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Camille Collett went still at my answer.

Nathan Holt looked just as stunned. He started to say something, but another voice cut him off.

My cousin, Esther Sullivan, poked her head in from the balcony, her face lighting up.

"Natalie, you finally came to your senses! You should've divorced him ages ago. You've been married for three years, and he's spent two of them icing you out.

"He's either off traveling with some other woman or taking some other woman to the movies. If I were you, I'd give him a couple of good slaps before I left him."

Camille muttered, "Isn't that cheating? Natalie, just divorce him. You're gorgeous. You could have anyone you want."

I didn't answer. I just gave her a faint smile.

"Enough about that. It's almost noon, and the dining hall's going to be packed. I'll take you and your roommates out for lunch. Bring your... boyfriend."

Nathan's face tightened, but when he saw how excited Camille was, he didn't correct her this time.

I forced myself to ignore the dull ache in my chest and took them to a restaurant near campus.

Esther, Camille, and their other two roommates chatted about everything under the sun while Nathan and I barely said a word.

Every so often, Nathan and I caught each other's eye, but he always looked away almost immediately. Then he cut a piece from his own steak and placed it on Camille's plate.

"Here. Try this."

"Thanks, Nathan."

That was all it took for the other three to start teasing them.

Esther jumped in first. "Camille, you two are so cute together. Come on, tell us how you met!"

Camille glanced at Nathan, a shy smile spreading across her face.

"My mom works as a housekeeper for Nathan's family. When I was a junior in high school, I went over to drop something off for her, and that's when we met.

"There was a huge blackout that day, and I'm scared of the dark, so I kept grabbing onto him. After that, he offered to cover my tuition. He took me to the movies and on trips too."

The moment she finished, the others started oohing and aahing all over again.

Alicia Lowe, one of the other roommates, asked, "So how did you two end up together? Who made the first move?"

"It was—"

"Camille!" Nathan cut her off, his voice sharp.

She turned to him, confused.

He hesitated for several seconds, then simply nudged her bowl closer. "Your soup's getting cold. Have some."

Camille pouted, but she still picked up her spoon and had a few spoonfuls.

"Nathan, stop treating me like a little kid all the time."

The table went quiet for a moment.

Then I spoke. "Did you two meet on Valentine's Day three years ago?"

Camille looked at me in surprise. "Yes! Natalie, how did you know?"

My hands started to tremble, and my voice caught. "That day, I was in terrible pain. I called my husband and asked him to come get me, but he said something had come up and told me to take a cab to the hospital by myself.

"It was so dark I couldn't see where I was going. I fell down the stairs, and we lost our baby."

The glass slipped from Nathan's hand and hit the floor with a sharp clatter.