“It might cause a small hiccup, but it wouldn’t interrupt the shows. Those are already scheduled and completely planned out. But anything having to do with the promotion and such like that… that might not be as effective as it is now.”
“With a manager who treats you like a child more than anything else?” I asked, gesturing at her phone. “I get it. He discovered you when you were young, but you’re a grown woman now and—”
“Don’t,” she said, her voice clipped at the end. “Please.
Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day. I know you aren’t fond of him, and sure, he gets on my case sometimes, but he isn’t the villain you make him out to be.”
“I never said—”
“You didn’t have to.” She released a shaky breath and shoved the phone back in her pocket. Once she did, she took my hands in hers and held them between us. “I love that you’re looking out for me, I truly do, but right now what I really want is a friend to sit and be with me, even in silence.”
I squeezed her hands tight and smiled when she squeezed back. “That’s something I can definitely do. Just let me get things situated down here, then I’ll come up.”
She looked from me, my hands, at the front doors, then back at me again. “You really need to get back to work.” She didn’t sound convinced, but then neither was I.
I didn’t move. “I’ll put a note on the door and—”
“Turning customers away?” She tilted her head to the side and gave me a half-smile. “That doesn’t sound like the Evie I know.”
It wasn’t. It wasn’t like me at all. “Today’s different.”
“And tomorrow will be better,” she promised, referring to everything she’d faced today. “We can have lunch in the tower tomorrow, but you really should open the store.”
She was right, of course, and as much as I wanted to hide out in the tower with her, I let her go, unlocking the front doors as she headed toward the back of the shop.
Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.
As promised, Cassidy dropped by first thing in the morning.
She’d been visiting the shop so much, it was almost like a second home for her. Most days, she’d park out back, let herself in, then slowly gather her things upstairs. Today, however, was different. Today, not only did she bring me a muffin from Maggie’s, but she’d ditched all of her extra layers as well.
There was no hat, no scarf, and nothing to hide her face.
She’d walked into the shop as the Cassidy I’d grown to know and love, the one who spent lunch with me in the afternoons and simply let herself go. The same one I wished more than anything could stay in town a little while longer. The one I considered my friend.
“What?” she asked with a shy smile, tilting her head to the side.
“You. Your hair…” I released a breath. “It’s beautiful.”
Without all of her extra layers to hold it back, her red tresses cascaded down to the middle of her back. It wasn’t frizzy or windswept at all. It was… perfect.
“You helped me realize something yesterday,” she said, taking off her coat before draping it over one arm. “My mother never would’ve approved of me walking around the way I’ve been, hiding myself like I’m ashamed.”
“You have
your reasons,” I said, walking around the counter to join her. It wasn’t quite lunchtime so I couldn’t close the shop, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t listen.
“Not any good ones,” she admitted, chewing her bottom lip a moment later. “She never understood why I went into this business if I couldn’t be myself. That includes acting the way I’ve been.”
“Everyone needs time to mourn,” I told her, gesturing over to the sofas in the lounge so we could sit down. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“And yet I’m hiding it from my fans. They don’t want to hear about this. They just expect me to sing.”
I was shaking my head before she could finish. “I don’t see you like that. You’re human. Having the support of your fans is just as important as anything else.”
“My manager doesn’t think so,” she said, refusing to look at me. “He convinced me to keep things quiet. He knows how much I need my time alone but—”
“You don’t think he’s playing on that a bit?” Not letting her fans see her like this was ridiculous. “No one’s a superhero.