Chapter ONE - Weebly

memory lingered. When he dreamed of her, as he still
did, though with ever less frequency, she looked just as
she had that day twenty years ago.
Even now, after five years in Boston, he was still
mildly surprised each time he saw her, though not by the
small lines in the skin around her mouth and eyes, or the
few narrow streaks of silver shining in her hair. Rather,
it was the hardening of her beauty that gave him pause.
He had to remind himself that she had borne these two
children and a third who had died at birth; that she had
lost a husband; and yes, that she had lost him as well.
Difficult as it was to credit now, he knew that had
pained her once.
She had always been reserved, slow to smile, and
slower still to laugh. But the years had left her grave,
and as remote as the moon.
“You look awful,” she said, crossing her arms over
her chest.
“I know.”
He thought she might say more about his bruises,
but she merely regarded him for another moment before
saying, “You wanted to speak with me.”