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“I’m so proud of you,” I sniffle into her hair.
“Thanks. Me too,” she says, and I can hear all the emotion in her voice. It’s so well-deserved.
There’s no time to linger in it, though, since the bell chimes and a customer walks in.
We’re busy for the next few minutes, and when there’s a break, she asks earnestly, “Can I go to the art school though?”
My heart climbs into my throat, tightening with all the emotions, and pride, too, that I can make her dreams come true thanks to this little shop that fed Special Edition.
“Yes.”
That afternoon when we leave, I do a double take. Scents & Sensibility next door has a sign in the window that says For Rent.
“Huh. I wonder if that’s what Samira meant by perfect timing,” I muse, thinking back to when she popped into the store a few weeks ago. Good for her. She seems to be nearing retirement age. She probably just wants to be a real estate magnate now.
“Probably,” Amanda says. “Maybe it’ll be a cool pottery place.”
“A girl can dream,” I say.
We head to Zane’s home so I can change and freshen up before Gage and I go back to work at Special Edition, and when we arrive, Eliza is peering out the window that looks onto the front entrance.
Her eyes widen, then she swings open the door. “It’s a snow day!”
I blink then smile, amused by her use of metaphor. “Yes, it’s a snow day,” I repeat. “With Amanda’s good news and all.”
“Shoes off. Let’s go,” Eliza says.
Amanda toes off her Converse in no time, asking, “Where are we going?”
Eliza zips her lips, then grabs Amanda’s hand, and tugs her through the home. Amanda eagerly follows the younger girl, laughing. I kick off my shoes and go too, curious where Gage is. Margo is watching the girls tonight, so maybe he’s already at Special Edition. But he said we’d go over together.
When I reach Amanda’s room, Gage and Margo are waiting outside the closed door.
“Since it doesn’t ever seem to snow in San Francisco, we brought the snow to you,” he says, then gestures to the door.
“What is this?” Amanda asks.
“Congratulations,” Eliza says, and when Amanda opens the door, I’m stunned. Her floor is covered with white packing peanuts easily a foot high. It looks just like snow.
“We can make snow angels and have snowball fights,” Eliza says.
“Oh my god,” Amanda says, then walks into the indoor winter wonderland.
I turn to Gage, jaw agape. “You did this?”
“I helped him,” Margo says proudly.
“It’s incredible,” I say, awed.
“They’re made of cornstarch, so they’re biodegradable. Eliza’s idea. When they’re done, I can take the snow out to the yard and hose them down and boom. They disappear,” he says.
I can barely handle how my heart is melting for this man. This is such a gift. He is such a gift. They are a gift.
I can’t help it. As the girls make snow angels, I smack a kiss to Gage’s cheek. Then it hits me. That’s the first time I’ve kissed him—a chaste kiss—in front of them.
I’m not sure they’ve noticed, but Margo does since she clears her throat and says to her grandson, “Roller coasters. Like I said.”
I give him a questioning look.
