“Shh. It’s okay,” Danny interrupted gently.

Hope shook her head no, because she knew it wasn’t okay.

“No—it is,” reassured Danny. “’Cause you know something?”

“What?”

“You’re early.” Danny smiled.

Hope didn’t understand what Danny was saying. “What?” she asked, wincing as she did.

“You’re early. You said you’d be back with an answer to my question before the sun came up, and Jeezum Crow, the sun’s not even close to being up yet. It only went down a few hours ago.” Danny smiled bigger. And then added wryly, “Look how early you are. That’s good of you.”

Hope appreciated Danny’s kindness.

Because they both knew she wasn’t early.

She was late. So, so late.

And they stood under the vast northern night sky, overwhelmed by the reunion.

And then something troubled Hope. She wondered why Danny hadn’t told her who he was when she arrived.

In the same moment, Danny realized that he needed to apologize for withholding his identity. So he did. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything when I came out on the porch and saw you. I was just so surprised. To see you. And happy. And then, when you didn’t seem to recognize me, I guess I remembered what I had become. And I just didn’t know what to do. So I didn’t do anything. And I just … let you talk.”

“Yeah.” Hope wished she hadn’t talked so much. Or had listened more. Or something.

“So,” Danny said, smirking a little, and changing the subject. “You took a taxi all the way from Bangor?”

Hope nodded. “Yup,” she said sheepishly. And proudly.

Daniel whistled another whistle that meant, “Wow.”

And then asked, “How much did that cost ya?”

“A lot,” she replied, embarrassed.

But Danny was impressed. She must have really made something of herself. Because she could afford to take a taxi from Bangor all the way to Almost.

And then he took a deep breath and asked the question he had been waiting all those years for an answer to. “So, what’d you wanna tell me?”

“Huh? Oh—”

“You said you came here to answer a question I asked you,” he said, smiling eagerly.

“Yeah,” said Hope, smiling sheepishly.

“So … what’s the answer?” Danny felt a strange lightness fill up his insides as he asked the question. It made him feel like a dying ember inside him had become a roaring flame. And like he was about to be launched into space, like a rocket—but in slow motion.

And it made him feel like his life was about to change forever.

And Hope felt the strange lightness she had felt earlier in the day fill up her insides, too. And felt like her life was about to change forever, too. And she was about to give her answer and see what happily ever after was all about—when the seal of the weather stripping on the door popped and the door opened and the storm door opened a bit and a small round woman popped her head outside and asked, “Hon, what’s goin’ on? Who’s here?”