Page 14 of Remembering You
Marty scrunched her nose in disgust. “First of all, gross. Second of all, that wouldn’t have helped. He’s a pediatric surgeon. You would have seen Dr. Peasely.”
Elsa paused. “Is he the one with the glasses or the one who always smells like cheese?”
“Well, we don’t call him Dr. Cheesely for no reason,” Marty answered.
Elsa grunted. “Ugh, well, note to self, don’t cause bodily harm to meet hot doctors.” She paused, eyeing two different colors of nail polish in her hands. “Should I go red or pink?”
“Red,” Marty answered without thinking. It was Elsa’s signature color, even if she didn’t realize it herself.
“What about you?” Elsa asked. “What color are you going with for Mr. Hot Doc?”
In one hand, Marty clutched a pearly light pink color. She almost always wore it on her hands. But in the other? She opened her palm, uncurling her fingers around the square glass bottle, revealing the vibrant forest green shade that reminded her of her younger days. She wore it occasionally still… tribute to Jim that she wore on special days. Or sometimes not special days. Sometimes, she just wore it to think of him and remember him.
Elsa smiled when she saw it. “I think it’s perfect for tonight.”
Marty shrugged. “It’s February in New Hampshire. It’s not like I’ll be wearing open toed shoes anyway. But…” Her words faded off. Something about it just felt wrong. Wearing a color that so symbolized the love of her life. The father of her five amazing children. The man that left her way too soon.
That ever-present lump lodged deeper in her throat. She didn’t shed many tears for Jim… not anymore. Not because she didn’t love him or think about him. She’d just gotten very used to him not being here. And that in itself made her sad.
“But?” Elsa gently prodded her.
“But… isn’t it in poor taste to wear Jim’s color on a date with another man?”
Elsa worried her lip, her brows creasing in empathy. “Or, it’s a beautiful homage to a man you’ll never forget. An homage to your first love, while you embark on finding your last love.”
Marty gave a sad chuckle to mask her sniffle. “How’d you get so damn wise?”
Elsa shrugged. “If you’re a turtle, I guess that makes me an owl.”
“Whooooo’dhave thought?” Marty said, leaning over the armrest and lowering her cheek to Elsa’s shoulder.
Elsa groaned. “Oh my God. Thirty-some odd years later and you’re stillsucha dork.”
Marty chuckled and nuzzled into her best friend’s arm with a sigh. “Who’d have thought all those years ago that I was bound to find my soulmate here on my first night in this little town?”
Marty felt Elsa’s cheek fall to the top of her head, too. “Jim was a special man.”
“He was,” Marty whispered. “But I wasn’t talking about Jim.” She pulled away from Elsa and winked at her best friend whose green eyes were misting with unshed tears. “Soulmates come in all forms. I just happened to find mine in my best friend.”
“Shut up, you old sap,” she said, shoving Marty’s shoulder playfully and dabbing the corner of her eye with the tip of her finger. “Why’d you have to go and say that?”
Marty snickered, but sniffled through her own clogging emotions. She didn’t open up like that to anyone but her kids. And Elsa sure as hell didn’t get all warm and fuzzy that often either. It’s what made them such a good pair. “I just had to prove that this old turtle was wise, too.”
Marty smiled as Amy walked up, pulling a rolling stool to the pedicure tub. “Hey ladies. Getting dolled up for the big VDay?”
“One of us is,” Elsa said, hitching her thumb over her shoulder to Marty. “The other one is getting dolled up for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.”
Amy snorted and saturated a cotton ball with acetone. “Oh, come on. A night like this? Deserves Häagen-Dazs!”
Marty shook her head. “But then she couldn’t claim she had a threesome after. Just her, Ben, and Jerry.
“Shaddup,” Elsa said, her eyes drifting closed.
Amy giggled shaking her head and started filing Marty’s toenails.
After a few minutes of silent pampering, Elsa leaned over and whispered, “I feel like this needs to be said. I had never seen a couple so happy before I saw you and Jim together. You both inspired me to go for it with Jack.”
Marty grinned at that, her eyebrows jumping. “You never told me that.”
