Free The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar

Nandita’s eyes. Then she
    looked away. “I’m not sure. It wasn’t the way one was raised, with
    these fairy-tale notions of Prince Charmings and knights in shining
    armor. Anyway, one marries for companionship and, in the case of
    most people, for children, right? And if one decides not to have any
    children, then—”
    Ellie had noticed this verbal tic before, how Nandita switched
    to the third person anytime she talked about something personal
    or emotionally difficult. If Nandita had been one of her clients, she
    would’ve called her on it. But some instinct told her not to push that
    hard, told her that Nandita was like one of those puffed, deep-fried
    baturas that deflated the instant you pierced the oily wheat exterior
    with your thumb.
    “What about you? Are you still in love with Frank?”
    “Yes.” Her answer was so instantaneous it surprised even her.
    “I mean, we’ve been together since our twenties. And the relationship has certainly—sustained some blows. But even today, he’s the
    only man who can make my stomach flip just by walking into the
    room.”
    “Wow,” Nandita said. There was no envy in her voice, just interest. “Maybe it has something to do with meeting the other person
    when you’re so young. Like what you hear about those birds—
    cranes, maybe?—who consider the first person they see to be their
    mothers. Imprinting, it’s called, I believe.”
    “Well, we were both grad students. So we weren’t quite that
    young,” Ellie laughed. “But God, Nan. You should’ve seen us then.
    We were inseparable. Our first year together, it snowed like crazy
    on Thanksgiving. Frank was visiting some friends in Grand Rapids.
    Th e We i g h t o f H e av e n
    5 5
    I had planned to cook us dinner, but one look out the window that
    morning and I knew there was no way he’d make it back to Ann
    Arbor. But at seven that evening, the doorbell rings, and there’s
    Frank. He said he couldn’t bear the thought of us being apart for
    our first Thanksgiving. It took him ten hours to make a trip that
    would’ve normally taken less than three.”
    “Yah, there’s something wonderful about that kind of young
    love—” Nandita said.
    “But here’s the thing,” Ellie interrupted. “Even today I know he’s
    the one person in the world I can count on to stand at my front door
    during a snowstorm. Isn’t that something?”
    “It is.”
    They smiled at each other shyly and then looked away. “Nan,”
    Ellie said. “I don’t know if I ever told you this but I’m so grateful for your friendship. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me
    since—”
    Nandita waved her hand to cover up her embarrassment. “Yah,
    and you think living for seven years in this godforsaken place without a single intelligent person to talk to was a picnic for me? Shashi
    always says that I would’ve divorced him if you hadn’t showed up in
    the nick of time.”
    Ellie laughed. “Speaking of Shashi, how’s he doing?”
    “Find out for yourself,” Nandita said promptly. “Why don’t
    you and Frank come over for dinner tonight? I’ll throw something
    together.”
    Ellie considered. “Frank’ll probably be too tired to want to go
    out again tonight. Maybe another night would be better.”
    Nandita gestured toward the phone. “Why don’t you call him?
    That way, if someone is refusing my kind invitation, it’s Frank. And
    not his know-it-all wife.”
    “You’re a bully, you know that?” Ellie grumbled as she got up.
    “God, you remind me so much of my older sister, Anne, I can’t tell
    you.” She dialed Frank’s number.
    5 6 Th r i t y U m r i g a r
    Frank answered on the third ring. And to Ellie’s surprise, said
    yes immediately. “It will be nice to get out of Girbaug for a few
    hours,” he said, and Ellie could hear the fatigue in his voice. He’s
    under more pressure than I know, she thought. “Did something
    happen at work today, hon?” she asked cautiously.
    “Just more of the