There was no use in protesting; Eli's arrow simply had struck too close to the mark. She apparently wasn't the thespian she'd imagined. But there was no question what she'd seen in his cottage. And was he now trying to make an excuse he was in another state at the time? It was such an unbelievable story and totally unverifiable. A top-secret site, my ass, she wanted to scream. What else had she gotten wrong? Was every story he had ever told her just the same lies and fabrications? Was this what she meant to him?

She opened her mouth to speak and words just tumbled out. "I ... I've really been counting on you to ... I'm sorry I ... you really don't have to ...."

He moved closer and placed his arm around her shoulder. She should have cringed from his touch but didn't. Her only solace was that she'd resisted the urge to yet again blubber.

"I know about your girlfriend," she croaked.

"My ... who? Jan? Or Daisy?" he joked.

There was a look somewhere between confusion and amusement on his face when she gazed up.

"I saw your girlfriend ... at your cottage."

"Oh, Jesus," he nearly moaned. "... you came by when I was in Utah, didn't you?"

"I ...," she began. Mere inches stood between her and blubberdom.

"I've had someone staying with me for the last month or so," he said. "Didn't Ronny tell you that?"

"Who the hell is Ronny? Your whore?" She hadn't intended to say those ugly words nor to bark them in such a dreadful tone.

"Ronny, Ronny Cortez, he's a nurse that looks after my houseguest during the day ... big guy, dark hair, usually in scrubs and blue jeans?"

She froze. The guy with the pushcart? Eli's sick friend? It dawned on her that Eli cleaned his own cottage.

"There are a couple of different people who work at night," he went on. "I wish someone would have told me you came by. If you don't believe me ...." He pulled out his phone.

She felt like a moron. "Why didn't you tell me?" she said suddenly defensive. "And isn't your place awfully small for a guest?" She felt bad the moment she finished speaking. He'd done nothing more than reach out to a sick friend.

"The place is small, I know ... but she didn't have anyplace else to go, and I didn't tell you because she didn't want anyone knowing. Well, and because I didn't want you to know, either. This person is ... toxic."

"Then why let her live with you at all?"

"Because I used to be married to her."

"Oh, shit are ...."

"No, we're not back together," he said gently. "Don't be ridiculous. Britt never crossed a bridge in her life that she didn't immediately burn, but when she showed up at my place not long after you and I talked about her last, claiming not to have anyplace else to go, I couldn't just turn her away. She looked ... God, Kate, she was so sick."

"How sick?" She didn't know what to think or how to feel. Pity? Worry? Relief? Another jig?

"The kind of sick people don't get better from." He hesitated. "I had her in the hospital for a while, but she just wants her privacy and to end her days someplace she feels ... I dunno ... at home?"

"I'm sorry." Kate decided that relief was the mood she'd indulge first. "I'm an asshole."

"No, you're not. It's just been shitty. The whole thing is shitty." He leaned back on his hands, a pained look on his face. He spoke slowly and quietly, but with great feeling. "You know ... it's funny, I've seen people die before, a few of them people I knew pretty well. But there isn't ... I mean, there's a difference between seeing someone die and watching them die. I never knew anyone could be so afraid." He shook his head. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"No," he said. "It's not okay. I was just bitching, and I have zero right to bitch. It's funny, over the years I've said some really unkind things about her. She's been the butt of a lot of my jokes. I mean, who doesn't love an ex-wife joke? But the moment I realized how sick she really was, I felt like the worst human being who's ever lived. I couldn't help but take her in ... more out of guilt than anything."

"Eli, buddy, is there anything I can do?"

"Not a thing. I used to be on passably good terms with her dad, who's pretty well off and possibly an even bigger asshole than as she is, and I shamed him into covering most of her expenses. It's all about pain management now anyway. Typical Britt. She knew she was sick for ages, and when she finally bothered to go see a doctor ... well, she was more worried what chemo and radiation might do to her looks than what her prognosis might be. So, in true form, she decided just to turn the partying up a notch or three, instead."

There was a moment of silence. Kate was stunned.

"You're not joking, are you?"

"I wish I were."

"How ...." She hesitated. "Oh, fuck it. How long has she got?"

He shrugged his shoulders again. "The doctors say a few weeks, a few months. But they said that a few weeks and a few months ago. There is an upside to this, though." He again hesitated and swallowed. "People in her situation, you know, depressed and in pain, often say some really awful, poisonous things." He laughed. "Then again, she always said awful and poisonous things. But, um ... in her more lucid moments, she's said some very kind things, made some explanations and apologies, you know, for things that went on before, that were very touching ... the kinds of things I wish she would've said ten or fifteen years ago."

"Maybe God steered you two back together."

He gave a dry chuckle. "I wouldn't go that far."

"She's lucky to have you for an ex. Most people wouldn't do what you're doing. I couldn't say how I'd react in the same situation."

"Kate, nobody knows what their capable of until the time comes. I'm sure you'd do the right thing. And like I said, I'm not doing anything noble. I'm more motivated by guilt ... by what a terrible person I've been and by what a shitty husband I was. But who knows ... maybe you're right. Maybe there is some closure here."

Kate wanted to punch herself in the face. Her sense of relief at the news he'd just told her was diminished by the guilt she felt for rejoicing that this poor, suffering woman wasn't her competitor. At what point did my life become a soap opera? she asked herself. She had to say something.

"Eli, I'm sorry. I know there's nothing between us, but it really upset me when I thought you'd found somebody else." Those were the hardest words she'd ever spoken.

"Sorry?"

"I mean ... I know you're not really into me. I just got a little carried away." Okay, those were the hardest words she'd ever spoken.

The look on Eli's face when he next spoke was pure incredulity. "Kate, I've been following you around like a lovesick puppy for the last three and a half months. For chrissake ... I let you eat off my plate," he nearly shouted before continuing in a mild voice. "How could you think I wasn't interested?"

It was nearly dark, and he moved a little closer, so close that their bodies now were touching. There was no need to speak above a whisper. Several squeaking and choking noises escaped her before she managed to reply.

"You've never even so much as checked me out ... let alone made a pass at me," she said from somewhere deep in her throat.

"I wanted you to like me," he whispered as if those words said everything that ever needed to be said. "And I look at you all the time."

"Not like that," she whispered back.

"Of course, I do. I just wait until you can't see me do it."

"Like the view back there, do ya'?" she purred weakly.

"It's pretty nice," he agreed. "And does it mean nothing at all to you that I compliment your beauty endlessly?"

"Weren't you just trying to win an argument?"

"In the view of every other person on the Earth except you, I've already won that argument. You've seen the comments for the trailer, haven't you?"

"What trailer?"

"The trailer for ... how have you not seen the trailer for your own movie?"

"Eli, they haven't even wrapped filming yet. And how do you know it's my movie?" As she spoke, she moved closer and was soon leaning back in Eli's arms.

He'd recovered his phone from where it lay in the grass and begun to fiddle with it. "Because you're in it, goofball," he said. "Hold on, I had a signal earlier. There we go."

She gasped several times as the two-minute trailer played. There she was, on screen for just over a minute, and it was gorgeous.

"I had no idea," she whispered in a voice thick with disbelief. "I should call Julien ... no," she caught herself. "I'll call him tomorrow ... no, even better. I'll thank him next time I see him."

"Now do you believe how beautiful you are?"

"Mmmm ... I'm open to negotiations on the point. I gotta say, that dress looks even better on me than I remember."

"Blue is the perfect color for you ... and that voice. Whew. You sound different when you work."

"That's my stage voice, baby."

"Way sexy. That poor kid didn't have a chance. Who was that ponce, anyway? He looked about fourteen."

"Oh, I forget his name. He's sort of big now ... had a regular role on one of those sexy-vampire shows on basic cable." She laughed. "Can you believe he actually suggested he and I take a room and do the things my character talked about doing?"

"Am I gonna have to do him like I did poor old Ted Phelps?" Eli asked grimly.

"Shut up ...." She battered his thigh ineffectually several times. "He was adorable. Ha! I reached over and pinched his cheek and told him how cute he was after he made his pitch. I thought he was going to cry ... then he started laughing."

"Well, the reviews for you are raving." Eli fiddled his phone some more. "Here's what the guy at Variety said, 'must be some sort of fantasy movie, because no man living could've resisted the enchanting Alice Caitlyn.' Most of the comments I've read are like that."

"Okay," she said with a smile, "I'll let you have this round. But I hope no one is disappointed I'm only in the actual movie for three minutes."

"Yes. But they're the last three minutes of the director's favorite scene."

"I know," she said, "I'm not bemoaning."

She leaned farther into him, throttling a few blades grass between her fingers as she did, and spoke again with all the sincerity she could muster. "I'm sorry for acting crazy, again."

"You haven't been acting the least bit crazy. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't think you were all that into me either." He cleared his throat. "At least until you humped my leg last time I was here."

"Is there any way we could pretend that never happened?" she cringed.

"Why would we? You seemed to like it."

"Didn't you? You know ... that part earlier in the day?"

"Of course, but I wasn't sure what to make of that either. Everything that day just seemed to come out of the blue, and then after Leona left ... well, I just wasn't sure what to make of it, and I didn't want to rush anything." He put his arms around her and squeezed gently. When he spoke again, he spoke from a well of emotion from which she'd never heard him draw. "Kate, I couldn't bear another disappointment. It'd be the end of me."

"I won't let anything happen to you, baby," she whispered, tenderly running her fingers along his cheek and jaw.

They sat talking for a time longer. Mostly they steered away from talk about emotions and the like. It was obvious to both that all those things would take time. She was just happy, just happy. The air cooled, and they squeezed closer together.

"It's past dark now," he whispered after a short silence. "Shouldn't we head to the house? The Chupacabra will be on the prowl."

"Nah," she said. "Everybody knows they only go after strays. As long as we stay together, we're okay."