Tarla answered the door in a black silk nightgown and robe. Her feet were bare. Her bed hair was mussed. She was beautiful, but he could see a hint of age in her face, as if it were the first time he’d noticed that she was growing older. He hadn’t seen her since their fight at the Bok Sanctuary, but her lips bent into a smile that was very much like his own. She was about to make a joke. Then she saw his expression, and everything changed. She knew, the way a mother always knows, that her son was in grievous pain.

‘What is it, Cab?’

He pushed past her into the apartment, which was lit only by the kitchen light. The patio doors were opaque with rain. He was exhausted. The two-hour drive from Lake Wales to Clearwater in the storm, with his mind swirling, had left him numb. He wasn’t able to cry.

‘Did you know?’ he asked.

Tarla stared at him. It was in her eyes: She knew exactly what was going on. She said nothing, because she was afraid of anything she might say. This was one of those fragile moments. Play it wrong, and the world would shatter. She was all too familiar with their history. She didn’t want him to run away from her again.

‘Did you know?’ he repeated, harsh and demanding.

‘Only when you told me about you and Diane,’ Tarla replied calmly. ‘Then I guessed.’

‘But you knew she was pregnant. You knew she lost the child.’

Tarla put her palms together in front of her lips, as if she were praying, which he knew she was not. She didn’t try to embrace him. They weren’t touchy-feely like that, and she was smart enough to realize that this wasn’t a situation that could be fixed with a hug. She sat down on the plush white sofa in the semi-darkness. ‘Sit down, Cab,’ she murmured.

‘I’ll stand.’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, sit down,’ she snapped, but then she shook her head in annoyance with herself. ‘I’m sorry, darling.’

Cab sat down in an armchair across from her. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

‘I found out much later,’ Tarla told him. ‘I didn’t know back then. I knew something was wrong – I knew she’d been injured in some way – but I had no idea what had happened. She didn’t say a word. How did you find out, Cab?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘I don’t imagine Diane told you,’ Tarla said.

‘She didn’t. When did she tell you?’

‘After Drew killed himself. I’m not sure she meant to, but it spilled out with her grief.’

Cab nodded. ‘What did she say?’