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Her attention traveled the store, cataloguing the progress made in the couple days since I interviewed her.

“It already is,” she said. “The store is gorgeous, and it’s right on the path to the resort. So smart.”

Redness pinked my cheeks. “Based on some of the calculations I worked, we stand to be decently busy the rest of the summer and into October. We’ll drop off in November but then pick back up once the ski season starts.”

“I see you’ve done your homework.” She wound her way through the displays of candles and soaps and passed a peg wall of hand-drawn signs done on driftwood, painted by an old man who had to be in his eighties who’d lived in the area his whole life.

Nostalgia stirred through my insides. I even remembered him from when I was a little girl when my mom had taken me to an outdoor market.

My spirit moaned. I wondered what my mother would think of this place. Of what I’d achieved. I could almost see her smile. Could almost feel the warmth of the light in her eyes.

“I’m trying. God knows the amount of time I spent studying to make it to this moment.”

Penny took a couple steps closer, studying me from over the counter. “You’re so young to be the owner of this store.”

It didn’t feel like judgement.

Old grief fought to rise to the surface, and a smile trembled on the side of my mouth. “We never know how long we have, do we? We have to make the most of every moment we are given.”

I thought it was sorrow that pinched her face.

Understanding.

“It’s all we can do, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

I guess I’d tried to make the most of time this morning, and a swell of thoughts invaded. A battering of bliss and mortification.

Like I was on autopilot, my gaze moved to the big windows that fronted the store.

Trevan was out there in the gravel lot, making another pass, the man refusing to settle.

So gorgeous that my pulse skittered through three erratic beats.

Every muscle in his body bulged like he was physically beating himself up over what happened this morning.

Completely off kilter. A storm that raged in the middle of the bright sun that poured down from the cloudless, blue sky.

He had said little more than three words to me since I’d come out of the bathroom after taking my shower.

His preferred method of communication had become basic grunts and grumbles.

Though apple and cinnamon topped pancakes had been waiting for me on the island, so I had high hopes that he hadn’t decided to completely shun me.

I finally pulled my focus away from Trevan and returned it to Penny. “Come on, I’ll show you where to put your things.”

I led her down the short hall and into the storage room, through the shelves of merchandise, and to the breakroom on the right.

“I made a cubby for you.” I gestured to the shelving unit on the far wall. I’d written her name in big bubble letters done in yellow and pink and added a few hearts for good measure.

“We don’t have regular lockers, but I think it should be safe since there are only a couple of us with access back here. Besides, we have Trevan to make sure nothing goes missing.”

“Oh yes, I did notice our security guard. No one’s getting through that hulk of a man.”

“I think you can officially consider yourself safe.” That ridiculous blush that kept creeping up every time I thought of Trevan rushed to my face.

“Ah,” she said with a knowing smile as she looked over at me in appraisal. “I was pretty sure during our interview, but now I know for certain.”