Of course it did.
She stood beside my car, smiling.
“Remember what I said?”
“I remember everything you say. It’s a survival skill.”
She rolled her eyes.
“No. That night.”
I knew.
But I let her say it.
Karen leaned closer.
“Take me somewhere quiet.”
I smiled.
“You know that sentence caused me several years of emotional chaos.”
“And?”
“And Daniel threatened to kill me.”
“He still might.”
“Your sister thought I was having a psychological crisis.”
“She still does.”
“And half the city assumed you had lost your mind.”
“Possibly true.”
She laughed.
Then took my hand.
“Do you regret it?”
I looked out at the city.
I thought of the diner.
The broken wineglass.
The empty bookstore.
The months apart.
Daniel standing in my apartment furious and hurt.
Karen beneath the Second Chapter sign.
Our first kiss.
All of it.
“No.”
“Not even once?”
“Not once.”
She squeezed my hand.
