“I think it probably was,” I said.
“It’s time, isn’t it?”
“If you say it is, then it is,” I said.
She nodded. “I can do this.”
“Damn straight you can. My girl can do anything.”
She smiled, and I could tell she loved me calling her that. But, her smile didn’t fade. She looked like she was considering something.
“What?” I asked.
“I have an idea.”
“Yeah?” I asked, hoping her idea and mine were the same.
“I’m gonna talk to Jesse.”
“Jesse?” I asked, unsure where she was going with that.
She nodded. “I think his shop needs a female touch.”
Ah.
“The store next door is for rent,” she continued.
“I noticed.”
“I wonder if we could knock out a wall—or at least a doorway.”
“I bet that’s a possibility.”
“Then, on one side, he could sell his winter gear, and on my side, we could add some class and style.”
“I think you may be on to something,” I said.
“That way, there’d always be someone else there,” she said.
The notion that she never wanted to be alone cracked something inside of me. She was a total badass, but she’d forever be scarred by what happened. Damn Gino. She’d definitely move forward, like she’d been doing, but there would always be a piece of her that needed the security of someone else. And, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I’d be that person for her. Today. Tomorrow. Always.
“There’s definitely not a ski and style shop anywhere that I’ve heard of before,” she continued.
“It would definitely be a first,” I agreed.
“Do you think he’d be open to the idea?” she asked.
Kason and I would kick his ass if he wasn’t. “Definitely.”
She looked around at her boutique as if for the last time. I wondered if recollections of her time there were flashing through her mind or if that fateful night made it too difficult to let those images through. “I’m going to miss this place.”
“You’ve got a lot of good memories here.”
“Yeah,” she agreed sadly. “And one really bad one.”
I buried my hands in my pockets, unsure how to respond. She was right. That bad memory would always outweigh the good ones.
“But…I think I know what’ll help,” she said.