The blue cloth cover was frayed at the corners and showed a yellow tugboat pushing a red barge through gray water.

I picked up the book and turned to the title page, where an old pencil mark in the corner read fifty cents.

Eleanor came down the aisle behind me, her heels clicking sharply on the hardwood floor.

She patted the double strand of pearls at her throat, looked down at the book in my hands, and her face went completely white before it darkened with anger.

She snatched the tugboat book out of my fingers so fast that the paper jacket tore against her gold wedding ring.