The Man Who Owned Vermont [Paperback]

When Rick Wheeler's wife walks out on him, he nearly drowns in despair. So the RC Cola salesman throws himself into work -- setting sales records, winning a promotion, burying himself in the lonely present while he scours the past for hope. Then at last on a cold Vermont morning, a hunter and his prey show him unexpectedly, haltingly, the way back to love and faith.Bret Lottis the author of five highly acclaimed novels,The Man Who Owned Vermont, A Stranger's House, Jewel, Reed's Beach,andThe Hunt Club,as well as two collections of widely anthologized short stories,A Dream of Old LeavesandHow to Get Home,and a memoir,Fathers, Sons, and Brothers.He lives with his wife and two sons near Charleston, South Carolina, and teaches at the College of Charleston and Vermont College.CHAPTER ONE
I liked this plumber. He had come to the front door and knocked solidly three times, then three times more before I could answer. I liked that, liked the sound six square knocks made through the apartment. I was there alone. I had things to sort out.
I opened the door, and the plumber stuck out his hand. Lonny Thompson, he said. Landlord sent me up. You've got a leak somewhere in your bathroom.
Rick, I said. We shook hands. He knew how to shake hands; grasped my hand just past the knuckles, then squeezed hard and shook. I judged he was fifty, fifty-five years old.
He said, Glad to meet you. Now where's this damned leak?
He led me to the bathroom, as if he'd been here plenty of times, though I'd never seen him around the building before. We walked through the front room into the kitchen, then into the bathroom, the plumber turning his head, looking everything over. There wasn't much left in the apartment; my wife had taken most everything. Only the sofa bed and the black-and-white portable were left in the living room, one of those small rented refrigerators in the kitchen. Even the hamper in the bathroom was gone. Ml#