Why couldnt it be enough for her, too?

He put away his equipment in the shed and hung the hip waders to dry. The smell of salmon frying and rice boiling greeted him as he opened the door. He brightened. Good. She must be over her mad. Hed known it wouldnt take long.

He pulled the door closed behind him, and without turning around from the counter, she said, “I dont care what you do, Mark, but Im flying out of here with Wyanet Chouinard on Monday. She flipped the salmon steaks onto a plate and put it on the table. “Suppers ready. Sit down and eat.

He sat automatically. “But, Rebecca

She brought the rice, the soy sauce and the salad, already dressed. “No, Mark, she said, and whatever he had been going to say was stopped dead by the firm decision in her voice. “I have done everything youve asked me to. I quit my job when I didnt want to, I turned over our home to a house sitter I didnt know, I left behind my friends

“I sold it, he said, looking at his plate.

“and family andwhat?

“I sold the house.

Silence. He looked up to see her fork suspended in midair, her blue eyes staring at him unblinking. “Before we left in May, I sold the house.

More silence. Compelled to fill it, he said, “I sold it to Jeff Kline. He always liked it, and you know hell take good care of it. You dont have to worry about our stuff, I paid a mover to pack it up and put it into storage. Well have it shipped out here after I add on a couple of rooms to the cabin.

He looked up and her eyes were fixed on his face but she was looking more through him than at him. “Rebecca? He took her hand. She let it lie in his, limp, lifeless, unresponsive.

“How could you sell it? she said finally.

He misunderstood. “It was in my name. It was my house before we were married. We never did get it changed over.

“No, she said, her voice coming more strongly. “How could you?

He couldnt quite meet her eyes, couldnt quite face that wounded look. “Just give it a chance, Rebecca, okay? Well be together and thats all that really matters, isnt it? He took a deep breath and made the supreme sacrifice. “And maybe we can have that kid youre always bugging me about. Great place to raise kids, isnt it? No drugs on the street corner, no crazy people shooting up the high schools, no television to monitor. You could teach him, home-school him, you know, and I could teach him everything else. Youll like it, Rebecca, youll

She stood up, pulling her hand free.

“Rebecca? Honey?

Her eyes darted around the room, looking at the thin mattress of the cot theyd slept on for the last three months, the corners of the room filling with darkness five minutes earlier this evening than the evening before, the stained and torn linoleum covering the floor, the battered counter that served as kitchen, laundry and bathroom, the rough, peeling surfaces of the uninsulated logs.