Not because of the job.
Not because I had helped her.
Emily looked at me for a long moment.
Then she said the words that finally broke down every wall I had left.
“If you lost every dollar you had tomorrow, I would still come here the next day.”
I could not say anything.
For nearly a year, we simply dated.
We did ordinary things.
We went to small restaurants.
We bought groceries at the market.
I taught her to play chess, and she taught me how to send videos on my phone without accidentally calling the entire family every time.
Especially Sarah.
But then one day, she pulled me aside.
“Dad, I never saw you like this with Lauren.”
“Like what?”
“Peaceful.”
She was right.
With Lauren, I had always tried to look younger.
With Emily, I was simply George.
On my seventy-fifth birthday, we had a small family dinner.
