"Clare scrabbled in the bottom of her bag for the house key, furiously tossing tissues and pens and Chap Sticks and quarters onto the walk, and thinking with every toss, What's your hurry? This is your last moment of not knowing, stupid, slow down."
This is a section of "Compassion and Mercy," a short story by Amy Bloom, from her new collection, Where the God of Love Hangs Out (Random House, 2010). The book includes four stories about William and Clare, four (three of them reprints from earlier collections) about Lionel and Julia, and four unlinked stories. "Between Here and Here" is a real standout, as was "By-and-By," originally published in Ms. in 2004.
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I should have mentioned that "Compassion and Mercy" was originally published in Granta, no. 106. I just found it on the list of distinguished stories of 2009 at the back of The Best American Short Stories 2010 (Editor: Richard Russo, Series Editor: Heidi Pitlor; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010).
http://www.granta.com/Magazine/106
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/hmh/site/bas/bestamerican/shortstoriesbookdetails
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