"What happened?"
"She came home."
"And?"
I sat.
"She came home because he didn't choose her."
Ben said nothing.
That was kindness.
Three days passed.
I stayed at the hotel.
Claire called constantly.
Then Emily.
Emily's first message:
Please hear her out before doing something permanent.
Second:
She made a terrible mistake, but she loves you.
Third:
I think you're interpreting the trip in the worst possible way.
I did not answer.
The problem with "worst possible way" was that Claire had been given repeated opportunities to provide a better one.
She had not.
On the third morning, I checked out.
Not because I was going home.
Because hotel rooms are expensive and depressing.
I waited until Claire left for work.
Then entered the house.
Milo nearly knocked me over.
I sat on the floor with him for five minutes.
"I'm sorry, buddy."
He licked my face.
I went upstairs.
Packed a week's worth of clothing.
Laptop.
Documents.
Medication.
Gym bag.
I stood in our bedroom.
The framed wedding photograph on the dresser showed Claire laughing.
Me looking at her instead of the camera.
I removed my wedding ring.
It had been on my hand nine years.
The skin beneath was paler.
I carried it downstairs.
Placed it on the kitchen counter.
Beside the spot where Claire's phone had been when she froze.
I was loading the last bag into my car when her vehicle turned into the driveway.
She braked too hard.
Jumped out.
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving."
"You can't just leave."
I almost smiled.
"Apparently people can."
"Nathan."
She came closer.
"Please."
"We need to talk."
"Then talk."
I closed the trunk.
"Tell me everything."
She looked toward the house.
"Not here."
"Here is fine."
"Nathan."
"No more controlled language."
"No more closure."
"No more complicated."
"What happened?"
She folded her arms around herself.
For a moment I thought she would refuse again.
Then something in her face collapsed.
"We slept together."
The sentence still hurt.
Even though I already knew.
"When?"
"Night four."
Day four.
Might be offline most of today.
I felt sick.
"Once?"
Claire started crying.
"No."
"How many times?"
"I don't know."
"Was it every night?"
"Nathan, please."
"Fine."
I held up a hand.
"I don't need numbers."
"What did you think was happening?"
She looked down.
"At first, I thought it really would be closure."
"We talked the first few days."
"We hiked."
"We talked about why we broke up."
"Then we started talking about what would've happened if we'd stayed together."
"And?"