Behind the counter, Mr. Kovár sipped bitter melange from a chipped porcelain cup. He had seen it all pass over the worn oak: wedding bands from a short-lived spring in Vinohrady, a violin that once serenaded the Charles Bridge, a soldier’s Iron Cross from a war no one wanted to remember.
Mr. Kovár set down his cup. She placed the book on the glass counter. Inside were pressed flowers—forget-me-nots, faded to ghost-blue—and a photograph of a man with kind eyes, circa 1968. czechpawnshop
"Dobrý den," she whispered.