Instead I said, “Yes.”
Her eyes closed briefly.
When they opened again, she looked relieved.
“Then we wait.”
So we did.
Waiting turned out to be harder than either of us expected.
We set rules.
No secret late-night meetings.
No physical relationship while she was married.
No lying to Daniel.
That third rule became complicated because technically we weren’t doing anything.
We had coffee.
We talked.
We sometimes walked through the park.
Once, I helped her tour a storefront.
That was how the bookstore came back.
It was a narrow brick space two blocks from the university with tall front windows and old hardwood floors.
Karen stood in the center of the empty room.
“I can’t afford this.”
“Yes, you can.”
“You haven’t seen the lease.”
“I saw you looking at the windows.”
She glanced at me.
“So?”
“You’ve already imagined shelves there.”
She laughed.
“I have.”
Related Posts
