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“Getting cold feet?” I teased.
“Yeah, I didn’t really think this through. Pull over. I’ll hitch-hike back to Boston.”
He grinned widely as I shot him a glare.
“I don’t have to become a Colts fan, do I?” he asked.
“We’re about fifty percent Colts fans, fifty percent Bears. But youdohave to root for Notre Dame.”
He winced. “That might be a problem. My team is Boston College.”
“We’ll discuss this later,” I said curtly. “Want to get dinner on the way home? There’s an Italian place at the next exit.”
Donovan rolled his eyes at me and said, “You know what? I’d kill for a cheeseburger.”
“With fries,” I agreed. “And a milkshake. Oh! What abouttwomilkshakes?”
“You’ve got this whole pregnancy thing down,” Donovan said.
“I could barely keep food down while I was sick with the virus,” I replied. “I’m eating to catch up,andeating for two!”
Elkhart was a quiet little town on the St. Joseph River, just east of South Bend. We drove straight to my apartment, carried our bags inside, and then crashed from exhaustion. I wasreallyglad that I cleaned my apartment before leaving for Rome.
It was strange having someone else in my bed, but strange in a good way. Like the cold, empty apartment I’d been living in was finally a home.
The next morning Donovan woke me by kissing my neck. His lips moved down my chest, where he paused to appreciate my nipples for a few minutes, and then he eventually found his way between my legs. I closed my eyes and arched my back, savoring the way he worshipped me in bed.
After I came, he crawled back up to my lips and kissed me for awhile. Taking his time, like we had nowhere to be. Which I supposed was true. Then we made love slowly, carefully,lovinglywhile the sun gently rose in the window and filled my bedroom with sunshine and bliss.
We showered together, then drove to Elkhart’s main street. Everything was shut down except the breakfast cafe on the corner, which was only open for to-go orders. It was a ghost town.
I parked in front of the store and got out. “This is it.Nelly’s Boutique, the store my mom built herself.”
“It’s nice,” Donovan said as we unlocked the door and went inside. “It has a lot more character than the big department stores. I can see why your mom loved it.”
I sighed. “Yeah, me too.”
He put an arm around my shoulder. “It’ll be all right. As soon as the pandemic passes, you’ll re-open and do fine. I promise.”
I shook my head. “I had a lot of time to think while I was in the hospital. And on the flight home. This was my mom’s store, not mine. I don’t have any attachment to it, beyond guilt for my mom. Now that she’s gone I only have sad memories here. That won’t change, no matter how hard I try to preserve the store. And it’s just not successful without my mom’s personal touch. I’ve decided to close the store.”
Donovan pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly against his chest. I didn’t understand why until I realized I was crying. He held me while I wept, rubbing my back while my tears soaked into his T-shirt.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
I wiped my tears and gave him a brave smile. “Well, I own the building itself. The lockdown is the perfect time to renovate. And I have an idea of what I want to turn this place into.”
He frowned. “What’s that?”
When I told him, Donovan took me in his arms and spun me around the room.
52
Molly
The Day We Opened The Restaurant
We spent the summer renovating the store. Even after all the interest-free small-business loans, I had to take out a mortgage on the building to pay for everything. But it was worth it.
