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you there.”
    He saw the blow land as she sucked in a breath. Then she tilted her chin even higher and said, “Are you asking me not to attend?”
    With that, he lost patience. “Give it up, Ali. You’re not taking a job in podunk Eternity Springs. You’re not leaving.”
    Her eyes went to ice. She removed her sunglasses from her shoulder bag, then slipped them on. In a voice as cold as January, she declared, “Just watch me, your honor. Just fucking watch me.”
    Mac gaped at her. Had he heard right? Had his wife just dropped an F -bomb? His Ali? The woman never cursed. Ever! It was one of her most precious principles. And to start with that particular word? Whoa.
    For the first time since she’d stormed upstairs, he wondered if she might actually leave him after all.
    Needing something to do, he took another sip from his coffee mug. She gave her hair an angry toss, then strode toward the door leading to the garage. She opened it, stepped outside, then had to yank her suitcase hard when it got hung up on the threshold. She reached back into the house for the doorknob, shothim one last furious look, and slammed the door shut.
    Mac heard another shocking curse, followed by the sound of the garage door going up. He remembered then that she’d forgotten to move her car into the garage last night, leaving it parked in the center of the circular drive in front. He moved to a window that gave a view of the front yard and watched with an unusual sense of detachment. By the time she dumped her suitcase into the trunk of her BMW and slammed the lid, it was as if he was staring through window glass ten inches thick.
    He saw her climb into the driver’s seat, and for some weird reason he recalled bringing Caitlin home from the hospital. When Ali started the car and pulled out of the drive, he remembered Chase pedaling his Big Wheel in that same drive. When she punched the gas and fishtailed her way down the street, he thought of the day Stephen got his driver’s license and made his first solo trip to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk for his mom. He watched the vapor from her tailpipe evaporate on the crisp morning air. Then she turned the corner at the end of the street and was gone.
    Gone. Okay. Well, good. I’m glad .
    She’d come right back.
    He waited and watched the grandfather clock in the hall. Two minutes. Five. Plenty of time to drive around the block.
    Mac looked out the window once again, but the street remained empty. Okay. Well, then. Fine. Just fine .
    Mac brought his coffee mug up to his mouth. Just fucking watch me .
    He jerked his arm back and sent the mug flying. Dark liquid splashed against butterscotch paint as the mug slammed against the wall, then fell to the tile floor and shattered. “Damn her.”
    Mac stood with his fists and his teeth clenched, breathing hard. Breaking the mug wasn’t enough. He wanted to hit something, to put his fist through the wall, to break something else. His body trembled with need of it.
    His gaze swept around the family room and focused on the collection of photographs that sat in crystal frames atop the baby grand piano. He was seconds away from sweeping the pictures to the floor with a violent swipe of his hand, but common sense prevailed. Just because Ali was acting like a fool didn’t mean he should.
    She’d left him. He couldn’t believe she’d actually left him.
    He glanced at the clock and winced. He was running late for work. But instead of shifting into overdrive with his morning ritual, he stayed in the shower long enough to drain the hot water tank, then took twice as long as usual to shave. He felt numb.
    She hadn’t believed him when he claimed not to know the source of their problems, but he had told her the truth. Some difficulties in their marriage were obvious—sex being the prime example. However, their lack of sex wasn’t the problem; it was a symptom of the problem. The underlying disease was more difficult to diagnose.
    It would be