Faye leaned forward, turning her head so that she could look into his eyes. He looked away.

“I know I’ve been distracted,” she said. “Work’s been crazy. You know that. But the launch is over now. Things will be better. I’m sorry. I’ll be around more. I’ll make it up to you.”

He put his head in his hands.

“I’ll take leave. We can go away for a bit. I don’t understand. What have I done? What’s gone wrong? I thought we were—”

“Stop it!” He stood and walked to the window. “Stop begging. It’s not that. It’s . . . it’s . . .”

Faye was crying. He stared at her.

“Stop it. Listen, I’ll grab some things. I’ll go and stay—”

“No!”

“I’ll go and stay in a hotel for a bit. Until we can discuss this sensibly. Okay?”

“But what happened? I don’t understand. What changed, Derek?”

“Nothing changed,” he said, quietly. “Not for me, at least.”

“But then . . .” She couldn’t stop crying. Her world had collapsed.

Derek threw some clothes in a bag and left. Faye called in sick and spent the next three days at home. On the evening of the third day, she was in the kitchen making herself an omelette when Derek returned. She met him at the door. His eyes were bloodshot and his shoulders slumped.

“I’m home,” he said. “I was wrong.”

“About what?” she asked, holding herself rigid.

He looked down. “About not believing in our marriage.”

“But why—”

“Please, Faye, is it not enough that I am here?”

She looked at him and saw despair. His head was bowed, his eyes red-rimmed and his arms hung limply at his sides. She’d never seen him look so broken. She wanted to comfort him. He’d made a mistake. He deserved another chance. Faye put her arms around him and held him while he cried.

A few days later, Diane arrived to return a pressure cooker she’d borrowed from Faye. Derek wasn’t yet home from work and, after the women had had tea, Faye walked Diane to her car.

Diane turned to her as she opened her car door. “So I guess you heard about Michelle’s latest drama?”

“No. What?”

“Pfft. She left Geoffrey when he refused to obey her wishes to give up his idea of leaving the bank.”

“What?”

“He’s starting a garden business.”

“Oh?”

Diane laughed. “Yes, you can imagine how unimpressed madam is about that.”

Faye said nothing.

“Anyway, she got over it and is back home with him again.”

“Geoffrey’s going ahead with his plans?”

“Apparently.”

Later, as she handed him a beer, Faye asked Derek if he’d heard about Geoffrey’s planned resignation from the bank. He grunted his acknowledgement.

“Who told you?” he asked.

“Diane was here earlier.”

“What else did she gossip about?”