“I’ll grab my keys.” I went inside, grabbed a sweatshirt, and went into the kitchen to get my keys. When I came around the corner, Antonia was sitting on my couch, and Scout had his head in her lap. I stood there, resting against the archway.
“Did your wife live here?”
“No. I bought this house after the divorce. She’s been here, though, and helped me decorate.”
“Are you one of those men who has throw pillows on their bed?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Nah, although when I was married, we did. It would take five minutes just to crawl into bed. Do you have them?”
She met my gaze and smiled. “Full disclosure, I pile them on the free side of my bed.”
“Smart thinking.”
This easiness between us was nice, despite the awkward encounter in the garage, and I wished she could see that we had something between us. I also wished she could see how well she fit in my house, even though her ever being here longer than a handful of minutes would be unlikely. She was now a single mom of two.
When she didn’t move from the couch, I asked, “Would you like a tour?”
“That would be nice.” Antonia stood, and I spread my arms out.
“This is the living room.”
She laughed, and it was music to my ears.
I showed her the kitchen and the dining room, then walked down the hall to the first bathroom, the spare bedroom, which was used mostly by my parents, and finally my room. I’d never been more thankful that my mom made me clean my room and make my bed every day when I was young. I would’ve been rather embarrassed if my underwear was on the floor.
“Do you read?”
“I do. Mostly conspiracy-type stuff and wartime books. You?”
“Romance,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to start a library at my place but never got around to it. Maybe I’ll do it at Miri’s.”
“Come here, let me show you something.”
We walked down the hall to my office. I opened the door and flipped the light on. Both walls had built-in bookshelves. One side was nothing but novels, while the other side held my trophies, baseball memorabilia, and some news articles I had framed.
“Wow.”
“These were here when I bought the house. As soon as I saw the room, I knew I’d buy this house.”
“You really were famous,” she said as she looked at my baseball collection.
“I was something.”
She went to the bookshelves and trailed her finger along the spines.
“Help yourself,” I told her. “I have a very easy library system.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
I shrugged. “Just tell me which one you’re borrowing, and I’ll try to remember.”
Antonia laughed again. I liked hearing it, but deep down, I knew she didn’t want to be here. Not in the way I wanted her here.
I held my keys up. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, and I turned toward the door, only for her to reach for my hand. “What happened—”
“Please don’t say it was a mistake.”
