Karen’s abandoned dream of opening a little bookstore.
That caught my attention.
“You wanted a bookstore?”
She looked surprised.
“Daniel never told you?”
“No.”
“He probably doesn’t know.”
“Does Michael?”
“He knew.”
Past tense.
I noticed that.
“What happened?”
“Life.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s accurate.”
She stirred her coffee.
“When Daniel was young, Michael’s career took off. We moved twice. Then Daniel needed stability. Then Michael traveled more. Then my father got sick.”
She shrugged.
“One year became five. Five became fifteen.”
“And the bookstore?”
“I became a story I told myself about someone else.”
I watched her.
“Open it.”
She laughed.
“You say that as if commercial real estate and retirement accounts don’t exist.”
“They exist.”
“Thank you for confirming.”
“But you could still do it.”
She studied me.
“Do you really believe people get a second life?”
“I think most people get as many lives as they have the courage to begin.”
