“The rest of that year. Neither of us went to summer school so we both moved back home between semesters. I got an email from her. She and Jason were getting married—she was pregnant—and she wouldn’t be coming back to school.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. I never saw her again. Anyway, that’s when I moved to California. I worked for a year to establish my residency—real estate—then went back to college.”

“But you were still in the closet?”

“Yes. Very.”

“Why? I mean, especially there.”

“I’m not sure, really. I was hanging on to my small-town fears, I guess.”

“But you had another relationship?”

“Yes. An older woman. She was fifteen years older than I was.” She swallowed. “She was married.”

“You sure can pick them.”

“I know. Crazy.”

“How long did that last?”

“Over a year. She…she committed suicide.”

“Oh, Dani…I’m sorry.”

She shoved the rest of her hamburger away. “I should have seen it coming, I suppose. She was so miserable in her life.”

“Why didn’t she just divorce her husband?”

“Three kids. The thought of them finding out…she couldn’t deal with it. And on top of it all, he was a really good guy. She was living with such guilt—because of me—that it just ate at her and ate at her until she couldn’t take it anymore.”

“How did you handle that?”

“I handled it much like I handled the first one. I pushed it all aside and acted like it never happened.” She rested her chin on her palm. “I wasn’t in love with her. There wasn’t an emotional involvement. But she satisfied a need I had.”

“To be with a woman?”

Dani nodded. “I felt…disconnected, I think. Her family didn’t know I existed, so it wasn’t like I could share their grief. Her name was Tara. She worked for the real estate company I worked for.” She shook her head. “And no one knew.”

“And that’s it? That’s been your life?”

“Well-meaning friends would set me up on dates with handsome guys. Work friends always included me in their outings. I was very sociable. Yet very lonely. I’ve learned to live with it.”

“And the bar that night?”

Dani blew out her breath. “It wasn’t the first time I’d been. Even before the movies, I always wore a disguise when I went.”

“Damn, you really were in the closet.”

“Yes. I never went home with anyone. Never took anyone to my place. I went just to be around people…like me. I made a few friends. It was enough.”

“Yet you weren’t able to be you. Did you give your real name?”

“God, no. Ironically, I used Traci’s name.”