After Rob dropped out of school and moved back to Texas, Tom almost effortlessly took his place in Hannah’s life, first asking her to a movie, then stopping by for late-night talks—and then late-night “everything but.” He even managed to become her boyfriend by October of their senior year, which meant he’d become lucky number three.

Tom actually called Rob to ask for his blessing, as if Hannah were his property. The call would have infuriated Hannah, had she known about it.

“Do whatever you want, Tom,” Rob had said, trying his best to sound unaffected.

Rob had just finished moving into his first apartment in Austin and, covered in sweat, surrounded by boxes, he quickly lit up a cigarette. “Hannah wasn’t even my girlfriend.”

“I know, man, but she really liked you. And I know you cared about her. She told me that. She said you guys might have been serious had it not been for Bee’s crush on you and your failing out of school and all.”

This news flustered Rob, who was shocked to hear that Hannah had not only been serious about him but had disclosed her feelings about him to Tom.

“Well, that’s flattering, Tom,” Rob said, patronizingly. “I’m glad Hannah enjoyed our quality time together, but, really, I’m in Texas. Go get laid. Do whatever you need to do.”

“It’s not about getting laid, Rob. I really like her.”

“Tom, I’m kidding. Really, you have my blessing.”

When Rob got off the phone that day, he picked up one of the books he’d just unpacked, a coffee-stained copy of John Sayles’s Los Gusanos, and chucked it against the wall.

Hannah and Tom wound up dating happily during their senior year and stayed together after graduation, when Tom offered to follow Hannah to New York City. From what Hannah had told Rob in her occasional e-mail dispatches, the twosome had lived in Queens for three years and then moved to Brooklyn. Tom had found a satisfactory job at a political-consulting firm near City Hall. All was well until he decided he was sick of the city and wanted to live in Boston near his family. He hoped to run for office in his hometown someday and needed to start a life in Massachusetts.

Hannah had no interest in leaving New York, unless it was for Los Angeles. So that was that.

Rob didn’t know many details about the split, whether Hannah had begged Tom to stay or if there was a chance they’d reunite. Rob’s awkward call to Hannah after hearing about the breakup had been brief. Hannah had other friends to lean on. He was all the way in Texas, mostly out of touch and uninformed.

Rob had not seen Hannah in person since that trip to Cape Cod. These phone calls reminded him that Hannah was quick witted and capable of making him laugh, something he rarely did these days.

And now that he was taking time to think about it, Hannah had always been a very good friend to him, even before they began a physical relationship. She’d always helped him with school, forcing him to study for tests that they both knew he’d sleep through. She spent her late nights quizzing him about his parents, the father he never met and the mother who had spent much of his teenage years traveling with her boyfriend.