We sat in the kitchen drinking coffee.
For a while, we spoke about ordinary things. Work. Family. The weather. The strange feeling of learning how to live alone after years of sharing every decision with another person.
Eventually, Alex looked at me.
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had agreed to the swap without asking questions?”
I thought about the suitcase. The flowers. Sean’s excitement when I said yes.
“I think I would have spent a long time believing the problem was me.”
Alex nodded.
“That’s what scares me. How easily people can make you doubt yourself when you trust them.”
I looked out the window.
“My mother used to tell me that love should make you feel safe, not small.”
“She sounds like she was a wise woman.”
“She was.”
After Alex left, I carried the wooden sign to the back door and hung it beside the kitchen.
