Elizabeth Berg Collection: Talk Before Sleep / Until the Real Thing Comes Along

TALK BEFORE SLEEPWhat do you say when you know you don’t have forever? Ruth has been Ann’s closest friend for years — her confidante, her solace, her comic relief, her tutor in life’s mysterious ways. So when Ruth becomes ill, Ann is there for her without question. After all, it is Ruth who encouraged Ann to become who she is, Ruth whose rebellious, eccentric spirit provided the perfect counterpoint to Ann’s conventional, safe outlook. And so the friends go on as they always have . . . gossiping, consoling, and sharing intimate secrets — but with the knowledge that each shared evening could be their last. UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONGAt the end of each undemanding day, Patty goes home to an empty apartment and listens to her biological clock ticking as ominously as Captain Hook’s crocodile....Patty wants a husband and a baby, and not necessarily in that order....But Patty has a problem. Try as she might, there is only one man she can love — her best friend, Ethan — and try as Ethan might, he is quite firmly and intractably gay.