Page 68 of Key West Homecoming

“She’s a pediatric nurse with two children, and she calls me at seven in the morning to tell me things that could absolutely have waited until noon.”

“She sounds formidable.”

“She is. She’s also the person I call when I don’t know what I’m doing, although I try not to let her know that.”

“I suspect she knows.”

“She probably does.”

“Rebecca has twin girls who are fifteen,” Edmund said. “For the last month they’ve been watching a Korean television program at the kitchen table. The subtitles move considerably faster than I can read them.”

“Do you watch with them?”

“I’ve tried four times. On my fourth attempt, I finally worked out that one of the men had a twin brother. I was so pleased with myself that I announced it.”

Emma smiled.

“The girls stopped the program and informed me that this had been revealed in the second episode. I’ve decided I’m rooting for the physical book to survive the century for entirely selfish reasons.”

Emma laughed.

It surprised her how easy it had become to sit with him.

An hour earlier, Edmund had been a stranger who knew things about her grandmother that Emma didn’t. Now he was still a stranger, but not in the same way.

When it was time to leave, he closed his book and stood carefully.

Emma stood with him. “You don’t have to walk me out.”

“I know.”

He did anyway.

They moved slowly through the used-book room and into the front of the store. Emma adjusted her pace without thinking about it.

At the door, Edmund held out his hand.

She took it.

He held hers a moment longer than a handshake required.

“Until tomorrow, Emma.”

“Tomorrow at three.”

“Rebecca will be watching for you.”

Emma smiled.

“Tell her I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

“I will.”

She stepped outside onto Elizabeth Street and stood beneath the awning.

The morning was bright, and people moved along the sidewalk carrying shopping bags and iced coffees. A bicycle passed in the street, followed by a scooter that seemed louder than it needed to be.

Emma barely noticed any of it.