That makes two of us, but I'd rather not decide it alone. Daniel looked at the money. Is this an invitation? It's reimbursement for what? Emotional damages.
He laughed. The sound loosened something in her chest. Then he picked up the 20. So your father still thinks you'll walk through his door alone tonight? He probably does.
Daniel stood and lifted his suitcase. Want to cost him another 20? Laura smiled. Not anymore. Daniel glanced at the departure board, pulled out his phone, and canled the Washington meeting.
They reached Frank's house just before midnight. The porch light was on. Of course, it was. Frank opened the door before Laura knocked. He looked at Laura, then Daniel, then the clock, exactly as he had the first night.
His hand moved toward his wallet. Don't, Laura said. I didn't say anything. You were about to become expensive. Laura held out the original $20 bill.
Frank looked at it. Double or nothing. His eyebrows rose. On what? Laura glanced at Daniel, then back at her father.
That I stay for breakfast. Frank took the bill. That's not much of a risk. For me, it is. He understood.
No joke this time. He stepped aside. Daniel followed Laura through the door. The next morning, Laura woke to Daniel's voice in the kitchen. He was on the phone.
Yes, he said. I'm accepting the partnership. Laura stopped in the hallway. A pause. No, not because the travel is difficult.
Another pause. Because I've spent too long using travel as a reason not to build anything that can't fit into a suitcase. Laura leaned against the wall. She did not walk into the room. This was his decision.
It deserved to remain his. A few weeks later, Daniel brought Frank's fire damaged pocket watch to a restoration shop outside Richmond. The repair took longer than expected. Frank complained about that naturally. When Daniel finally returned it, the burned edge remained, the scratches remained, but the hands moved.
Frank wound it once and listened. Tick, tick, tick. He placed it beside the old photograph of himself and Samuel, not hidden in a drawer, not returned to a box. 3 months later, Laura still had not moved to Richmond. Daniel had not proposed.
No one had reorganized their entire life after one weekend. But Laura stayed for dessert when she visited. She returned phone calls the same day, more often than not. Daniel rented a small house instead of another long-term hotel room. Sometimes he flew to see her, sometimes she flew to see him.
Frank continued making ridiculous $20 bets, and Laura still carried the half-doll. One Friday evening, Frank looked toward the front window. "20," says Daniel forgets dessert. Laura took the coin from her pocket. "You're very confident for a man with a poor gambling record."
The doorbell rang. Daniel stood outside holding an apple pie. Frank frowned. That coin is biased. Daniel stepped inside.
I've been saying that for months. Later, Laura set the half-dollar beside Samuel's restored watch. The coin caught the kitchen light. The watch kept ticking. Neither object needed explaining anymore.
Being alone and being strong had never been the same thing. Neither had needing someone and losing yourself. Sometimes the bravest thing was not finding the right person. It was leaving enough room beside you for someone to choose to stay.