“Not if I do it first,” I say. More than anything, I’m angry, and I realize that now. I feel betrayed and made a fool of. I feel like I wasted so much of my life for no reason. “I didn’t catch him, but someone saw him.”

“My heart breaks for you,” she says. “What did you do? Are you staying in San Francisco until tomorrow or going back earlier? This is horrible. I’m so sorry you’re all alone there.”

“I’m not all alone.”

“Oh?”

“I met someone,” I say and then snicker. “I didn’t actually meet someone. It’s a long story, though, so I’ll tell you more when we Skype.”

“I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to seem mean.”

“What?”

“You don’t sound totally destroyed over David. You’re perky.”

“Perky? Me?”

“Why can’t you tell me now?” she asks. “I want to know all about it.”

“Because I just arrived at the church and there’s a ‘no cell phones’ sign on the door.

“The church? Are you marrying someone you just met?”

I start laughing. “Sure, because that’s exactly the kind of thing I’d do. No marrying in the cards, relax. Just visiting. It’s like a museum.”

She lets out a loud sigh. “And you’re alright? You’re safe? You don’t need anything?”

“I am perfectly safe, and I will call you when I get back to New York tomorrow.”

“I love you,” she says.

Eight

The mission is beautiful. I take a guided tour and it’s incredible how so much history is bottled up in this building. It dates from back in the 1700s.

An hour later, I emerge from the dark church and back into the sun and immediately turn my phone on again, feeling a bit of excitement. Has he texted me while I was in there? Should I text him? And that little feeling in my stomach makes me smile. I haven’t been this anxious since I was a teenager and was waiting by the landline for my crush to call.

I do have a text from him. How do you feel about biking?

A big smile on my face.

In general?

No. In particular. Ha-ha.

I haven’t ridden a bike since I was a child. Not sure if I still know how.

Do you know the expression, ‘it’s like riding a bike?’

Yes. But I don’t think it applies to me.

You’ll be fine. Plus, it’s electric, so won’t be as hard. 201 Mission Street.

As you wish, I text. Will he get the Princess Bride reference? He will, I think, and my certainty gives me pause.

I hope you’ll be a fool. That’s the best thing you can be, he texts back.

I hold my breath. This is what gives me pause the most. Not only that he obviously got the reference, but that he answered with his Great Gatsby one, which I immediately got.

Don’t be too impressed, he texts back, as if reading my mind. I have a photographic memory. I never forget anything I read. I am even more impressed now, I think, and smile to myself.