“Corrie!”
She spun around. Daniel stood at the rear door of the house.
“Hey!” she called back.
Daniel was to be Bob’s best man. She was Bryn’s maid of honor.
All Corrie wanted was for this day to be over.
“How is she?” Daniel bent over to kiss the baby’s head. “Is it safe for her to be outside like this?”
Corrie smiled at him. “It’s fine, Daniel. We go outside almost every day. It’s good for her.”
“I can’t believe how big she’s getting.” He took Emmaline from Corrie and cradled her, touching her cheek with his finger. “I can’t believe how much I’ve missed her.”
Corrie turned away, unwilling to let him see the tears that filled her eyes.
“All right, everyone!” Bryn’s mother stood on the back porch. “I think we’re ready.”
The dozen or so guests sat in white chairs facing the altar. Daniel handed Emmaline to Kenetha, who smiled and cooed at her.
Bryn’s parents walked down the aisle, Keri carrying Poppy, while a friend played softly on the guitar. Then Daniel and Corrie walked in together, not looking at each other as they solemnly paced down the aisle.
Finally, Bryn appeared on Bob’s arm, her dark hair circled with a ring of white flowers, a radiant smile on her face.
Corrie watched her friends walk toward the altar and blinked back tears. She glanced over at Daniel, but he was looking away. She bit her lip.
The service was short, but the party went on for a long time. They danced in the backyard, grilled ribs and corn, passed babies from lap to lap. Finally, Corrie couldn’t take anymore.
“I’m going,” she whispered, kissing Bryn’s cheek. “Emmy needs to get to bed, and so do I.”
“Are you okay?” Bryn hugged her tightly.
“I’m fine.”
“If you want to, you and Emmy can stay here tonight. We’ve got a futon in the attic now.”
“How romantic would that be for you and Bob on your wedding night?” Corrie laughed.
“Well, we’ll already have the boys. We can just make it a slumber party.”
Corrie shook her head and kissed Bryn again. “I am so happy for you.”
Bryn smiled. “Me too!”
“Bryn!” Keri was calling from the porch. “I don’t know how to work your coffee grinder.”
Bryn laughed, hugged Corrie again, and ran toward the house, her skirt scooped over her arm.
Corrie stopped to hug Bob, kissing his cheek and making him promise to be happy. Then she carried Emmaline to the car, strapped her in, and drove back to her house—a quiet house, an empty house.
Emmy fell asleep in the car, and Corrie carefully placed her in her crib, then watched her sleep.
“I’m sorry, baby, that your daddy is so far away,” she whispered.
The doorbell rang and Corrie pulled a blanket over the baby and tiptoed out of the room. The next-door neighbors often came by in the evenings, just to check on her. They’d become good friends since the storm.
Corrie opened the front door, ready with a smile—a smile that faltered only briefly when she saw Daniel standing on the porch.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me you were leaving the party.”
He walked into the house and looked around. “Where’s Emmaline?”
“She’s asleep.” Corrie led him to the nursery, where they stood together in the glow of the nightlight, admiring their tiny daughter.
“She really is perfect,” Corrie said.
“Just like her mom.” Daniel put his arm around her waist and she stiffened.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” Corrie walked out of the nursery, away from his embrace.
“Sure.” Daniel followed her into the kitchen. He watched her as she filled the teakettle and put it on the stove.
“So, how are you?” he asked, his voice gentle.
“I’m good. Busy, but I guess that’s to be expected.”
“Is it hard being back at work?”
Corrie’s maternity leave had ended three weeks earlier.
She nodded. “Some days I just take her in with me. Sometimes I can work from home. But the rest . . . It’s hard to leave her.”
“She’s in good hands with Bryn.” Daniel put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. “You know Bryn loves her.”
Corrie nodded again. “I know. But it’s still hard not being with her all the time.”
“I know.” Daniel’s voice was low. “I can’t believe how much I miss her when I’m not here. How much I miss you.”
He pulled at her shoulder, gently forcing her to turn and face him.
“I can’t stand this,” he said. “I can’t do this. It’s just too hard.”
She simply looked at him, fighting hard not to cry.
“So . . .” Daniel took her hands in his and smiled. “I’m moving back to Middlebrook.”
He watched her face first register surprise, then disbelief.
“But what about the center?” she finally stammered.
“I’ll still be on the board,” he said. “We’ll hire a new director. I’ll still go out sometimes, just to check in. But . . . I need to be here, with you and Emmaline.”
He tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. “I love you, Corrie-Andy. I love you and I love our daughter, and I want us to be a family, a real family.”
“But your job . . .” Her voice trailed away. “I don’t want you to feel trapped. I couldn’t stand that.”
“My job will be here,” he said, smiling. “I had my final interview yesterday with the Middlebrook Boys and Girls Club. They offered me the job. I’m the new director.”
“And you’re . . . you’re really going to leave California?”
“I’m coming home, Corrie. I’m coming home to the only home I ever want, with you and Emmy.”
Corrie’s hands shook in his. “Because you want to?”
“Because I want to and I need to and I have to!”
Corrie stared at him for a long minute, letting the words sink in, letting wave after wave of happiness rush through her. She breathed in deeply, more deeply than she’d done in months. She leaned into his chest and cried, then looked up in surprise when she felt Daniel’s tears dripping onto her face.
“I love you, Corrie-Andy.” He kissed her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, her mouth. “I love you and I don’t ever want to lose you again.”
“I love you, too,” she said, leaning in to kiss him again, this time harder and more deeply.
She smiled at him shyly, took his hand, and pulled him toward the bedroom. He grinned at her, squeezing her hand.
From the nursery, they heard a rustle and then a cry. They both laughed, leaning into each other, holding each other tightly.
Then they walked into the nursery, where Emmaline was yowling.
Daniel picked her up, shushing her softly. Corrie watched them for a minute, her eyes filling again with tears, then went to heat a bottle in the kitchen.
At last, she was home.
Please turn the page for a very special Q&A
with Sherri Wood Emmons.
Your first two novels were told in the first person, through the eyes of a child narrator. Why did you write this book in third person?
I wanted to try something new. Writing in the third person doesn’t come as easily to me as writing in first person, so it was a new challenge. And there are three different stories going on in the book, so third person made more sense.
It seems like everyone in this book is in a state of upheaval.
I think at about thirty, most people go through a time of reexamination. You are ten years out of college, too old to be a protégé, and it’s time to take stock of your life and decide if you are on the path you want. My life was in a state of upheaval in my early thirties, and a lot of my friends’ lives were, too. I think it’s the age.
Why did you title the book The Weight of Small Things?
The title reflects th
e way small decisions we make can add up to change our lives. Every day, each one of us makes choices—or chooses not to make choices—and the weight of those choices ultimately determines who we are. Sometimes the choices are big ones and the implications are obvious. But so often it’s the little choices, the ones that seem almost inconsequential, that set us on a new path.
How did you decide on this story?
This is actually the first story I ever started writing, and I began it twenty years ago when I had just turned thirty and my own life was in flux. The story and the characters are fiction, but the situations they are facing and the decisions they are making will feel familiar to many people in that age group, I think. They certainly felt real to me.
Corrie Philips, the main character, begins with a pretty good life—a nice husband and beautiful home, a job she enjoys. Yet she can’t seem to simply relax and enjoy her life. At times she seems almost ungrateful for her situation. Why can’t she simply appreciate her life and forget about her past?
Corrie carries a huge weight through life—guilt over the abortion she had after college, responsibility for her mother and siblings, and a deep-down belief that she doesn’t deserve the marriage and home she has built. At some level, she is always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and that prevents her from owning her own happiness.
What I think is interesting about Corrie is the way she grows into herself. As her pregnancy progresses and she feels her baby moving inside her, she finally allows herself to simply feel joy. And that allows her eventually to accept that she can have happiness, that she deserves happiness, and that she can take care of herself.
Bryn seems an unlikely friend for Corrie. In some ways she is Corrie’s opposite—free-spirited, unconcerned with what other people think, and always up for fun. What makes the friendship between Corrie and Bryn believable?
I think each fills a void in the other’s life. Bryn helps Corrie to loosen up, see things differently, and think for herself. But Corrie helps Bryn, too. She provides constant and steady friendship and a reliable sounding board, and she is always there to encourage Bryn in her adventures.
The friendship works because they are opposites in many ways. But they are alike in some ways, too. Both are kind, fiercely protective of the people they love, creative, and stubborn. Everyone should have a friend like Bryn!
What are you working on now?
I’m very excited about book number four. It’s told in the first person by two narrators, a young girl and her new stepmother, as they travel around the country with a man who is harboring some very dark secrets.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THE WEIGHT
OF SMALL THINGS
Sherri Wood Emmons
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included to enhance
your group’s reading of Sherri Wood Emmons’s
The Weight of Small Things.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Corrie Philips seems to have an ideal life. Why can’t she let go of the past and enjoy the present?
2. Is Corrie a sympathetic character? Why or why not?
3. Bob insists to Bryn that she tell Paul about her pregnancy. Do you think a man always has the right to know when his partner is pregnant? Are there times when it’s okay to keep that information from him?
4. What responsibility, if any, does Corrie have for her mother’s situation?
5. Corrie believes that her inability to conceive a baby is punishment for having had an abortion. What does your faith tradition teach about God’s judgment? How does that apply to a woman who has terminated a pregnancy?
6. What role does Maya play in the story? How would the story be different without her presence?
7. Corrie accuses Daniel of trying to play God. Is that a fair assessment? Are Daniel’s decisions reasonable ones?
8. Bob has taken his wayward wife back twice after her infidelities. Do you think a partner should be given a second chance after an affair?
9. Bryn’s relationship with Paul began when she was his student. Is it ever okay for a teacher to be in a romantic relationship with a student? Why or why not?
10. Bob and Bryn begin their relationship very soon after his divorce. Is Bryn right to worry about being a rebound girlfriend? Can their relationship last?
11. Corrie and Daniel’s relationship is renewed while she is married to Mark. Is the relationship doomed to fail? Why or why not?
12. What is the significance of the title, The Weight of Small Things?
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
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New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2013 by Sherri Wood Emmons
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
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ISBN: 978-0-7582-8043-5
The Weight of Small Things Page 36
