Nothing looked the same.
He was my first love, back when we were both 17 and thought forever was a promise you could just make. I chose a college in another city. He chose to stay and work in his father’s business.
“Please don’t go, Nancy,” Thomas had begged me at the bus station.
“I have to, babe. I’ve worked too hard for this.”
“Then you’re breaking my heart.”
And that was the last time I ever saw him. Or so I believed.
“Please don’t go, Nancy.”
***
The phone rang, pulling me back into the present. I already knew who it was before I picked up.
“Nancy, honey, it’s Raymond. Just checking in on my favorite cousin.”
Favorite cousin. We’d barely spoken in 30 years. But since I’d moved back, Raymond called almost every week, always cheerful, always circling the same questions.
I already knew who it was.
“How’s the apartment treating you? Rent’s a killer at our age, isn’t it?” he said.
“I’m managing, Raymond.”
“You got everything squared away? Paperwork, will, that sort of thing? A woman living alone needs to be careful.”
I forced a smile into my voice.
“I’m fine, dear. Really.”
“You know, I used to visit Aunt Margaret every week before she passed. Helped her with all her affairs. Family should look after each other, don’t you think?”
