In the cold winter wind, he seemed to suddenly realize something. He had always been exceptionally clever. He hadn’t failed to notice those little clues from their youth; he simply hadn’t cared. Looking back now, he saw that the young girl’s nervous blunders had been impossible to miss. He had just chosen to ignore them. A strange feeling stirred in his heart, much like the way he’d felt years ago when he’d accidentally caught sight of her sleeping during a basketball game. Back then, that fleeting stir of emotion had vanished with the wind in an instant. This time, though, he reached out and caught it.
