“How do you know he was the one who broke it off?”
“We all knew. A lot of girls don’t like to admit if that happens to them.” Tonio sensed the child parroting what she’d heard the older girls say. “Patty Chavitz tried to make out like she was the one who called it off when Brad Gaylord broke up with her, but Tara never tried to lie about it. She told it straight out that Jared dumped her.”
“Did you ever hear them argue?”
“No, I never did. I know Tara still liked Jared. She called, lots of times, to tell him so, but he was mean and wouldn’t listen. Tara never gave up hope, though. She was always smiling when she hung up the phone. She wrote him letters, too, but he never wrote back.”
“Do you know what she wrote in the letters?”
Miri shrugged. “Love stuff, I guess.”
Dent nodded, her fa
