Thief of Words

by John Jaffe

Overview

In the tradition of Julie and Romeo comes an irresistible love story about two middle-aged people who learn that it is indeed possible to rewrite chapters of their lives.

Some people court with flowers and chocolates. Not Jack DePaul, features editor of the Baltimore Star-News. Divorced and recently burned by a painful affair, Jack meets Annie Hollerman and quickly figures out that the way to her heart is through the power of words. At 26, Annie had it all. Star reporter at a respected North Carolina newspaper, engaged to a hotshot colleague, Annie seemed destined for greatness—until one horrifying mistake changed everything. Twenty years later, Annie is divorced and wary of romance. Enter Jack , who comes into her life and literally rewrites her past. But there’s one secret chapter Annie refuses to share with anyone. Unless she takes the chance that Jack will love her, bad chapter and all, Annie’s story can never have a happy ending.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446510455
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/03/2007
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	369 KB

About the Author

John Jaffe lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. THIEF OF WORDS is his first novel.

Read an Excerpt

Thief of Words

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By John Jaffe

Warner Books

Copyright © 2003 Jody Jaffe and John Muncie
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0446530808

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Chapter One

(2001)

What you need, Annie Hollerman, is a man with a good ass." Laura Goodbread scrolled down to the bottom of her message, added her usual "xoxo," and hit the send button. Just as her words disappeared, Jack DePaul's cute butt appeared a few feet away. Jack was standing by the music critic's desk, his back to her. She wondered what he might look like underneath those pleated black Dockers. She'd never know firsthand, she was a (happily) married woman and wanted to stay that way. Not to mention that Jack was her boss and morally, legally, and many other "ly" words, forbidden to do anything but edit her.

Anatomy aside, she liked Jack DePaul as a person, which was not something she could say about many editors at the Baltimore Star-News.

He was funny, smart, and fair-or as fair as an editor could be. He only asked her to cover the annual City That Reads festival every other year. Well, "asked" might be the wrong word, but Jack made it seem like asked, rather than assigned.

But the best part of him, as far as Laura was concerned, was his passion for good writing. There was only one other person Laura knew who loved words as much as he did, and that was her best friend, Annie Hollerman.

Annie, who ran her own literary agency in Washington, called her at least three times a week just to read lines from manuscripts she'd gotten in. "Laura," she'd say, "I know you're busy, but you've got to hear this." And she dragged Laura to innumerable book readings just so they could hear writers deliver their words personally. "As they were meant to sound," Annie would say.

As many times as Annie had called Laura about the next Jane Austen, Jack had read to her from the latest New Yorker or novel he was reading. He loved simple language and cadence. He had lots of favorites-F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories, Ian Frazier's sketches, David Quammen's essays, Raymond Chandler's pulp. At least fifty times, he had peered over his glasses and said, "Goodbread, if you could write a lead like Chandler's 'Red Wind,' you could win a Pulitzer." (To which she inevitably replied, "If I could write a lead like that, I wouldn't be working for you, Jack.") She'd even known him to quote poetry. Poetry in the newsroom!

She'd also known him to call reporters crybabies, knuckleheads, and whiners. When someone didn't want to do a story, he'd say, "You don't have to like it, you just have to do it." That didn't bother Laura. She knew Annie could handle him. The crybabies Jack dealt with were minor leaguers compared to Annie's prima donnas. Aside from their mutual love of words, Jack and Annie needed each other. Or so Laura thought. Laura didn't know much about Jack's personal life beyond newsroom gossip and the fact that he'd stopped wearing his wedding band three years before. Rumor had it, he'd left his wife for a dark-haired woman who broke his heart in eighteen pieces. Half the newsroom was still trying to guess the identity of his Madame X.

Laura's money was on the ambitious assistant city editor, Kathleen Faulkner, an attractive brunette with boarding school bones. The joke was she had the biggest balls in the newsroom. One time at a party, Laura overheard the managing editor tell the business editor that Faulkner "clanged when she walked." She was particularly tough on her female staff, who called her Captina Queeg behind her back.

Rumor also had it that Kathleen and Jack had hooked up at a management skills conference in New York City. That was a month before Jack stopped wearing his wedding band. Kathleen never took hers off.

In any event, something had changed recently, because twice in the past three weeks Jack had asked Laura if she knew of any women he could meet.

She figured Jack was lonely; she knew Annie was. They were perfect for each other. Almost. There was the journalist part. Annie could barely talk to Laura about their days together as reporters at the Charlotte Commercial-Appeal.

Getting Annie to agree to a blind date would be hard enough. Except for a brief affair with an energy analyst, Annie had been moldering around solo since her divorce two years ago. Getting her to go on a blind date with a journalist would be nearly impossible. She'd tried before and Annie had dug in her heels deeper than Laura could dislodge. And if anyone could dislodge anything, it was Laura Goodbread, generally regarded as the pit bull of the Baltimore Star-News's Features department.

Laura knew why Annie refused. She didn't want any reminders of her past. When Laura had pushed so hard a few months back, trying to fix up Annie with the new city hall reporter, Annie had finally slammed the phone down and refused to talk to her for three days. When they started talking again, Annie said, "It's too painful to date someone who has the life I used to have."

Uncharacteristically, Laura gave in. She wished she hadn't, though. Annie was becoming a hermit. This time, Laura wouldn't take no for an answer; she'd even enlisted her daughter-Annie's goddaughter-in the mission. Sure, Jack was a journalist, but he was also funny, smart, and soulful.

And when he walked away, the view was good. The phone started ringing. "This is Laura Goodbread, Baltimore Star-News."

"And this is Annie Hollerman, agent to the stars. Is Becky all set for this weekend?"

"Set? Are you kidding? She's rolled and rerolled her sleeping bag a million times. You know what she's told all her friends? That she's going camping with Xena, Warrior Princess! She can't wait. I could hardly get her to school this morning. I can't tell you how glad I am that you're doing this. You know how I feel about peeing outside. However, I do have the perfect thank-you present." Annie laughed. "I bet it involves a man, right? Some guy you want to see naked but never will so you want me to tell you what he looks like. Right? Am I close?"

"I guess this means you haven't read my e-mail yet." She could hear Annie groaning on the other end of the line. "Stop it," Laura nearly shouted into the phone. "You need this. You need something."

After the groan came the sigh. "Laura, I don't need anything. Especially a man with a big butt."

"Hold on, girl, I've never said anything in my life about big butts. Great butts, yes. Big butts, no."

"I know your taste. I've known your taste for the past twenty years. Every man you dated, from John Gilliam to the man you married, they all look the same from behind. I don't care if it's big or great or flat or whatever. I'm not interested. Not now." "When, Annie? When you lose your looks? You know, that's not a perpetual flame on top of your head. Someday it'll go out. You'll go gray and then you'll get wrinkles or vice versa. Let me tell you, Annie, it's time to start living before you start dying." "Laura. Stop. Tell me about Becky. Tell me what wonderful new things my goddaughter has written."

Laura looked up to see Jack DePaul walking her way, motioning that he needed to talk to her.

"Annie, I'll tell you Friday when you pick up Beck. Your future husband's coming over. Gotta go."

Laura hung up the phone and turned toward the man standing by her desk. "Jack. Do I have the woman for you."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Thief of Words by John Jaffe Copyright © 2003 by Jody Jaffe and John Muncie
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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