Wow.

As much as I’d hoped for this outcome for her, I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.

“Heather, that’s awesome. Truly. I’m so happy you’re gonna finally do it.”

Why does my chest hurt so badly, then?

“I just have to figure out the situation with my mother. I don’t want her living alone. I want to talk to my aunt who lives outside of Boston to see if she would be willing to move here, or take Mom in, or at least look out for her. There’s a lot to figure out before I can make this happen.”

“Does Alice know about Vermont?”

“Not yet. I haven’t told her, because I want to be completely sure it’s going to happen first. Part of that is seeing what the realtor has to say about how easily she thinks we can sell the property. Summer is a good time to put it on the market, and I’ll need that money to fund school. So, if she doesn’t think it will sell, then—”

“Don’t let that stop you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…I’ll lend you the money to start school.”

Offering Heather help was a no-brainer. I’d always been smart with my funds, even when I was traveling. I’d often stay in hostels instead of fancy hotels. The bottom line was, I could easily afford to lend it to her.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“I have a good amount of savings. It wouldn’t be an issue to lend you whatever you need to get started. You could always pay me back when the sale goes through. It’s not a big deal.”

“What if the house doesn’t sell?”

“It will.”

Her mouth hung open. “Well, I don’t even know what to say. I’m not too proud to accept your generosity if it comes to that, and I’m completely blown away that you would offer. Seriously, thank you.”

“It’s no skin off my back. The money is just sitting in the bank doing nothing.”

“I hope I don’t have to take advantage of it, but I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

A mix of emotions ran through me. I was so incredibly proud of her for taking this step. I was envious of all of the people who had yet to meet her, envious of the lucky bastard she would choose to spend her time with there. Most of all, I knew I would miss her. I’d miss her smile. I’d miss talking to her. I’d miss everything about her and this place.

After her news, things were quiet for a while as we returned to work. Then Heather snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Hey, can we take a quick ride?” she asked, checking her phone for the time. “I didn’t realize how late it was, and I need your truck for something.”

“You need to pick something up?”

“Yes. I need you to take me to the pet store. I don’t have room in my car for everything.”

“Everything?”

“I’m sort of rescuing a couple of guinea pigs. They come with a lot of baggage.”

Chuckling, I said, “Guinea pigs have baggage?”

“Well, their cage is really big.”

“You’re seriously bringing them back here?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea if you’re gonna be leaving for school at some point?”

“We don’t have a choice. The pet store is closing tomorrow for good, and my friend Trish says if no one takes them, they could end up being euthanized. I’ll figure something out. But this will buy them more time.”

“There’s no one else who can take them in?”

“She said she can’t find anyone. Trish already has three of them at home.”

Heather’s life was about to be in limbo. She needed this like a hole in the head, but she had a heart of gold, and I knew there would be no talking her out of this.

Brushing the dirt off my hands, I said, “Okay, let’s go rescue some guinea pigs.”***An hour later, I was thinking I needed my head examined for agreeing to this. Those pigs took up way more space than I’d ever imagined.

I’d helped her bring the animals upstairs and set up their massive cage in the corner of her room.

It was my first time inside Heather’s bedroom, and it was just as soft and feminine as I’d imagined it to be. I was as tense being in here as I’d imagined I’d be, too.

My eyes wandered to the top shelf in her closet. There were bags upon bags of stacked candy corn packages.

“I take it you like candy corn?”

“Well, you have to stock up, otherwise you can’t find them all year. I can’t live without them. So I hit the sales at the end of Halloween.”

“And buy out the whole store?”

“Pretty much.” She laughed. “I never told you Halloween was my favorite holiday?”

“No. Although based on your penchant for horror movies, I should’ve known.”

She was clicking away on her laptop, trying to find information about caring for her new pets. Neither one of us knew a thing about guinea pigs.