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“No, I’m happy with the amount of time I’m spending with you.” I smile, reassuring him just in case he’s being serious. “I just know he’s lonely. I need to check in on him more. If you want, you could join us tomorrow,” I offer.

The potatoes I’ve been rinsing off are clean. Now for the annoying part. Peeling them.

Swiping down gently, I continue, “You have no idea how much it means to me that him and I are on good terms. It’s something that I dreamed of happening again.”

He observes me for a minute, his focus completely on me.

“Can I ask what happened? You haven’t really talked about it in depth. Just that you left and never spoke to them again.”

This story has come out of my mouth a thousand times, but when it comes to telling it to Sean, my throat goes dry and the rehearsed story gets thrown down the drain just as these potato skins are.

Placing the peeler down, I face him.

“They tried to control my life. Eloise mostly, but my dad did nothing to stop her. You know how it was.” I lift my brows as he nods. “I could never be my own person. It was Eloise’s rules, but my dad just went with it.”

That night still runs vivid in my mind, with the yelling and hysterics.

“Eloise had screamed at me and called me names every day of my life. I’d had enough of it. She never believed I could be my own person, like I almost needed her. But in reality, I needed her out of my life. So we fought.” I pause. “She got physical—and I left that day.”

“Physical?” He narrows his eyes, his jaw flexing.

“No one ever stood up to Eloise. When I did, it caught her off guard.”

He nods, unsure of how to process. “I get why you left then.”

“Yeah,” I mumble low and composed.

“Does it make you upset to think about how badly things ended?”

“Honestly? No. I’ve moved on. I forgave myself and that’s that.” I continue peeling my potato.

“Forgave yourself?” He lowers his gaze in confusion.

“She convinced me I wasn’t good enough for anyone or anything. I know that isn’t true now. There will probably always be a part of me that’s bruised from her. But I know it isn’t me. It wasn’t me. It all stemmed from her own insecurities and narcissistic personality.”

He smiles. “But you did it—you survived her.”

“Yeah, I did. I survived it all.”

Sometimes I forget that.

Eloise always said I’d fail in life. In ways, I have. I’m divorced with no job. But, I’m headed in the right direction now. She was wrong about me and I’m going to prove it. Not for her, but for myself.

“I haven’t said anything because I wanted to wait until I had the ball rolling, but I’ve decided something and it’s big,” I tell him.

Sean’s instantly intrigued, promptly placing his knife down.

“I’m going to open my own bookstore.”

His mouth curves into an unconscious smile. “I think, that’s amazing, Bee,” he replies. “Have you dug into the details yet? What made you officially decide to do it?”

“I haven’t figured too much out yet. I just know I want to. It feels right. I loved running the store in the city, so I thought I could just do it here. I have no clue where it’ll be or what to call it, but I’m ready to start the process now.”

“That’s a lot of work.”

“I know, I know. But I have the time. Plus, I figured your mom could give me some tips on running a business.”

He takes a step forward, closing in on me.