When she and Tommy got together, they didn’t talk, not really, not after that first night. Truthfully, they didn’t do much of anything. They just sat, often holding hands. These rendezvous felt romantic to Alice, though they weren’t sexual—Tommy had never even tried to kiss her—so she didn’t know if she was fooling herself about the romantic part or not. Her feelings for him were definitely romantic. And sometimes she thought his for her were, too—the way he’d look at her, his eyes soft on her face. But other times he seemed so distant, like he was worlds away, no reaching him or calling him back.

That was how it was tonight, right now. They were huddled together. She was sort of tucked into him, fitted in between his legs, her back against his chest. She craned her neck so she’d have a view of his face, saw that faraway expression on it, and her heart swelled painfully in her chest. A small sigh escaped his lips. She bet he didn’t even know he’d made the sound. But she knew he’d made it, and she knew why he’d made it, too: out of longing, or rather, frustrated longing. He was wishing that it was Camilla he was holding in his arms, wishing it was Camilla’s blond hair that his chin was resting in, wishing it was Camilla’s scent that his nostrils were filling with. And knowing what he was thinking was causing Alice’s heart to swell past the point of pain, swell to the point where she was afraid it might actually burst, kill her. Unable to control herself anymore, she said to him, “Just say it. Just say what’s really wrong.”

He looked down at her. “Wrong? What are you talking about?”

“I know you have lots of worries these days. Your dad losing his medical license, money problems because of the bankruptcy, him and your mom splitting, and—”

“They’re not splitting.”

Alice stared at him, confused. “What? But I thought you told me they were getting a divorce?”

“They are. They’re not splitting, though. Not really. My mom didn’t even want to file. My dad made her do it before he started the Chapter Thirteen proceedings. That way she can keep some of the assets she brought into the marriage. Her parents left her a bunch of money and—” Interrupting himself. “Whatever. You don’t need to hear all this. It’s a whole complicated legal thing. The long and the short of it is, they’re still together, even though I think she should get as far away from him as she can.”

“And your family’s not broke?”