By Larry McMurtry
Date: 13 January 2000

Excerpt From Chpt. 12

Jill didn't call for ten days. When she did call
the first thing she asked was,"How much have you
written?"
 "It doesn't matter," I said. "I don't want to be
a writer all that much, anymore. You didn't have 
to go away."
  She was silent a minute. "Don't be that way,"
she said."You don't have to sound so bitter. I
miss you, too."
  "I am bitter," I said. I was. The more I thought
about it all the bitterer and more hurt I got. She
hadn't had to go away. She could even have slept
with me. In retrospect it didn't seem like either
of us had tried very hard.
  Jill sighed. "You mustn't be bitter, even if you
are," she said.
  "Why not? It wasn't just a flirtation. I love you."
  "You're being very stubborn," she said. "It's a 
little late for you to be so stubborn. Why didn't 
you think of some way to keep me?"
   She sounded hostile suddenly, and I felt hostile.
We hadn't been when we parted, not at all. I was
surprised to feel so hostile. I had been brooding
for days. I guess I blamed her for not making us
work. I guess she blamed me for the same thing.