Maybe in Another Life: A Novel

Fate or not, our lives are still the results of our choices. I’m starting to think that when we don’t own them, we don’t own ourselves.

“As a man who has been trying to run into you for months, let me assure you how rare it is that two specific people’s paths will cross.”

“To think that you might have gone in the wrong direction? And missed the life you were destined for?”

I made a mistake. And that mistake is part of what has led me to this moment. And while I neither regret nor condone what I did, I have learned from it. I have grown since. And I’m different now. You can only forgive yourself for the mistakes you made in the past once you know you’ll never make them again. And

“Timing seems like an excuse. Extenuating circumstances is an excuse. If you love someone, if you think you could make them happy for the rest of your life together, then nothing should stop you. You should be prepared to take them as they are and deal with the consequences. Relationships aren’t neat and clean. They’re ugly and messy, and they make

I don’t believe that being in love absolves you of anything. I no longer believe that all’s fair in love and war. I’d go so far as to say your actions in love are not an exception to who you are. They are, in fact, the very definition of who you are.

If Jesse is right and there are other universes out there, I’ve probably met Henry before in one of them. We might work together somewhere. Or we would have met in Texas years ago. Maybe in line for a cinnamon roll.

“He did everything he could except stay.”

“Maybe in another life,” he says. I smile at him and leave him by the dessert table.