“All right,” she said. “I know what you want. I’m going to stay there. You’re jealous of the things I’ve been able to do for us, and I’ve been waiting for you to pull this. So far as saying no to you is concerned, I’m expressing my true feelings. It’s just not worth it to me as often as we’ve been doing it.”

“What do you think is fair?”

“Once a week.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No. I’m not.”

He couldn’t control himself. “I was better off when you were cheating on me.”

She said coldly, “I won’t forget that.”

“Do you want a divorce? Is that it?”

“No. I didn’t say that.”

He got up from the bed, thinking that maybe he wanted one. There was nothing he could do for her like this. More and more, there was nothing he wanted to do for her at all. He had to be honest. He had to think it all over again.

“Where are you going?”

“To the kitchen,” he said. “Now I want to be left alone.”

Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The offer from Manitou made his decision for him. He took it without telling her and waited, hoping that things would change. They did not. At the end of the summer he told her that he was resigning from the Police Department and taking a job in private business in another city. He wasn’t taking her. He didn’t want her.

“What are we supposed to do?”

“Karen, I don’t care. You have your job. I’ll send you what I can.”

“‘I could sue you. I could get a judgment against you.”

“That’s your decision. I don’t figure that there’s anything between us anymore.”

“I had the right to be told that you were doing this!”

“You think so? I wanted you to come around by yourself, not under pressure. We both know you could have done that—for a while. What’s the use of threats? They’re not what I want from a marriage, what I think I should get.”

“I stopped. I’ve tried to be honest since I stopped.”

“That’s not all, Karen. What did you go to college for? You’re not bettering yourself, you’re just being important. These things you’ve bought—it’s as if you wanted them around as proof that you are part of the world. You know you’re not really putting in the effort. You’re like a kid feeling sorry for yourself. You’re trying to show the world—or me. It’s just stupid.”

“What about Stephanie?”