Under The Porchlight

Carla looked up. His face shone beneath the yellow bulb. His blue eyes stole her breath.

Six months without Henry stretched before Carla.

She paced, watching out the window for his car. When the headlights approached, she swiped away tears and took a breath. They met beneath the porch light.

His grin confused her. What silver lining did he see to this ominous cloud?

She leaned against his chest, trying to commit his warm hold to memory.

Then he whispered, “I’m not going. I can stay.”

Carla looked up. His face shone beneath the yellow bulb. His blue eyes stole her breath.

Explanations could wait. On tiptoe, she sought Henry’s lips, and finding them, found home.

🩷🩷🩷

Katie Fitzgerald is the author of Library Lovebirds, an ebook collection of bookish romances, and a novel in flash, The Bennetts Bloom. Her short stories and flash fiction appear online at Spark Flash Fiction and Micromance Magazine, as well as in various anthologies. She is a 2024 Sparkie Award recipient for Best Romantic Suspense and a nominee for the Pushcart Prize and the Cupid Prize. A graduate of Vassar College and a trained librarian, Katie resides in Maryland with her husband and five kids