Swiftcurrent Creek I try, but I need it

Angry and sad, but won't talk about it. That wasn't exactly new, was it? But Arric went on, mentioning someone named Arlette and the beginning of their relationship. Mae had never really bothered with the intricacies of romance; it didn't interest her, particularly when every relationship she'd witnessed had failed in some way. Her own parents were never together, as far as she knew. Boone was dead. And Eshe's scent was gone from the territory, which she'd only just noticed.

Hm.

So Arric meant to set himself up for such heartbreak, too. Mae nodded, not pleased with the news but resigned to it. That was just what adults did. They got in relationships and had kids and waited for it all to fall apart — and then they did it again.

That would never be her, she'd decided. Eshe fucked off, then? She didn't quite look at Arric as she said it, gaze flitting all around the creek as if trying to take in every change at once.