Excerpt: 'The Idea of Love' by Patti Callahan Henry

Patti Callahan Henry joins us to share an excerpt from her new release, The Idea of Love.

About the book (courtesy of St. Martin's Press):

As we like to say in the south,

"Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Ella's life has been completely upended. She's young, beautiful, and deeply in love—until her husband dies in a tragic sailing accident while trying save her. Or so she'll have everyone believe. Screenwriter Hunter needs a hit, but crippling writers' block and a serious lack of motivation are getting him nowhere. He's on the look-out for a love story. It doesn't matter who it belongs to.

When Hunter and Ella meet in Watersend, South Carolina it feels like the perfect match, something close to fate. In Ella, Hunter finds the perfect love story, full of longing and sacrifice. It's the stuff of epic films. In Hunter, Ella finds possibility. It's an opportunity to live out a fantasy — the life she wishes she had because hers is too painful. And more real. Besides. what's a little white lie between strangers? But one lie leads to another, and soon Hunter and Ella find themselves caught in a web of deceit. As they try to untangle their lies and reclaim their own lives, they feel something stronger is keeping them together. And so they wonder: can two people come together for all the wrong reasons and still make it right?

Patti sets the scene for us …

Patti: I love this scene as we finally get to see Ella and Blake together in a movie theater. We've been waiting for this — to see how they are in a place that Blake loves so much. Although they still aren't telling the truth, they are coming closer to each other, finding out what matters and what doesn't. The romantic tension combined with the reader's knowledge that they are both holding back, makes for a fun scene.

EXCERPT

A movie was a great idea. No talking. And that meant no lying. And what was she doing with this guy anyway? Surely she could find other distractions. But a movie? Now there was a great distraction.

They sat side by side with a tub of buttered popcorn between them. "Don't you love this movie? I mean, have you even seen it?" she

asked.

"Yes, I've seen it," he said. "Do you like it?"

"I do like it, but I've seen it more times than I can count."

"Well, once more won't kill you. The storm will be gone by the time we get out." Ella settled back in her chair, pried open the Milk Duds, and settled in for The Mess of Love. "And then we'll finish our tour before you have to leave tomorrow."

It was the perfect romantic comedy. At least that's what it had been praised as for the last ten years. It had made the "Best of the Year" lists when it came out. Unrivaled. Yet Hunter seemed bored, checking his cell phone and leaving twice for the bathroom.

She glanced at him during a funny bit about the best friend mixing up the boyfriends and Ella saw him mouthing the words, a sound less narrative. She leaned closer and whispered, "You sure know a lot about this movie for not liking it very much."

Hunter took another handful of popcorn. "I've seen it a couple of times," he mumbled.

Then it ended with a long street, shimmer y gas lanterns creating a circle of light where the characters meet and kiss in front of a theater marquee. They live happily ever after, frozen on film. Still Ella and Hunter sat there taking turns reaching into the popcorn bucket. Onscreen, the outtakes scrolled: the actors flubbing their lines; the actress tripping on her dress; the dog peeing on the set and the kids running and screaming. The credits rolled by on the split screen, also.

"I love seeing the mess-ups," Ella said. "It makes the movie more fun to see."

Hunter shrugged. "I think it takes away from the fantasy that was just shown. Who wants to know that the actors are someone else than who they just played? Who wants to see them as real people?"

"I do," she said. "Most people do, I think. It's fun to know. It's like a secret peek behind the curtain."

Hunter made a small noise, like a cough, and stood up. Ella placed her hand on his arm. "One more minute."

"Okay."

"And look at these jobs rolling by, Hunter. It's kind of funny. The credits go on forever. Do they have to mention anyone and everyone who ever, even for a minute, had anything to do with the movie? Like the guy who once brought you a sandwich?"

"What do you mean?"

Ella pointed at the screen where the actress was ruining a scene with laughter and names scrolled on the left side. "There. I mean, what is a 'best boy?' "

"The assistant to the gaffer," Hunter said.

"And what's a gaffer? It's like a secret language for movie makers." "A gaffer is the guy who is in charge of the electrical department." "Or woman right? Gaffer—it sounds like the guy in charge of killing someone who mucked up their lines."

Hunter laughed and shook his head. "The name comes from the men in England who used to carry a gaff to turn the lights on."

"You sure know a lot about movies," she said.

"Kind of mandatory when you live in L.A.," he said, and shrugged. "Let's go. Okay?"

"Okay." Ella took one last glance at the screen. "And a 'key grip.' What is that?"

He took her hand and pulled her toward the aisle. "I have no idea." On the way out, Ella dumped the dregs of the popcorn into a trash can. "You know," she said, "the movie has a perfect ending, but it's never like that in real life. No one waits under the marquee." She pointed up- ward at the theater sign. "You know, for that huge moment. Love isn't so dramatic like that. Grand gestures." She spread her arms wide and ran to

the gas lantern, stood underneath it. "They don't really happen. "

He caught up with her. "And even if it did happen in real life. Look—" He pointed up. "The damn lantern would be out of gas and he'd look like a fool."

"A fool," Ella said, and the flood of shame washed over her, again. "It's a funny word, isn't it?" he asked. "Fool."

"Yes, it's the very idea of it that's funny, too. But the idea of some- thing and the real thing aren't the same."

"Like love," he said. "It's more of an idea than a real thing. It's something that wants to be bigger than it is. Maybe it's just an idea we carry around until we don't."

If what Hunter said was true, if love was just an idea they carried around, then why the weight of sadness? "Wait," she said. "That can't be true. I love my mom. That's a real and true thing. That is not an idea. When I lost my mom, when I lost my husband, I lost more than an idea."

"Then there should be a different word," Hunter said. "We don't have enough words for love. We can't keep using it to describe everything from hamburgers to best friends to spouses to moms. It's not the same damn thing."

Ella laughed. "It sounds to me like love sort of pisses you off." Hunter smiled. The corners of his mouth reached up high, and his

eyes crinkled, but his lips never parted. He seemed to fight the smile, and his face wouldn't let him. "Yes, sometimes it pisses me off," he said. "It's too casually said, and too casually used."

"Let's see if we can go an entire day without using the word," Ella said. "Want to try?"

"Easy for me," he said, and then he drew closer, so close that he could have kissed her.

Find out more about Patti and her books at www.patticallahanhenry.com.