He held the bill without closing his hand around it.

For a long moment, he simply looked at me, and there was such concentration in his expression that I became slightly uncomfortable, as though he were trying to memorize my face.

The Story Continues After Part 1

PART 2: The Question He Asked Before I Left

“What’s your name?” he asked.

I hesitated.

My mother had warned me never to give strangers personal information.

Then again, my mother had also told me that good girls did not end up pushing double strollers through the rain at seventeen.

“Caroline,” I said. “Caroline Brooks.”

“Caroline Brooks,” he repeated carefully.

“I’m Walter.”

He looked at the twins.

June had woken and was staring at him with solemn blue eyes.

Lily remained asleep, one fist near her cheek.

“What are their names?”

“Lily and June.”

“Beautiful names.” He held out a hand, then withdrew it, perhaps worried that his cold fingers would frighten them.

“I once had a daughter,” he added.

I waited, but he didn’t explain.

His voice had acquired a roughness that hadn’t been there before.

“Please go inside,” I told him.