Of course, the essence of their relationship would have been obvious to a first-year psychology student. He treated Cindy as Amy had initially treated him. Their bond was a sixties pop song—he kept her hanging on. Amy had not even let him kiss her for several months. When he made out with Cindy, he kept his eyes tightly shut. He knew what he did to her was wrong and he did it anyway.

“I was just thinking of you,” she said in a drowsy voice.

“You were asleep.”

“Then I was dreaming of you.” She yawned. “I’m glad you called. Hey, happy birthday. How does it feel to be thirty?”

“Good.” Nothing felt good. “How are you doing?”

“Great. Looking forward to your party tonight. Wish I could fly over to Catalina with you. Why don’t you take me?”

“It’s better you get to my mom’s before me. You can keep her company.” He was glad Cindy would be with his mother when she received the news that his plane had gone down. Cindy was strong; she would get his mother through the first dark days.

She groaned. “You’re so difficult. Hey, I need that guy’s number who taught you how to fly. You said he might want to come with his girlfriend. Was it Clark?”

“Yeah. I can get it for you later.” He did not want Clark at the party. He did not want an expert—personally connected to him—going to the Santa Barbara Airport and studying the radar tapes that described the course of his plane before it crashed. Not that Clark should be able spot anything unusual, but one could never be sure.

“When?” she asked.

“I’ll call you from the road with it.” Another promise he would not keep. He did not want to contact Cindy again. If his cell phone records were later examined, they could show that he had not been in Orange County during the first half of the day.

“Great.” Her voice softened. “I miss you. I wish I was there with you now, lying beside you.”

They had slept together eight times and not had sex. He told her he opened up slowly—a favorite Amy line. The odd thing was that Cindy was every bit as attractive as Amy. But to lie naked beside her in bed did nothing for him. While the mere thought of being close to Amy filled him with longing.

“You okay?” she asked when he did not respond.

“Yeah. Just thinking about the day.”

“Do you miss me?”

“Sure. But I’ll see you tonight.”

She hesitated. “Can I sleep with you at your mother’s house?”

She wanted to make love. Normally, he would have responded with his standard, “We’ll see.” But now all his promises were moot. There was no reason not to leave her with a dream. Amy had not bothered to do the same for him.