She was happy. Her voice was softer than I’d ever heard it and right there inside my ear. “I wanted to tell you because of what I said at the Wise Old, that I’m good at the work but don’t love it. I need to amend that. Sometimes I do love it. I loved it today.” She shifted in the covers. “I didn’t want you to think of me as joyless.”

“Virgil Wander,” Leif Enger

I am loving “Virgil Wander” by Leif Enger. Mr. Enger has only published a few books. I loved “Peace Like a River” and I am loving this one too. He has a way of writing dialogue and describing situations to transport you into the story. It is a story you care about. It is a story you can’t put down, but you also don’t want it to end.

This is my favorite part in the book so far. I can feel it in the way two awkward people become when they like one another, but don’t know what the other feels. They don’t know if their interactions will result in forming a relationship. There is tension. There are unknowns. There are uncomfortable moments.

Here is the protagonist’s inward thoughts about this late-night call:

I’d lived years without a woman to tell me small things. Her work went well and she wanted to say so, and I was the man who was listening. That fact swung open and light came in.

“Virgil Wander,” Leif Enger

This is so poignant. There are some things in a relationship that you can’t really quantify or put your finger on it. You only really notice it when it’s missing from your life. This is one of those “hidden” moments.

“I’ll let you go.” I didn’t want to let her go, of course—what I wanted was to hold her tight, to keep hearing her soft, near, barely-awake voice. There is no better sound than whom you adore when they are sleepy and pleased. I wanted to hear about many small things, the smaller the better. I wanted to tell her small things in return.

“Virgil Wander,” Leif Enger

Wow! This is such a great part. I just wanted to share it with you, so you too, can enjoy it.

I haven’t finished this book, but I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Get a copy of “Virgil Wander” by Leif Enger on Amazon here.