“I’m not sure what happened,” he said. “We were doing so well. She and Anna got along beautifully. And she was always there when I came home. Dinner was always cooked. We seldom argued, and we shared a lot of common interests.”

He was cruel, he stopped. She had to say it. “But?”

He looked at her. “I have thought about this a lot, especially knowing I was going to see you. What it all boils down to is that I didn’t love her.”

“Did she love you?”

He shrugged. “She said she did.”

“That’s no answer.”

“True. But it doesn’t matter if she did or not. What I’m trying to say is I love you.” He paused. “I want you to come back.”

Kelly almost threw up. Her body went into a weird kind of shock. Her heart pounded and seemed to sink into her solar plexus. She had to strain to form words.

“Are you crazy?” she mumbled.

“I’m serious. I know you’re still living alone. I know you miss me. I miss you terribly. I do the simplest things with Anna—go to the movies, walk the dog—and I think how much more fun it used to be with you.”

“We don’t have a dog.”

He was embarrassed. “We do now. We have a collie. His name is Faith. You would like him.”

“Would I? Is he loyal?”

“What I did was wrong. I made a mistake. My timing was terrible—you were so sick. But you have to admit, the decisions you made forced me to leave you.”

“Funny, I don’t feel the need to admit that at all. From where I sit you just wanted to fuck Claire instead of me.” She paused. “When was the last time you fucked her?”

“I told you, a month ago.” He paused. “Two weeks ago.”

“I understand. The lights were out. You didn’t actually see her when you stuck your dick in her pussy that last time.”

“You don’t need to get crude.”

“That is another statement I disagree with. I feel a great need to get crude. And an even greater need to get even. You know I miss you? You know I am alone? You don’t know shit. You dumped me for your new girlfriend. You can’t just sit here and ask me to come back and expect me to jump at the offer. How could I sleep beside you again when you’ve been sleeping beside her all this time? I would just end up vomiting on you in the middle of the night.”

“I’m sorry, I thought we could be mature about this.”