I ached to know everything about her life, to know her thoughts and opinions on everything.
“Can I help you?” someone asked.
Tearing my gaze from the house, I looked at the woman with shopping bags who was eyeing me suspiciously.
“No. I mean. Um…”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I am here to see someone,” I said.
“Oh.” She retrieved keys from her pockets and unlocked the front door. “Who?”
“Georgia.” I couldn’t even say the name without my breath catching.
“Is she expecting you?”
“No,” I said slowly, wondering if I should have lied. Perhaps unexpected guests weren’t allowed at the boarding house.
“You can wait in that room.” She ushered me inside and pointed to a room off the foyer. “I will let her know you’re here.”
“Thank you very much.” Nodding gratefully, I hurried into the room and took a seat on a couch.
In my back pocket, my phone buzzed with a text.
Cafe this morning?
I twisted my lips. Lucas was one of my oldest friends, and the person in Rio who knew me the most. Typically, I spent my time with him alone, and for good reason. It would have simply been impossible to blend my old life with my new one.
I will need to skip today,I wrote back.How about tomorrow?
Sure,he responded.
Was he annoyed? The cafe was our morning ritual, and only illness had ever kept the two of us from it.
The sound of footsteps made me look up. Georgia stood in the doorway, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, her hair loose and tangled.
“Hello.”
“Good morning.” Hastily standing, I put my phone away. “I’m sorry. Did I come by too early?”
“No.” Her full lips slid into a smile. “It’s all right. It’s nice to see you. Were you in the neighborhood?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
A long silence stretched between us, and Georgia smiled even bigger.
“I just couldn’t wait to see you again. I hope that’s all right.”
She dipped her face, and a mini explosion went off in my chest. “It’s more than all right,” she said.
“Good.”
Georgia lifted her face. “Good.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “To be honest, I didn’t have a plan for what I would say once I got here.”