I shake my head. How could my husband have betrayed me this way? “What if . . .” I can’t bring myself to meet Corrine’s gaze, and my breath catches in my throat as I try to speak. “What if Jay only wanted to marry me because of who I am? Maybe I was just an interesting study for him. Maybe he just wanted to write a book about me and my sorry life . . .”

Corrine wraps me in her arms. “No. Molly. Jay loved you. He just made a huge mistake. Huge. But he loved you.”

I cry in her arms, and she cries too. I agree to go back to her place for the night. Somehow my house has lost its luster, so Sadie and I pack up and leave.

On the drive, I tell Corrine about the phone calls I’ve gotten.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“They’re just crank calls, don’t you think?” I don’t want her to think I’m paranoid, hysterical.

She slams her hand on the steering wheel. “After all this time? I don’t like it, Moll. Why now, all these years later?”

“I don’t know.” I lean my head against the passenger window, pick at my sleeve.

Corrine drives quickly, making sharp turns until we get on the highway headed downtown. She cruises along in the fast lane, her brow furled.

“We’re going to the police station tomorrow morning and telling Detective Myers about those phone calls,” she says.

“I’ll have to tell her about me, Corrine.”

“Well, you’ll just have to. It’s not like she’s going to tell anybody or call the newspaper. Maybe they can find out who’s harassing you and why. Maybe they can talk to somebody at the prison. Check that that bastard isn’t causing any trouble.”

I’ve always been haunted by the possibility. Could he still hurt me somehow? Would a prison cell really hold him?

By the time we reach the apartment, it’s snowing again, not the big fluffy flakes that have fallen lately, but small, hard pellets. I curl up on the guest room bed and listen to the sleet ping against the window. Too much has happened in recent days for me to process, one disaster after another, and I’m too weak, too beaten down to keep the nightmares at bay. Despite my best efforts, my mind goes back to that day.