To Love in the Past Tense

Imagine what happens when . . . . . . a widow spots another woman, a stranger, putting flowers on her husband's grave. . . . a boy genius climbs out his bedroom window to follow his cat to see where it goes at night. . . . a lonely, depressed young woman encounters a silverback gorilla in her backyard at night. . . . a joyful Dalmatian that bites forces a boy and his father to uncover family secrets. . . . the Loma Prieta earthquake catapults a fading grandmother, documentary-making daughter, and rebellious granddaughter to Africa, where they can no longer ignore one another. . . . an in-home cutlery sales pitch by a lovely young woman slices away years of deceit. The short stories in To Love in the Past Tense offer some possible answers.

Imagine what happens when . . . . . . a widow spots another woman, a stranger, putting flowers on her husband's grave. . . . a boy genius climbs out his bedroom window to follow his cat to see where it goes at night. . . . a lonely, depressed young woman encounters a silverback gorilla in her backyard at night. . . . a joyful Dalmatian that bites forces a boy and his father to uncover family secrets. . . . the Loma Prieta earthquake catapults a fading grandmother, documentary-making daughter, and rebellious granddaughter to Africa, where they can no longer ignore one another. . . . an in-home cutlery sales pitch by a lovely young woman slices away years of deceit. The short stories in To Love in the Past Tense offer some possible answers.

GAIL BOYER HAYES is co-author with her husband, Denis Hayes, of Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America's Health, Economy, Politics, Culture, and Environment (Norton, 2015). She also wrote Solar Access Law (Ballinger, 1979) and Pulmonary Hypertension: A Patient's Survival Guide (editions one through three), and many articles and book reviews. She lives in Seattle, Washington.