The paper bag rustled between us, and I became painfully aware of how easily I could turn a good morning into an awkward ending. She looked up at me with the same small, almost shy smile I remembered from the checkout lanes.
“I had a really good time,” she said.
“So did I.”
She stepped forward and hugged me.
I held her gently, feeling the light pressure of her cheek against my shoulder. It was the same shoulder the carton had struck, but the earlier connection seemed distant now. This
