Page 11

Henry wakes his own phone with a finger tap, and a photo pops up on the lock screen. Two young women lean their heads together, laughing.

“Your girls?” I say.

His face lights up, smile matching the girl on the left. “Yep.” He taps the younger one on the right. “Ivy’s a sophomore.” A tap on the other. “And Raine’s in her first year of med school.”

“You’ve probably heard this a million times, but you do not look old enough to have a daughter in postgrad studies.”

A low laugh. “I’m forty-one. Raine’s twenty-four, which means, yep, an unexpectedly early start to the family.”

“As soon as we get a cell signal, we’ll text your wife. Make sure she knows you’re okay.”

He shakes his head. “Their mom and I split years ago.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. We’re friends, which is good, because I see her every day at work—she’s a nurse.”

“You both went into medicine?”

“She did first. I worked construction for years, but in this part of the world, it’s seasonal, which was great when the girls were little, but as they got older, they didn’t need me home so much. I got older too—amazing how that works. After I injured myself a few times, Jenn convinced me to get out. When she suggested paramedicine, I figured she meant like an orderly. Someone to lift gurneys, which I can do.” He pops his biceps. “I didn’t see myself going back to school at thirty-five. But I did, and I love it. Never too late.”

“So my mom keeps telling me.”

His brows shoot up.

I sip my coffee. “I’m thirty-five with three partial degrees and a resume longer than your arm. You know how when you’re young, everyone says don’t worry too much about choosing a career, it’ll choose you. I’m still waiting.”

“What are you doing now?”

“Well, I was working in an art gallery, which I loved. Didn’t love the fifty-hour weeks with no overtime, constantly being promised the next promotion, only to have it go to the boss’s nephew … fresh out of college.”

“Ouch. Yeah, I know all about being passed over for promotions. In my case, I suppose I’m just not ready yet. You say you were working in an art gallery? I’m guessing the nephew incident was the last straw?”

“I wish. Today was my last day … after six months of telling myself I just needed to tough it out a little longer. You ever see that poster with the cat dangling from a tree?”

His lips twitch. “Hang in there?”

“I think I must have seen that at a very impressionable age. I always hang in there, so certain if I just hold on a little longer…”

“Oof. Yeah. I get that. Jenn was the one to end the marriage, long after I knew it was over. And she filled out my college application, while I kept saying maybe I’d do construction for one more year because my shoulder wasn’t completely blown yet.”

“I feel like I need a Jenn.”

Henry chuckles and leans back. “I hear ya.”

I take another sip of coffee as I wonder how long it’s been since I was that honest with someone else. Maybe it helps that he’s a stranger. It’s nice, though. A welcome break from the rest of my life, where I act like everything’s fine and I’m doing exactly what I want, the carefree thirty- something who skates from job to job, relationship to relationship.

I’m not lost. I’m just cruising along, enjoying the scenery.

I glance at the other patron. They haven’t turned. They haven’t spoken. They just sit there, sipping their beer, and the bartender is leaving them be.

When Henry sees me looking that way, he gives a shrug. Then my gaze drops to the person’s boots.

Hiking boots.

I flash back to the slight figure of a woman, standing in the road. Wearing jeans and hiking boots.

“Ellie?” Henry whispers.