“I’m over it. I’ve had to drag myself past it so I could learn to trust Jane again. I read about a dozen books about relationships and they all told me the exact same thing: these things happen. It’s completely normal for people in long-term relationships to develop feelings for someone else. Because we are humans, not machines who follow a well-devised trajectory. And one person can’t possibly be everything for another. That’s just a myth and so on and so on. I do believe that’s all true, but it’s still a shock when you discover that the woman you love has been having very deep feelings for someone else.” Annie worried the drink coaster with her fingers, tearing it into little strips. “In a way, I wished she’d just slept with someone else, you know? Someone she was simply irresistibly attracted to and then forgot about. But this was worse. She was in love with her. I knew it for the longest time, I just didn’t want to see. They were always hanging out together and it was always Beth this and Beth that. And you know Jane. She doesn’t socialize easily. It was like she was a different person around Beth. That’s what hurt me the most. The intimacy between them. It didn’t matter one bit that it wasn’t physical. In fact, it was only when things did get physical—and only then—that Jane realized she had to draw a line because otherwise she would lose me.” Annie paused for a much needed sip of wine. She looked at Rita, wondering if she had something to say—Rita usually had something to say about everything.

“Doesn’t sound to me as though you’re fully over it. Even though seven years seems a long time to hold on to a grudge like that. Especially one against your wife.” Rita scanned her face. “I was at your wedding, Annie. You married Jane after this happened. That must mean something.”

“It means a lot. It meant a lot when she asked. In a way, the whole thing made us stronger. I’m convinced of that.”

“So what’s the problem?” Rita bored her eyes into Annie’s again.

“Just a bit of a bad week, I guess.” Annie shrugged, unsure whether she was fooling her friend. “I’m not sure Jane is actually writing anything these days. She’s not a secretive author who keeps her manuscript close to her chest until it’s finished. She’s usually so fast, I’m always having to catch up with what she’s written.”

“So you think something is going on with Jane? Something to do with Beth?”