“You mean, given that Heartsprings Valley is such a small place?”
“And also because you work with Nancy, and Jeremiah is Nancy’s husband.”
He’d been paying attention to their conversation —closely. Penny considered how to explain. “How do I put this.… In New York, I expect you can go months without running into someone you know by chance.”
“Right.”
“Life in Heartsprings Valley isn’t like that —you run into folks by chance all the time. But even though we all live in the same small town, each of us has different patterns and routines.”
“What’s your routine?”
“Pretty much the bookstore. If I’m not at home or running errands, odds are good that I’m there. I see Nancy at the store nearly every day, and Jeremiah when he drops by to pick her up.”
“But driving to Jeremiah’s farm to hang out with Bessie isn’t part of your usual pattern.”
“Right. Though now that I’ve met Bessie, I might have to make some adjustments to that.”
“Okay, got it.” He turned toward her with a smile. “Another thing I got? A horse quote. Ready?”
She smiled back. “Lay it on me.”
“‘A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!’”
She laughed. “Shakespeare for the win.”
“Shakespeare always wins, doesn’t he?”
“Most definitely.” Her mind started revving up. “Okay, my turn. Mom would be able to rattle off, I don’t know, five or six horse quotes without breaking a sweat, but I’ve got two.”
“Trot ’em out for me.”
“Ha ha. This first one I know because when I was a kid, I so badly wanted it to be true: ‘I wish I was a horse, then I could run for miles in this splendid air, and not lose my breath.’”
“Who said that?”
“Louisa May Alcott.”
“Little Women?”
“Little Women. My second horse quote is from a poet named Robert Duncan who I read in college. Again, the words stuck with me because I’ve always loved horses.” She cleared her throat. “Duncan described horses as, and here I quote, ‘nobility without conceit, friendship without envy, beauty without vanity.’”
Daniel’s eyes took on a shine and he blinked rapidly. “That’s lovely. Robert Duncan, you said?”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t know him. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I don’t read a lot of poetry.”
“I don’t read as much as I used to. I miss it. It’s a different kind of reading experience, at least for me.”
“Different how?”
His interest seemed genuine. She thought for a second, considering. “I try to avoid generalizing, especially with subjects as varied and broad as poetry and narrative prose. But there are differences. Just as an example, consider how the two forms handle complexity. Poetry is often a way to simplify, to clarify, a complex topic —to crystallize a moment in time. Narrative fiction and non-fiction, in contrast, are often explorations of complexity —deep dives, journeys.”
“I like how you put that,” he said, nodding. “So these days, your poetry reading has given way to…?”
“Fiction and nonfiction, mostly. I try to keep up with what’s new and what’s selling.”
“Reading has become part of the job.”
