Shovel Ready (25 page)

We didn’t bother with paperwork. Just showed up with a shovel and a body.

Work in the light of the highbeams.

I dig the hole.

Spadework.

Mark says a prayer.

I wish I could recount it, but I don’t remember it exactly.

Something about our souls, in this world and the next.

Then we lift the box together.

Aim for the fresh scar we’d just cut in the earth.

Harrow always said that he hoped to build a heaven.

We send him six feet in the opposite direction.

Gratitude: To my agent, David McCormick. To my editor, Zachary Wagman, who indirectly inspired the writing of this novel and who, many years later, directly (and expertly) guided it to completion. To Molly Stern and the staff at Crown. To my early reader and hardboiled advisor, Howard Akler. To Jonathan Bernstein, Chilly Gonzales, David Haydn-Jones, Janet Murphy, Derek McCormack, Jason McBride, Susan Kernohan, David Marchese, Benjamin Stark, and Jonathan Weiss for support and inspiration in all of its guises. To my parents, especially. And to Julia: my first reader, thoughtful editor, biggest advocate, best audience, and truest friend. You’ve kept all those promises, and then some.