“At last I said, ‘What happened to the boy?’

The little sister shrugged. ‘She never told him she only had a year
to live when she broke off the engagement—
wanted to spare him a lifetime of grief.’

‘He probably thought she didn’t love him,’ I said.

‘Yes, I’ve never decided which was worse,’ Little Sister answered,
‘to lose the person you love after one year?

Or to think they never loved you in the first place?’

For a while neither of us spoke.

Then little sister looked me in the eye.

‘Sometimes I think about him and go over in my head
what I would say if we were ever to meet again.’