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“I forget how much I take for granted.”

“Of course you do,” I replied. I liked that she offered to do a sighted guide even if she hadn’t done it before. “I take my ability to hear everything for granted. I’ve been around Hard of Hearing people and made the same assumptions.”

“Okay.” Ember sounded more confident. “I trust you to tell me if I’ve done something wrong, and I’ll watch some more YouTube videos.”

“Or you could just ask me.” I rubbed my thumb on her elbow again. “I told you before, I could be your teacher anytime.”

I was rewarded with a sharp increase of her lemon vanilla scent. I’d been craving lemon pound cake for weeks and it was all her fault.

The sound of the wind changed as we rounded the corner of the block, and the noises of the cars sounded flatter. Ember started moving toward me and stopped. “There’s a curve as we turn the city block. Do I keep going or turn us completely to the side?”

“You can self-correct, and I’ll match you.” The sound of the wind pitched differently as it curved around the block. “If there was a sharp turn, we could stop and reorient ourselves, but we don’t need to do that.”

“Will you show me how to do that later?”

“Another excuse to touch you? Absolutely.”

She laughed, and I felt her shoulders shift. I guessed she was shaking her head.

She shifted more to the left slowly, and I adjusted my pace, but the curve of the pavement under my feet told me we were going around a turn, and I was able to anticipate the curve without Ember having to nudge me.

“How do you know how much of a turn that was? I thought I’d have to, like, try not to run into you.”

I scuffed my shoes. “I know it looks like a magic trick, but it’s just being aware of how things sound around me along with how the terrain feels.”

“That’s so cool,” she said, sounding impressed. We kept walking, and it was easy to keep pace with her. I was glad she didn’t go too slow.

“How do you want me to handle the door?” Ember slowed down to a stop. “We’re going to stand off to the side so we can talk without being in the walkway.”

“Good idea. It’s a double door, I assume?”

I’d forgotten all about directions for sighted guides and doorways. I could have gone up the stairs and opened the door myself, but part of me loved that she wanted to know the right way of doing things.

Maybe it was because learning meant she expected to need to do this more than once.

I could only hope.

“Yes,” she said, some of her lemon cake scent tickling me. “Brown wooden double doors with three steps leading up.”

“Good job being precise,” I said. “Are they narrow or deep? And does the door pull or push open?”

“It pulls open. The steps are, uhhh, narrow. Not very tall.” Ember laughed. “I’m going to need to get better at directions.”

“It’s fine.” I tapped my hand on her elbow. “First, you put your hand behind your back.”

“The narrow passageway signal?” She perked up. “I saw that bit in a video.”

“That’s the one. Extended your arm back a little bit so I don’t walk on the back of your feet.”

She shifted her arm, and I kept my hand on her forearm. “I feel like I need a serving tray, like on the historical channel.” Ember giggled.

“Rian said the same thing,” I said. “Now, when we get to the door, you’re going to put your hand on the handle. I’ll slide my hand down and open the door. You’ll walk through and I’ll follow behind.”

“Can I ask, isn’t it easier to let me open the door for you?”

“We could, but then I have no idea where the door actually is. If the guide isn’t paying attention, the door might hit me. I personally prefer opening the door myself.”

“True, true. Okay we got this.”