“I’ll be able to think about it later. I will, anyway—you know?” Now she sat down. “I guess that’s everything. Have I left anything out? Is there anything that you don’t know about me?” She turned away. “Do you want to know how often I put myself to sleep that way at nights?”

“I didn’t ask. It’s your business. Anybody living alone has that kind of tension. You don’t have to be ashamed of it.”

Her body shook. She was crying. “You’d better go. This isn’t going to do us any good.”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. I’ll call you when you get home, if you’d like. Steffie’s clothes aren’t ready for school tomorrow. If you want to talk—just talk—from now on, call me.”

“I was waiting for you to say that.”

“Oh, yes, I want you to call.” She turned to him. “I need it. Before we were married and we had that little apartment we both paid the rent on, I used to wait for you. That was the happiest time of my life. We did a lot of talking then.” She stopped, almost hopeful. “I want to talk to you. I’ve needed what happened here tonight. All my life I’ve really wanted it much, much more than the other thing.”

“What other thing?”

“What I was looking for. Excitement.” The word was not right. She closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side. Her lip trembled until she bit down on it. “Adventure. I was looking for that. My dreams,” she said softly. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I wanted romance.”

He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

Part Two

PART TWO

Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The pall over Port Smith, a permanent inverted bowl of soot, dirt, and dust, rose stiffly and precariously in the red air like smoke over a smoldering fire. An airliner dropping from the holding pattern southwest of the International Airport slipped down deeper into the murk, nearly vanishing, its running lights trailing clues. Below was the bay and beyond was the spit of land Port Smith called the Point, and beyond that was the ocean, an oily expanse without surface or definable end. Nearer, the lights of the city glittered and swam in the smoke and shadow, and directly underneath, the roads of Clausen County slashed the hardening gloom in every direction. Cautious in the presence of the heavier traffic in the air, Leland raised Phillips Airport on the radio, identified himself, and received permission to land.