From Pure Life, a novel, which was published in May by Strange Light.

She waited for him in Baggage Claim wearing a cowboy hat and a white blouse and a Bluetooth earpiece. They’d met at a Step meeting in a church basement (#3: Surrender), exchanged numbers and spent four hours on the phone afterward. They’d rescued each other from drink, and then, tired of the semicircle of caffeinated confession and the fellowship’s dismal 5 percent success rate, rescued each other from AA, retaining only the Serenity Prayer and some dependable slogans. Neither had lapsed since, though she also credited…