CHAPTER 101

She sipped at the chocolate, allowing it to burn a warm trail into her belly.

Jack came in and sat across from her in the armchair, his own mug in his hands. But he didn’t drink. He just watched her with sad eyes.

“You can’t worry about me now, Bethy. You have a life. You have a man who cares about you. You need to focus on that and quit worrying about me.”

She made a sound of exasperation and downed half of the chocolate.

“I can’t just stop worrying about you, Jack. I’ve been worrying about you for too many years. That just doesn’t go away because my circumstances have changed. Why don’t you care more about yourself?”

“I came back because I’d planned to call you from the phone here,” he said quietly. “Wanted to say good-bye.”

Alarm raced down her spine. “Good-bye? Where are you going?”

“Away,” he said simply, not elaborating.

She finished off the cocoa and set the cup back down on the coffee table with a thud.

“Where?” she persisted. “What are your plans? Don’t do this, Jack. Please,