“Yes, it would,” he had said. How could a woman so smart be so completely insensitive to a man’s feelings? A man’s needs? It never occurred to him to be more considerate of what she might need.

Three—there appeared to be exactly one place in which they were totally compatible; in all other places they were different. She wanted children right away, the sooner the better. He didn’t. He loved athletics; she didn’t even run to answer the phone. He liked the mountains and fresh air; she had her nose in a book. He was physical; she was mental. He was night; she was day.

“It works here, like this,” he whispered to her when they had just made love.

“Yes,” she said, her eyes tearing, “but will this be enough? I didn’t have this with Max, but here in Durango, with you, there’s nothing to do after this! I need work, family, challenge, mental stimulation, intellectual activity.”

Those were not things John could offer.

Things fell apart at the last breath of summer. Leigh gave him books he didn’t read; she talked about scientific research he couldn’t fathom. Ecology was the only subject on which they could converse without him feeling like an idiot. He had trouble prying her loose from some sheaf of papers to hike. Their differences became more obvious. Tense. Leigh often lost track of things. She could begin to make a pot of coffee, think of some odd mathematical equation she had read about or have an unfinished poem pop into her mind, and become consumed, forget to put the pot under the coffeemaker and flood the kitchen. She left Jess’s car in Drive once because she had been thinking of something complex, and it rolled down a steep incline and into a ditch. The scatterbrain antics that had amused him at first began to strike him as inexcusable. It was like babysitting sometimes. John wasn’t quite ready for the job but was definitely unprepared to give her up. The pain and frustration began to match the ecstasy.

Leigh became morose and restless all at once. She wanted to stay, wanted to go. Wanted to make love, but cried, sometimes during their loving. John couldn’t stand to be so messed up over someone so messed up! Where were all the uncomplicated, silly, girlie girls? The ones looking for a man with muscles and no serious conversation?