agreeing and then making sure I know what a sacrifice it was.”
I put down my coffee.
“I’m not keeping a ledger.”
Her eyes returned to mine.
“Good.”
“And I liked seeing you there. You’re different when you’re doing something that belongs to you.”
“Different how?”
“Less ready to move aside.”
She went still.
For a moment, I wondered whether I had said too much. Then she smiled, slowly, and looked down at her glass.
“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in a while.”
I did
