Katherine Nicolai

We stared at each other for a beat, then both broke out in laughter.

She walked over to admire the flowers.

and lifted a branch of the lilacs to her face and took a deep breath of the scent.

It turned out that she had grown up in this old farmhouse.

when she invited me to walk through the yard with her.

I apologized for thieving their lilacs, which she waved away, saying she was glad someone was getting some enjoyment from them.

She hadn't seen the old place in decades.

And we stopped here and there as she got caught up in memories and told me stories about her family.

In the backyard, we found remnants of a clothesline.

The post still standing, but the cotton cord long ago dissolved by rain and weather.

And she told me about hanging sheets out in the sun.

while overgrown and no longer fitting within its old borders, had in some places replanted itself.

There were tomato plants and a pumpkin vine growing, and we both imagined the deer and squirrels

Her eyes sparkled again, and I found myself dumbstruck by a thought I hadn't entertained before.

After that day, there had been many more conversations between the two of us.

Some were history lessons, passing on the stories of the house and the people who lived there.

The house needed a good deal of work.

And in the end, we were able to agree on a price.

smiling up at the house.

I no longer parked on the road, but proudly drove right up the cracked drive.