I lived up North then, and one spring I went to visit a long-distance lover who lived in New Orleans. On the morning of the day I was to leave, we drove to a shopping area where there were a lot of small craft shops just opening. It was early and there weren’t many people about. My friend, Emily, had run back to the post office for something, and I waited near the car, under a huge oak tree. I hardly paid attention to a car that drove up and parked just a few yards away.

Rohn got out of that car.

I had no doubt it was her. Her dark red hair was shorter and slicked back. She’d put on a little weight. She wore men’s trousers. Her face was quiet and mature.

She walked into a little candle shop. I could not move. Burst after burst of light was going off inside me. Rohn.

I looked at her car. It was a long, blue, shiny Oldsmobile. A car for adults. And I looked at the woman in the passenger seat. It was Fauna. Fauna, as the young wife would look almost thirty years later. With her lipstick and her powdered cheeks and her hair pulled back. Her contented smile as if she were happy. Or at least was that morning.

I tried to think of all the things that I would say to them. I imagined the scene. I thought of dinner that night. When Rohn appeared at the door of the candle shop I didn’t move.

I stood there concealed by the large tree and I did not move. I stared at Rohn. I stared as hard as I could.

She was handsome. She had long, dark curving eyebrows. A one-sided trace of a smile on her face. Sideburns. And she seemed to walk with just a bit of a limp. What happened, baby?

I let her get back into the big Oldsmobile. It tilted slightly at her weight on the seat. Closed the door. Backed out of the little drive. I saw Fauna laugh at something Rohn had said. And drive away.

I watched the car go farther and farther until it disappeared.

When Emily came back we got into the car. Emily is beautiful. She is a dark, honey-skinned New Orleans woman with amber eyes. She is all woman.

I was still seeing Rohn and Fauna. I still saw the point at which their car had disappeared. Emily threw her arm across the back of the seat and playfully tugged at my hair. She was just turning back to start the car when I said, “I love you.”

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. She thought it was meant for her.