Their first coffee became dinner, followed by countless evening walks. Henry talked to strangers easily, while Clara remained more cautious. He noticed lonely people and found reasons to include them. She often warned that his trusting nature would cause him trouble. Instead, it gradually made their neighborhood feel smaller and kinder.
Henry proposed beside the same bandstand during a sudden spring downpour. The ring box slipped from his wet fingers into the grass. Clara found it before he did but pretended not to notice. She allowed him several anxious minutes of searching before saying yes, then teased him about it for decades.