Like He Never Left

chapter 31

I was about to FaceTime SueEllen—something we've been doing at least every other day routinely— when a voice called out my name.

"Miss Roberts!"

I whip around, grateful there's a lid on my coffee or else it would have been all over my blouse, and spot a nurse I regularly work with, Luisa Keller. She's a few years younger than me but really knows her stuff. She was one of the only nurses to not treat me any differently because I'm American. 

"Your capabilities as a caretaker speak loudly enough around here. Don't let anyone around here intimidate you," she had told me the first time we met.

I walk over to her and smile. She gets up to shake my hand politely and smiles back. 

"Frau Keller, what a surprise," I greet, shaking her hand back.

I glance at the man she's with beside her, wondering who he is. She never mentioned a brother or boyfriend, but I shouldn't be surprised. 

"Yes, it's a beautiful day for a walk."

I nod in agreement. "I often eat lunch here when I'm not working." I gesture around me to the Gate.

"Do you know the history behind it?" she asks.

"I know it was built by King Frederick William the second in 1788 to be the main entry into Berlin," I answer.

"Close. Construction started in 1788, but it was finished in 1791. It's a symbol of peace and unity now."

I nod along, already knowing I was going to be corrected. They do that a lot here, too. Not out of disrespect, but because if you're wrong, you're going to be corrected by someone who knows the facts. This part of Germanic culture, I totally appreciate.

"What a symbol it is."

"Yes." She looks over the towering statue with a proud gleam in her eye and then back to me. "It was very nice to see you out and about."

"My pleasure, Frau. I'll be seeing you." 

"Yes, of course."

We nod curtly at each other and I sigh when she turns her back. 

For as populated as Berlin is, it sure knows how to make you feel lonely.

I FaceTime Sue to cheer me up, and she tells me all about how Bobby and Carrie Ann are expecting a second baby, something she'd just found out minutes before I called. She told me how June's book store got a promotional deal with our local Dunkin Donuts, and that Tommy was working on the new nursery and then she gave me my own virtual tour of it. I ask about Travis since we haven't spoken for about a week, as well as my mother.

I don't ask about Colt anymore. I haven't since I was told he went back to Boston. When SueEllen and June tried to explain, I cut them off. I didn't need to know what he was doing, and if he was back in Boston, good for him. I shouldn't have expected him to stay anyways. It was foolish of me to anyways.

When I get back to the apartment a few hours later, I find that James isn't home yet. 

I start fixing supper, and I'm straightening out the last knife on the table when he comes in through the door.

He's on the phone, and from the pieces that I can put together from his side of the conversation, he's still working. He disappears into the bedroom without acknowledging me and emerges a couple of minutes later with his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. 

The sight would turn me on if I wasn't annoyed that he didn't even acknowledge me.

He's not talking to anyone when he comes back out, but I can tell that whatever took place over the call will have him stirring until he goes into work tomorrow.