The woman looked at her then. “Listen,” the woman whispered, which made Mallory worry she herself had been talking too loudly. “You and I understand one another in a way that, you will learn, is very rare. These last few months have not been easy for me. I’ve missed the way you look at me.” Mallory looked up at the woman, feeling how wide her own eyes were, wanting to take in whatever the woman wanted to offer. She imagined she watched the woman the way a child looks at someone who is reading her a book. “Yes,” the woman said, “like that. You have to know how good that feels. You have to know
...more
