Then I answered honestly.

“I don’t know.

I hope so.

But that’s why I don’t want to spend the rest of our lives hoping the other person can guess.”

She smiled and kissed my cheek.

The porch light shone over the garden she’d planted with herbs and roses, and somewhere inside the house a kettle began to whistle.

I had once thought I could calculate the value of every important decision.

I knew exactly how much twenty million dollars could buy.