Outside, there were two tickets in the window of the Pontiac -- a parking fine, and one for a smashed headlight.  It was enough to almost knock me sideways.  Before I drove home to the cabin, I went back to the window of the bar and shaded my eyes against the glass, looked in.  Ciaran was at the counter, his arms folded and his chin on his wrist, talking to the bartender.  He glanced up in my direction and I froze.  Quickly I turned away.  There are rocks deep enough in this earth that no matter what the rupture, they will never see the surface.

There is, I think, a fear of love.

There is a fear of love.

~Colum McCann, "Let the Great World Spin."