“The raised voice that surprises me, however, belongs to Nash. I creep to the door and crack it the tiniest bit, turning my head and pressing my ear to it.You are a shameless, creepy eavesdropping hussy.”

“She opened my closet door just the tiniest crack. So I could breathe.”

“Thought you said this was just dinner?”Abe opens the glass door and holds it for me. As I pass by him, he lowers his head so that his voice is close to my ear. “It’s never just dinner.”

“I missed his voice in my head, in my ears. I missed his face. His smile.”

“I pulled the phone toward me and punched in the number of the sheriff's office in Flat Mesa. The deputy at the desk put me straight through. The phone made a couple of clicks, and then the sheriff's voice sounded in my ear."Jones," he said. Dark, biting, laconic."Hey, Nash. It's Janet."There was a long silence."Fuck," Nash Jones said clearly, and he hung up on me.”

“She closes the door completely, and I crouch there. I allow myself to fall forward and rest my head on the door frame. My breath bleeds. My heartbeat drowns my ears.”