But a week later, Rachel called me.
Mom wants to see him. He says he wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you.
They came that Sunday.
The three of us sat on the terrace, had coffee and talked for hours.
The following week, Rachel returned.
And then he came back again.
I soon realized that we no longer needed an excuse.
Sometimes I just called after work and asked:
Is there coffee on the terrace today?
I laughed.
“For you?” Always.
Nothing happened quickly between us.
For a long time I didn’t even allow myself to think of her that way.
The age difference between us was so great that the idea that Rachel could see me as more than just an old friend seemed absurd to me.
But over the months we became best friends.
She knew when to talk about Helen, I was sad.
I knew when she was worried about her mother’s health.
He never treated me like a rich old man.
And I stopped seeing her as the housekeeper who once cleaned my house.
It was Rachel.
The person next to whom I could sit quietly for hours without feeling uncomfortable.
One night we were sitting outside.
Rachel looked at me and said,
“You know? When I’m with you, I never feel like I have to pretend to be someone else.
I smiled.
“And when I’m with you, for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like anyone is waiting for me to die.
She’s not laughing.
Instead, he put his hand on mine.
I immediately pulled my hand.
—Rachel…
I know what you’re thinking.
I am much older than you.
I know.
People will talk.
She smiled.
“People were talking before.
I told him I never wanted me to feel like he owed me something.
Not for his mother’s operation.
Not for the job.
Not even because I would have helped her.
Rachel looked at me for a long time.
Then he said the words that finally knocked down all the walls that were still inside me.
“If I lost every last dollar he has tomorrow, I would come back here the next day.
I couldn’t say anything.
For almost a year, we just went out together.
We did normal things.
We were going to small restaurants.
