INT. GREAT ROOM - DAY
Two whitetail buck mounts on each side of floor-to-ceiling limestone fireplace. Leather furniture arrangements aimed at fireplace and wall-mounted TV. Pool table, mini-fridge, loaded rifle case, and GIL, 70-something - jeans, socks, untucked dress shirt - in a rocking chair aimed at the big window view to ROBERTO, 15, and RODRIGO, 13, both in shorts and sneakers, kicking a soccer ball back and forth among oak trees, neither fence nor neighbor in view. Gil reads the hardcover book in his lap as MARIA, 40ish - corduroys, sandals, mustard long-sleeve tee with BROWNSVILLE GYRL across the front - enters from hallway near hat rack with two cowboy hats, a sombrero, San Antonio Spurs ballcap and Houston Oilers football helmet.
MARIA: I just remembered Tom and Wanda arrive tomorrow.
GIL: Only Tom. Wanda's staying home to be with a friend whose husband just passed.
MARIA: Oh.
GIL: Big news.
MARIA: Yeah?
GIL: They're going in with Ruth on a house in Kerrville.
MARIA: Wow. That is big news. Time frame?
GIL: No. Recent decision. Ruth and Tom are gonna hit a few open houses to get the ball rolling.
MARIA: That is so cool. Whatcha readin'?
Gil holds up the grey book with FOGLOST in darker grey on the cover.
MARIA (CONT.) Foglost. What's it about?
GIL: Only halfway through but alcoholism seems a theme.
She looks at the spine to find the author is H.C. Hardyn.
MARIA: Oh. Your guy.
GIL: Came in the mail yesterday.
MARIA: A page-turner.
GIL: Yep. I'll finish it tomorrow.
MARIA: Do you know what the H and or C are for?
GIL: Nothing listed in his minimal social media.
MARIA: An author page?
Gil turns to the author page on the flap on the back of the book. He and Maria look at the black and white photograph of a 50-ish man in a plaid flannel looking at the camera, the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, behind him. The text below the picture reads:
H.C. Hardyn is the author of two other novels, Trabuco and Seams.
MARIA: Those are the Organ Mountains.
GIL: I see the resemblance.
MARIA: When are Tom and Ruth coming over?
GIL: Wednesday..
MARIA: Tamales?
GIL: Hurra. Thank you.
The PHONE in Gil's shirt pocket BUZZES. He opens to a selfie Tom has sent from where he stands near a Vietnam War-era Huey helicopter. Maria looks over his shoulder.
MARIA: Where is that?
GIL: Vietnam memorial in Angel Fire.
MARIA: He's lost weight.
GIL: Looks like it.
He pockets phone.
MARIA: Lunch in twenty.
GIL: Thank you, sweetheart.
She kisses his head, leaves into hall. Gil watches the boys back and forth take them deeper into the woods and out of view. He returns to the book, turns a page.