“Yes. A crush.”
“Tavi.The farm will still be here if you take a chance and tell that man that you love him.”
He took a chance last night and included me in thepeople he loves. But does that mean he’sin lovewith me or that I count as his family now?
I don’t know.
“I can’t,” I whisper.
She studies my face, and I duck my head so she can’t see what I’m feeling.
What I’m afraid of.
“I don’t know how to love myself,” I tell the floor, my voice barely audible even to myself. “Who am I to think I’d know how to love or be loved by someone else the way they truly deserve?”
She doesn’t answer but instead walks into my bedroom and wraps me in a tight hug. “I love you,” she tells me. “And I know you love me. And you love Pebbles. You loved Grandma Clementine. You love your new friends in Tickled Pink. I canhearit when you talk about them. Love doesn’t have to follow rules. It justis. Don’t get up in your head about it. Just let it be.”
“But he’s nothere. And I want to behere.”
“Have you asked him if he’ll come?”
“Of course not. He has a solid business in Tickled Pink, and the people there need him, and—”
“And maybe he needs you more than they need him.”
“But—”
“No buts. You have a beautiful soul, a massive heart, and the best boobs in existence.”
I sputter out an unexpected laugh. “Myboobs?”
“Um,hello? There are entire Instagram accounts dedicated to your boobs.”
“There are not.”
She huffs and pulls back, and a second later, I’m staring at a list of Instagram accounts that are all some variation ofTavi Lightly’s Boobs.
“But—”
“And the heart and soul, Tavi. You have a good heart and a good soul, and you’re a kick-ass businesswoman to boot.”
“I’m broke.”
“Because you donate your entire salary to charity. Not because you don’t make money. And if I ever meet your grandmother, I’m going to look her in the eye and tell her she’s still going to hell, because she’s kept you from being the amazing person that you are by trapping you somewhere that held you back.”
I don’t know that being in Tickled Pink has held me back.
If anything, it’s taught me that it’s time to truly set myself free.
There was magic in saving the farm, but there will be even more magic in making it self-sustaining instead of relying on my trust fund to keep it going.
And honestly?
I think I miss Tickled Pink too. It has its own kind of magic.
I pull back and swipe at my eyes, grateful for waterproof mascara. “We’re making something amazing, aren’t we?”
“We already have.” She beams at me, glances down at her phone, and starts to swipe Instagram shut, but then she freezes.
