“You’re very like him, Gillian, you know that?”

I blink.

“Me?” I say. “Like Dad?”

She nods.

“Thoughtful. More on the introvert side. A peacemaker.” She looks out the window. Two birds are hopping around in the crook of a branch nearby. It seems way too early for them to be starting on a nest, but I suppose you never know. We’ve had a little stretch of milder days lately. I just hope they won’t get caught out and have to start over. It’s painful to watch a creature try so hard.

“You know,” Abigail goes on. “The more I think about it lately, the more I think Dad liked how much I wasn’t like him. I think he got a kick out of people who were really different from him.” She weighs her words, and looks at me.

“You’re the same way, Gill.”

“I am?” I’m so surprised by the whole direction of this conversation. I’ve never thought about Dad in that way. I’ve never thought about myself in that way either—drawn to people who were unlike me. But Abigail raises an eyebrow.

“Hello? Oliver? You two are like chalk and cheese.”

As far as that goes, actually, I don’t think she’s wrong.

I’m always looking forward, always planning ahead, whereas Oliver’s always mellow, content with the status quo. I’m detail-oriented, he’s big picture. I crave quiet nights in front of the television, he loves to go out. I’m fast where he’s slow, and slow where he’s fast. The more I think about it, the truer it seems. We are opposites.

“Right?” Abigail says, eyeing me. “Seriously, Gillian, even back in elementary school. Who was that wild little kid you used to hang around with, the one whose hair I threatened to cut off that time?”

I roll my eyes.

“Melanie.”

“That’s right.” Abigail suppresses a smile. “You couldn’t have been more different.”

I think back to the people I’ve gravitated towards in my school days; in college; in the years since. I think of my best friend Dinah, who’s so much more outspoken than I am, and of the colleagues I choose to spend time with in the staff room.

Abigail watches me like she sees something dawning on my face.

“Some people want to be around people who are just like them,” she says. “I think you’ve always liked being around people who are different than you.”

I think about that

“I guess it’s…refreshing?” I say. “Being around people that are different from me.”