Chapter 195

• It had been years since I last walked down this street. The buildings were the same height they had always been, leaning slightly toward each other as though they were in on a secret, but the storefronts had changed. The bakery on the corner had a new name, the café I once visited almost daily was now a hair salon, and the grocery store’s faded sign had been replaced with one in a bright, unfamiliar font.
• Julian kept a gentle pace beside me. He didn’t say much, but I knew he was watching for any small sign that this was too much. I had not decided until that morning that I wanted to come here. The thought had been sitting at the back of my mind since the boutique reopened, and for some reason, today felt like the right day.
• We stopped in front of the building. The entrance was narrower than I remembered, the door painted a darker shade of green. My old landlord had agreed to let me in for a short visit, though I could tell from his tone on the phone that he didn’t quite understand why anyone would want to spend time in a place they had left behind.