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In spite of her denial, I thought she sounded rather personally invested in the situation Of course, the heroine started spendinge of roave me shivers because I’d felt like that a couple of times lately It was the way I remembered my entire relationship with Josh, and it was the way days spent with Owen see? You look a little pale," Florence said, nudging me

I shook e days lately And why is it the good stuff that goes by in aday at ith a coffee hed, but her eyes looked serious At the end of the movie, she said, "See, that’s how it needs to work out She realizes her uy"

"But does she have to do it in a brides a scooter?"

"The point is that she does it, no matter how difficult or inconvenient it is When you know the right thing to do, you just do it"

I quirked an eyebrow at her "I believe you’vewith Owen if I insist on clinging to Josh, the Mr Wrong safety net But life isn’t a rouy is the best bet"

"Hey, you’re the one who said you’re living es We live life"

"If that’s what you call it" She helped o, she placed her hand firmly on my shoulder "I just want you to have the best I ot the divorce papers Don’t rush into anything, and be sure of what you want"

"And no riding scooters in hoopskirts"

"Only if you’re into that sort of thing See you in theover what she’d said In the nored her friends’ advice, and I didn’t think I was that type, but I couldn’t remember any friends before Florence I also couldn’t remember any boyfriends before Josh My o were blurry and consisted only of a few key moments, but if I tried to push beyond that, I hit a wall I had photos in my apartment of family members, and I knew they were e up es It was like I hadn’t existed before thatsold

It was like I was starring in a movie and didn’t realize it

Then I shook my head I’d obviously had too much wine

The next couple of weeks passed in a blur that I re with Owen in the store, with lots of little accidental touches that affected us both e, dinners and ro was that I didn’t reh I’d lived them It was more like they’d been put into ht with Florence had happened the night before and everything else had just been a drea to wonder if I should ical help

But finally, afterevent We closed early, then the entire staff worked together to set up the new signage, re-shelve the books, and otherwise transform the store into the kind of place where book lovers could while away the hours This tiroundon the store’s sound system We had coffee and treats from our new suppliers set out for refreshments, and a party-like atmosphere prevailed

I approached the science fiction section, sorting through the stack of placards inthe appropriate signs to the section’s coordinator, a tall, sli man with an elven look to him His ears weren’t pointy, but I felt like they should be "One of those goes on each endcap, and then there are two for the signs that go on top of the shelves I’ll be back around with the shelf talkers" As I walked away from him, I did a double take I felt like I knew him from somewhere Then I shook my head Of course I knew hiether at the store for ages He always came up on his break and ordered an espresso

When the store was all set and the rest of the staff left, Owen and I stayed behind to hide the scavenger hunt clues I’d been looking forward to this all day, andit a little Whatever it was, it had ht about h It didn’t have to