Hathaway grabbed his jacket and practically ran from the office. Arriving at the Maiden's Arms, he ordered two half pints and found a table outside. He was halfway through his second cigarette when Hobson arrived.

"I've made a list of possible reasons why he's acting like this." Hathaway couldn't help but organize things, especially when facing a difficult problem. "Anger. Guilt. Hurt. Fear. Embarrassment. Confusion."

"That's not incredibly helpful, James. We have to figure out why he feels whichever of these he feels. Why not just ask him?"

"You're joking, right?" He looked at her in alarm.

She was unsuccessfully suppressing a smile. "Well, I wouldn't make you do it anyway. You have to work with him. Besides, he owes me an explanation for running off like that. No, let's see if we can come up with a reason for any of these."

James thought a while, then threw the end of his cigarette away. He lit another. "I put my money on guilt. Friday night he was able to forget about his wife. Saturday morning, he not only realized that he was unfaithful to her, but also that he was able to forget her for a while."

"That sounds very plausible. What about anger? He might feel like we tricked him into this."

Hathaway looked down his nose at her with growing concern. "Why would he think that, Laura? Unless you told him about our bet."

She looked away, guilty.

"Oh, God, you told him. You told him. What's he supposed to think?"

"I had to, James. He saw us whispering and figured it meant there's something between us. He thought he was invading your turf, and I could tell he'd keep his hands off, no matter what."

"He's not invading my turf?"

She gave him a mock slap. "Cocky sod!"

He grinned. She certainly packed a lot of attitude into that petite frame. Then he was back down to business. "Well, that could explain anger and hurt. And would add to the guilt, if he thought he should have realized something was afoot and stopped it before it went too far." He thought some more. "Fear doesn't seem to fit in. Unless you two didn't use any protection?" He looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"He assured me it wasn't necessary. Is that enough information for you, or do I need to get more clinical?"

"I get the picture. So fear is off the list." He crossed off the word.

"Confusion is easy, as long as any of these others is present. I'd say that one's a certainty. But embarrassment? Why would a guy be embarrassed about it? His performance was more than adequate, and he didn't call me by the wrong name or anything." She looked at him quizzically.

"Well, if he thinks we were matching wits with him and he lost, he might be embarrassed about that. We both know that he lost his grip on that supreme control he keeps over his heart. He might be embarrassed at being so weak and easily led."

She nodded at his reasoning. "And he's not one much for fornication." She looked at the paper on the table. "So we've narrowed the list by one. I'm not sure we can do much about guilt, but the rest of it, if we can just convince him it wasn't a cruel conspiracy . . ."

"I think we need an intervention. Corner him and explain it together."

She looked thoughtful. "No. He'll throw up a big wall if we come at him too hard and fast. It'll really look like we're teamed up against him. I'm inclined to just give him more time. He absolutely reached the conclusion on his own, and if he thinks about it enough, he'll realize no one led him anywhere, he wasn't tricked into anything. He definitely wanted what he got."

"Wanted it at the time, you mean."

She grew quiet. "James, Friday night was genuine. For once, he let his guard down completely, let himself be totally vulnerable. His loneliness is more than he can bear any longer, I'm sure of it. He told me he was resigned to 'doing without' from now on. Maybe now he's angry that he let himself see what he's been missing and can't reconcile it with what he thought he wanted all this time."

"So meanwhile, I just take the crap he throws at me and neatly dispose of it when he's not looking?"

She raised both eyebrows and shrugged. "He needs time and space. Be nice, if you can, James. You could hint that his unexplained departure Saturday morning was rude, and he should call me to apologize. But don't avoid him; he shouldn't be alone for too long. He needs to know we care about him."

Just then, Hathaway's phone buzzed again. "It's him." He answered. "Hathaway."

"Hathaway, where the hell are ya, man?! Taking the whole day off? You've got work to do!"