Relationship. Crap. “All four hours of it. We should probably talk about it, so we’re on the same page.” Ugh. She knew where he wanted to be, he’d made that clear, which would make it worse when his restlessness kicked in, then he’d feel guilty and torn and she’d feel sad and rejected and alone and they’d both be miserable. Was it really worth leaping when there was a really good chance that there was no other side?
“No,” Haley said, urgently diving in as if Trace was about to step in a stinky pile of dog poo. She held Trace’s phone out of reach and shook her head. “Not yet. Don’t tarnish the lovely thing you have going by talking about it so soon. Your mother, yes, she might be helpful. Cole? No. Analyzing a relationship before it’s even a relationship will jinx it.”
“Sometimes you have to wing it a while. Go with the flow. Honesty, yes, but don’t get all antsy about it. Let what will happen, happen.” Freya set a fluffy green scarf on the stack of try-ons Trace had stacked on her arm. “And buy your mother this scarf. Soften the blow in case she’s upset.”
Haley passed back the phone.
Trace glared at the screen. “She already thinks I’m going through a phase. She’ll freak. But I can’t not tell her.”
“Then tell her, but whatever you do, don’t Trace this one and bring it to safe levels before you can even take off.” Freya shook a finger at her, then got distracted by a pile of hats.
“What? I don’t. I mean, I do—“ Ugh. She wasn’t wrong. “So what do I do, jump him and then say, ‘this might have been a stupid idea, but, well, too late.’ Oh god, what if he still thinks of me as… because…”
Freya lifted an eyebrow and watched her over the shelf. “As…?”
“You know how people think of someone back home to get through a difficult time?”
“Oh, I see,” Freya said, grinning wide and mischief brewing in her look. “You were hisraison d’être. His go-to for the wandering of his imagination when he needed something positive to think about. What a thing to tell a person. That’s really pressuring.”
Trace nodded and sank further. “I’m glad he told me. But I was trying to give him time to see me as the real me, and time for him to get back on his feet—literally.”
“He’s walking pretty smoothly these days,” Haley said.
Freya rounded the shelf and stopped next to Trace, folding her hands across her chest and leaning against the ledge. “It’s pretty obvious you two are into each other. In the here and now.”
Trace released a heavy sigh and nodded. “And what if I fall for him and… and… and he… I know he’s not going to be happy with a boring existence in Foothills. Look at him sit sometime. His knee doesn’t stop moving. He literally can’t sit still.”
Haley threw her arms around her, and Freya came in from the other side, and they hugged her like a sandwich. Haley murmured against her hair. “You’re freaking out. Just breathe. It’s been four hours.”
Air filled her chest and wouldn’t release, spiraling and spinning until she wanted to pass out.
Freya whispered sweetly, “Don’t think, just exist. You and Cole and wherever the road takes you. If he leaves, he leaves, and you cross that bridge when you come to it. But right now, there are some serious pheromones surging between you two, and I really, really like the way he looks at you.”
Haley pulled back to see her face. “Not many people see past your happy face. He sees you, maybe better than anyone. Give him a chance.”
Freya pulled away and dropped a considering scowl. “This journey of yours, to be who you want to be? That’s part of you, too. There is no finished project. No painting is really ever done, and my style is constantly evolving. You’ll never be finished becoming yourself. He’s working on him, too. It would be nice to evolve together.”
Watery stuff blurred her smile, and Trace felt the little knife that had been digging into her scapula begin to ease. “I like that.”
Devious seeped into Freya’s expression, and she sashayed across the shop, waving the others along. She plucked up an extraordinarily skimpy pink silk thing and handed it over.
Trace laughed as she took it, unsure which direction was even up. “Lovely, but I wouldn’t even know how to put this on.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Freya said knowingly. “It’ll go nicely under the dress you’re going to wear to the wedding, so you can quickly slip that dress off andvoilà.”
“Asher and Sophie said it was casual so I was going to wear jeans with my boots and maybe my new pink sweater.” She winked at Haley and held up the low backed sweater she had yet to try on.
“No, go with the green dress. Trust me. And if you’re not ready for this pink thing, you can save this for when you need to feel spicy, sweet, and daring.”
“I’ll go try this stuff on.”
In the privacy of the dressing room, she sat on the cushioned stool and pulled out her phone. There was no way she could keep this from her parents. She texted her mom, skipping past the formalities.I kissed Cole.
While she waited for the response, she stripped out of her clothes.
?!?!?! Did he kiss you back?
Yes.
