”Emma laughed at the back and forth. “It’s ok. Not tonight, if you don’t mind. But maybe I can take a rain check?”“Absolutely!” I said, ... bit too quickly. Emma laughed again.“You know, Emma,” I started, “you really ARE very pretty. And I assure you, I am NOT saying that to get into your pants.” I ran my fingers through her hair.“Thank you,” she said softly. She started to blush.“Have you dated at all since then?” Jess asked.“No, not really. I didn’t get asked out in school. I didn’t even go to. These streets were his home. He probably grew up near this very place. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t making a saint out of him and revering the neighborhood he grew up in. But it really got to me that this was his neighborhood and his neighbors would want to know about him.I quickened my steps back to the Swedish American Center, took my knäckebröd firmly in hand, and walked in.Black coffeeIt took a few minutes before anyone realized I was there. There was activity everywhere. Guys were. Still not up for a riding lesson, though! I’m more concerned with how YOU are though.’ Is that tenderness in his voice?‘Me? Why does that matter?’‘Well, silly, because you were pretty hard on yourself for an accident. That’s all it was, an accident. I don’t want you to beat yourself up over it.’‘You don’t?’ My eyes fill with tears again, but this is happy. ‘You don’t want me to feel bad, but I hurt you!’ I’m almost weeping again.‘You did, but it’s all over, and in a day or so, I’ll be fine. So. The room they were in was sterile. It was plain, almost like a laboratory... Morgue.Her honey-ochre eyes widened as she realized where this was. “I’m not dead!” she proclaimed defensively.Her words and their pleading tone finally set his mind at ease. They were so innocent ... so completely guileless. He lowered the gun so it was no longer in her face, but still pointed to the side and very much at the ready. She may not be a threat, but this was definitely a wrench in his carefully laid out.