“Rach,” I called over the shelving display. “I found it!”
She came back over to see the lamp and agreed it was perfection, especially when I showed her how the glass sparkled with the light from the shop’s front window. We checked out and walked into the mall.
“Anywhere else you want to go?”
I looked up the corridor at the stores. “I do need some new office-appropriate clothing.” I answered with a mischievous smile.
Rachel smiled. “I have a policy to never turn down a shopping spree.”
“I knew you’d be my backup.”
We laughed and headed up the walk. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun. Rachel and I used to do this kind of thing all the time. We’d go shopping and brunching on the weekends. Everything was so different back then.
By the time we hit the dressing rooms at the third store, we each had a couple of bags worth of clothing. Rachel waited outside the booth as I went in to try on a few more things. I could hear her giggling as I tugged on a skin-tight white pencil skirt. “What’s so amusing over there, missy?”
“Oh I was just looking at all these bags and thinking how it’s a good thing you landed this job because I’m pretty sure we already spent your first paycheck.”
I bent over and peeked out to see the mass of glossy shopping bags and moaned. “Sadly, you’re probably right.”
“They don’t call it retail therapy for nothing, baby doll.”
“True.” I shrugged. The skirt was incredibly form-fitting and made my ass look amazing. As I spun around to consider another angle, I caught myself smiling in the mirror. My smile faded when I realized it was because I’d been thinking about the look on Jack’s face if he saw me in it.
Without another thought, I freed the zipper and shimmied out of the skirt. I passed it over the door to Rachel. “Need a different size?” she asked, taking it from me.
“No. I don’t like how it looks.”
Liar.
I sighed and rested my head against the cool dressing room mirror. I used to go on shopping trips specifically to find something like that skirt. A showstopper. Then I’d spend the rest of the day eagerly waiting for Jack to get home so I could strut past him and watch him lose his mind.
“Holls? You okay in there? Need the jaws of life to get you in to or out of something?”
I smiled and shook my head, pushing away from the mirror. “I’m almost done. I think I’ll take the navy-blue dress and call it a day before my credit card company calls to ask if I want to report my card stolen.”
Rachel laughed. “Okay. I’m going to go check out then. Meet you up front.”
“Okay. Be there in a sec.”
I redressed and carried my final selection to the register. The white skirt was laying on the counter, in some stack of discards, and on an impulse, I grabbed it and added it to my purchase. Rachel eyed me but didn’t say anything.
I was moving on. One minute at a time. One day at a time.
One skirt at a time.
The weekend came to a close all too soon and I wanted to get up the coast early to settle in. Before I knew it, Hunter was loaded into my car, waiting for me to say my final goodbyes to Rachel at the curb in front of her townhouse. She wrapped me in a tight hug and for a long moment, neither one of us said anything. We’d talked it all out—repeatedly—over the weekend and it seemed as if there was nothing left to say.
Rachel pulled away and we exchanged a quick smile. “Good luck.”
“Thanks, Rach.” I stepped off the curb. “I’ll text you when I get back home. Uhm—to the hotel.”
I’d booked a hotel for the week. It was an economy room—my splurge at the boutiques wouldn’t quite allow for a suite—at a hotel close to my new office. At least I’d still have an ocean view. And they allowed dogs, which was the more important thing. I knew Jack would watch Hunter—and that Princess would be thrilled to have her favorite live action chew toy back around the house—but I couldn’t face the idea of being completely alone.
Rachel waved to us as I pulled out of the small lot and headed toward the freeway. “Say goodbye to Auntie Rach,” I told Hunter. He plastered the window with slobbery kisses. “Close enough.”
After the drive up the coast, we finally made it to the hotel. It was nice enough, so I unpacked right away to make it feel homier. Hunter lounged on the king-sized bed, taking up most of it while I rushed around putting things into their proper places. When there was nothing left to fold, fluff, or organize, I finally relented and squeezed in next to him, TV remote in hand, and scanned the channels. I landed on a cooking show that featured one of my favorite celebrity chefs, and I reached for the bedside notepad to scrawl out some notes as she rambled on. She was making a lemon pound cake that looked like it would literally melt in my mouth.