, John Hughes, Cindy Sherman, and Jean-Luc Godard. Her writing has appeared in
The New York Times, Parade, Esquire,
and the
Hartford Courant
. She lives with her husband and three children in Los Angeles.

 

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ALSO BY MOLLY RINGWALD

Getting the Pretty Back

CREDITS

Designed by Lorie Pagnozzi
Jacket design by Robin Bilardello

COPYRIGHT

WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU.
Copyright © 2012 by Molly Ringwald. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

 

FIRST EDITION

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

ISBN 978-0-06-180946-0
Epub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN: 9780062102355

 

12 13 14 15 16
OV/RRD
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1