Page 89 of Come Back to Me

Willow rushes out from the back, attacking me with a hug. All the girls and the women clap, which fills the room with the best kind of noise.

Celebration.

“I’m so happy for you. You’re going to be the best assistant manager ever,” Willow says.

“Thank you.” I focus my attention on Willow. “Hey, are you going to the game tonight?”

“I wasn’t going to. Why?”

“You should come. It’ll be more fun if you’re there.”

“You know that I’m not a sports girly, right?”

“And I am? C’mon, please.” I give her puppy-dog eyes.

“Fine. I’ll go. When does the game start?”

Taking out my phone from my back pocket, I check my calendar app. “The game starts at 7 p.m., so we should head out around 6 p.m. because traffic on campus with these games gets out of hand.”

“I was thinking we can take our own cars. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, definitely. It would be a pain if we took one car because the SCU campus is thirty to forty-five minutes away from town, depending on traffic.”

“True,” Willow says, emphasizing the U.

Laura overhears our conversation. “It’s 5:15 p.m. now. I’d get ready to leave if I were you. Like you said, traffic is really bad on campus when there are games going on.”

I nod in agreement.

Willow and I clock out on the tablet in the back of the store where we keep our shipments of books, stationery, and decor.

I unlock my locker using the correct numerical combination and get my purse out of there, slinging it over my shoulder. I find my way back into the main area of the store where Laura is. Willow beat me there.

“Hey Laura, when do I start my new role?”

“How does Monday sound to you?”

I look at Willow with a big smile quickly forming on my face.

“Awesome!” I respond ecstatically.

“Well ladies, I will see you both on Monday.” Laura’s eyesland on my face. “I’m looking forward to seeing what you do in your new role at the store, Violet.”

Willow heads out, walking towards her white Honda Accord LX parked in one of the back rows of the parking lot.

My eyes lock with Laura’s dark brown eyes. “I’ve been dreaming of being an assistant manager here for a couple of years now. It’s wild that this is actually happening.”

“You’ve earned it. Do you know on the days you’re off that our regulars ask if you’re working? That’s how much of a footprint you’ve left at the store. There’s no Sweet & Salty without you, Violet.”

“Well, the store wouldn’t exist without you. Thank you for giving me a place to call home these past several years.”

“I’m the luckiest woman in the world to be able to have a warm and welcoming place for you and other romance readers.” She smiles. “Now go before you get caught in that horrible traffic!”

“Bye!” I push the door open and the bell chimes as I walk out.

How does it feel like it’s eighty-five degrees when it’s supposed to be fall? Where’s the cool breeze and the leaves changing colors? I’ve lived in Sunset Cove since I was a baby, so I’ve adapted to the weather because there’s only one season. A season and a half, if we’re lucky.

The irony is my favorite season is winter, and we barely have weeks where it gets colder than seventy degrees during the day.