Chapter 1

Earl Fox came home drunk from the class reunion, hunched over the toilet, throwing up and crying while he made a phone call.

"Pick up, Clementine Butler! Answer the phone!"

Clementine. The name of the ex-girlfriend he'd broken up with eight years ago.

Only when his phone finally died did Earl slump against the toilet and fall into a heavy sleep.

Early the next morning, when I demanded answers, his face went stony.

"She walked out on me at the worst possible time, went overseas without a backward glance. All I feel for her is hate. I'd be glad to watch her die in front of me."

He probably didn't notice it himself.

When he said the word hate, his back drew tight, as if he were about to surrender any second.

The next moment there was a knock at the door. Outside stood a woman, her eyes red from crying.

The instant he saw her, Earl strode forward and clamped a hard grip on her chin.

"Where do you think you are? Who do you think I am? You've actually got the nerve to show up at my door?"

"Clementine, I already told you. Unless you drop dead, I will never forgive you."

I turned my face slightly and wiped the wetness from the corner of my eye.

Earl, without love, where does hate come from?

I don't want any part of your tangle of love and hate.

And my future, of course, doesn't need you in it either.

1

Earl demanded answers, his voice a low, uncontrolled snarl.

"What gives you the right to show your face in front of me again? Clementine, was I not clear enough last night?"

"Back then you couldn't leave me so much as a single word. What face do you have to come crawling back and beg me to forgive you?"

Clementine wept and shook her head over and over, tears spilling out in big drops with every movement.

"No, Earl, it's not like that, it really isn't."

"Just hear me out, I'm begging you, hear me out..."

Anger still burned on his face, but at the sight of her tears something flickered in his eyes, something that couldn't bear it.

The hand gripping her chin loosened on its own, as if he were afraid of hurting her.

"Fine, then talk! I'm giving you the chance! Talk!"

"What kind of magnificent reason was it, that made you willing to abandon me at a time like that?"

His words were full of fury, but his eyes were plainly begging.

Begging her for an explanation. Begging her for a reason.

But Clementine only wept and shook her head, unable to get out one complete sentence.

The look in Earl's eyes shifted from hope to something dark, until nothing was left but sheer venom.

I sat on the couch watching it all like a bystander, feeling a sting rise in my nose.

So it turned out Earl wasn't naturally calm and self-possessed.

It turned out that, for one woman, he could lose control to this degree.

Once I understood that, a dull pressure gathered in my chest, wave after wave, and the tears nearly broke loose.

But Clementine was still here, and my pride wouldn't let me cry in front of her.

Just then, Earl caught sight of me still sitting on the couch.

He turned, seized my wrist, and yanked me right up in front of Clementine.

"Eight years, Clementine. There's been nothing possible between us for a long time."

"See her? This is Faith Summers, my girlfriend. We're getting married soon."

At the sight of the crushed look on Clementine's face, Earl's own face was flush with the thrill of successful revenge.

But I was the only one who could feel it, the hand gripping my wrist trembling faintly.

Before Clementine could recover, Earl turned to me and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

"Be good. Wait at home for me, all right? I'm off to work."

With that, Earl didn't spare Clementine another glance. He grabbed his coat and walked straight out the door.

Clementine didn't even have time to wipe her tears before she scrambled after him.

"Earl! Earl!"

I walked over to the balcony and quietly watched the two of them.

The driver had long been waiting at the door.

From start to finish Earl never once looked at Clementine. He got in the car and drove off without a backward glance.

Clementine chased after him step by step, but how could a person outrun a car?

The car gradually vanished at the far end of the road, and Clementine's knees gave out. She dropped hard to the ground.

She lay sprawled there, her whole body shaking, as if she were crying.

I didn't watch any longer. I turned and walked back into the living room.

I curled up on the couch, hugging the throw pillow tight against me, just like the night before.

Yesterday Earl had gone to his college class reunion.

When he came back, he'd hunched over the toilet, throwing up and crying, dialing that number again and again.

On the other end, a mechanical prompt kept playing.

"We're sorry. The number you have dialed is not in service."

But drunk as he was, Earl kept dialing, over and over, tireless.

"Please, Clemmie, pick up. Pick up my call."

Only when his phone finally died did he slump against the toilet and fall into a heavy sleep.

And that was how I spent the whole night, sitting on the couch hugging that pillow.

I wanted to ask him.

What happened at the class reunion?

And who was Clementine?

I never expected to find out this very day.

After sitting there a long while, I called my best friend, Cindy Norris.

She was Earl's college classmate, and also my closest friend.

"Cindy, were you at the reunion yesterday?"

"What happened?"