Chapter 26
January
January was harder than October.
Lucy expected that.
What she did not expect was how ordinary the hard parts would be.
A delayed train on a Thursday night.
Ben falling asleep during a video call after a twenty-four-hour shift.
Lucy missing Mara's birthday dinner because a fellowship workshop ran late.
A Sunday when they were both too tired to be charming.
The first month did not test whether they loved each other.
It tested whether love could survive inconvenience.
Apparently, it could.
Lucy spent Monday through Thursday in New York, renting a small room in a shared apartment near the program office. Fridays were remote, and she usually took the earliest train back to Boston Thursday evening.
Ben learned train numbers.
Lucy learned shift rotations.
They learned not to treat every missed plan like evidence of failure.
One Thursday, a snowstorm canceled Lucy's train.
Old Lucy would have panicked.
New Lucy called Ben.
"I'm stuck."
"Okay."
"That's all?"
"Do you have somewhere to sleep?"
"Yes."
"Food?"
"Yes."
"Then I miss you and I'll see you tomorrow."
Lucy sat on the edge of her borrowed bed.
"You make that sound very simple."
"It isn't simple. It's just survivable."
She smiled.
"I miss you too."
"Want me to stay on the phone?"
"Yes."
So he did.
They talked about nothing for forty minutes.
It was one of the most intimate nights Lucy had ever had.