Page 90 of Capture The Moment

“Me too,” Harper said.

As Harper walked toward the door, Mrs. Simmons spotted her and broke out a sweet, crooked smile.

“Well, hello, dear. Nice to see you again,” she said.

“You too,” Harper replied, smiling back.

Kelly had returned to the front counter with Emma, and Mrs. Simmons leaned closer to Harper and whispered, “Any luck with your young suitor?”

Smiling even wider, Harper said, “How did you know?”

“It’s easy to spot a woman in love,” Mrs. Simmons replied.

“Oh,” Harper said, taken aback.

“Well, aren’t you? In love, I mean.”

“I…I…”

“That’s your answer right there. Your young man still has you tied up in knots. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Harper shook her head almost frantically.

“It means that he’s the one!”

“The one?”

“That’s right. The same thing happened to me and my Eddy. I couldn’t see straight for weeks until I finally gave in. Good thing he didn’t give up on me!”

“When you say, ‘gave in,’ what does that mean exactly?” Harper found that she had leaned closer to Mrs. Simmons too. Just like the first time they’d met, she was anxious to hear what this woman had to say.

Mrs. Simmons giggled and looked wistful for a moment, as if she were digging up an old memory. “Oh, honey. It’ll happen to you too. You just wait.” And then, as if the conversation were over, Mrs. Simmons started to walk away. “Have a good day, dear,” she called over her shoulder before disappearing into the stacks.

Harper stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, until Kelly walked up beside her. “Was she harassing you again?” Kelly whispered, placing a hand on Harper’s arm.

“No, not at all. I think Mrs. Simmons is a very wise woman.” And then she said goodbye to Kelly and left, swinging her tote bag all the way to the parking lot.

Her good mood continued throughout the rest of the day, and she expected it to only get better when Finn came over after work. He’d texted her to say that he’d bring dinner and to expect him around six o’clock.

At four thirty, she stopped working to change. She’d worn classic black dress pants and a blush-colored blouse to her meeting with Kelly and Emma earlier—her standard work clothes. But she wanted to look different for when Finn arrived. Funny how, just a few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have cared what she was wearing, but she did now.

Rummaging through her lingerie drawer, she held up and discarded several items until she found something from Victoria’s Secret that still had the price tag attached. It stole her breath for a moment, and she slumped down on the floor in front of her dresser. The black one-piece number was the last gift she’d received from her husband, and she’d never had the opportunity to wear it.

He’d given it to her for her birthday in May, just a few weeks before he’d died. She remembered them laughing when she’d opened it. It was an ongoing joke that he always had her naked before she could so much as think about wearing her sexy lingerie. After he died, she’d shoved the item to the back of her drawer and had forgotten all about it.

Even though it made her somewhat sad to find it now, part of her wondered if it was another sign. A sign that it was time to start over, to begin a new life without him. Isn’t that what everyone had been advising her to do for months now? Fingering the lingerie, she thought about the strides she’d made recently, and it made her feel stronger, braver.

Heaving herself up off the floor, she took the lingerie into the bathroom, where she clipped off the tag. She might have still felt uncomfortable if it had been something she’d worn with Blake, but because it was new, she’d wear it. Slipping it on and adjusting the straps, she turned to survey herself from all angles.

“Not bad,” she said just as Daisy trotted into the bathroom. “Oh!” she exclaimed and crossed her arms over her chest. And then she laughed because, hello, dogs don’t care! Bending down to pet Daisy, she said, “You love me no matter what, right, sweetie?”

Daisy just licked her hand and then turned around and walked away. So much for their tender moment.

Next, Harper spritzed on some perfume and then went into her closet to pick out her clothes. For many months after Blake’s death, she’d lived in yoga pants and loose-fitting tops, not overly concerned about fashion (or anything else for that matter). And then she’d lost quite a bit of weight from not caring about food either. At some point, her sister had forced her to lose the yoga pants and go shopping for some new clothes—clothes that actually fit.

So, now she pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, wondering how much longer she’d be able to wear them, since her appetite had come back with a vengeance. She paired the jeans with a simple black V-neck sweater because she didn’t want to look she was trying too hard, and then she tugged on a pair of black ankle boots.

Earlier, she’d straightened her hair for the bookstore meeting, but now she thought it looked flat and boring. So, she did something she hadn’t done in a long time—she braided it. She tried to remember if Finn had ever seen her with a braid and couldn’t think of a time. Fingering the tendrils that framed her face, she wondered if he’d like it or if he’d want to take it out and let her hair flow loose. Either way, it felt new and fresh, and as a bonus, it made her feel younger!