Chapter 21

Perhaps it was time to return to Boston and stay there for a while. No more long distance jobs. Time to perhaps strike up some new acquaintances, or old friendships. The bite of loneliness had a way of nipping when she least wanted it to.

“Hold onto that.” She turned back to face the fountains, grateful for the sunglasses hiding half her face. “That’s more valuable than a dozen well-paying jobs.”

She felt a light touch on her shoulder. Almost as if he just wanted to remind her that he was still sitting beside her. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience. The guy you met at nineteen, or somebody else?”

“Everybody else.” She shrugged, though it didn’t dislodge his touch. If anything, his fingers seemed to tighten, as if to tell her he wasn’t going anywhere. “I don’t regret anything, but it’s a fact of life that the choices we make while we’re young will steer everything from that point on. I have to live with the choices I’ve made. That’s all.”