"The love interest was emotionally unavailable for three hundred pages," Nora continues. "That's not slow burn. That's a fire that refuses to start."
"He was healing." Vittoria clutches her chest dramatically. "Some of us appreciate a man who needs time to process his trauma."
Nora slides me a look. "Kristen, back me up here."
I hold up my free hand. "I'm Switzerland. Completely neutral."
"Coward," Vittoria mutters, but she's grinning.
We pass a children's clothing store, and Lily tugs my hand. "Mommy, can we look?"
"Maybe on the way back, baby."
The truth is, I know exactly where I want to go. I've known since Nico suggested this shopping trip yesterday. There's a bookstore on the third floor. They have a medical section. I checked their website last night like a complete stalker.
Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. Latest edition. Seventy-three dollars.
Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. One hundred and twelve dollars.
Books I've wanted for years. Books I couldn't justify buying when Lily needed new shoes, when rent was due, when Jack's debt ate through everything I earned.
But now I have money. My money. My salary from managing the Sartori household.
Not the gold credit card Nico slipped into my pocket. Not charity. Not another debt I'd owe someone.
Mine.
"Where to next?" Vittoria asks, stopping at an intersection of stores. "Nora needs new shoes?—"
"I do not need new shoes."
"You have exactly three pairs. That's tragic."
"That's practical."
"There's a bookstore," I say, the words coming out before I can overthink them. "On the third floor. I wanted to check it out."
Both women turn to look at me. Vittoria's expression shifts from curious to delighted.
Vittoria loops her arm through mine. "Then let's go. Lead the way."
The bookstore smells like paper and coffee. Heaven.
Lily immediately gravitates toward the children's section, where a staff member is setting up puppets for story time. I catch Nora's eye—she nods and follows Lily while Vittoria stays with me.
The medical section is smaller than I hoped. My fingers trail along spines, reading titles I've only seen online. My heart does this stupid flutter thing, like I'm a kid in a candy store.
Pathetic. It's just books.
But it's not just books. It's possibility. It's the part of me that Jack tried to kill and couldn't.
I find the dictionary first. Pull it from the shelf. The weight of it in my hands feels significant somehow.
"That one looks intense," Vittoria says, peering at the cover.
"It's a reference guide. Every medical term you could need." I flip through the pages, and something loosens in my chest. "I've been using a ten-year-old edition I found at Goodwill. This one has updated terminology."
Vittoria reaches for her purse. "Let me?—"
