Page 63 of Just For Her

Kayla was surprised to hear that. “Really? Retail?”

Tove felt the need to explain herself. “It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s just… since I was a kid, I’ve always liked the thought of owning a tourist shop, and Trudy has the best one in town. Everything is designed with the tourist in mind, and she sources souvenirs from locals.”

“Yeah, like these candles right here.” Trudy jerked her thumb toward the current display. Gone were mosaic tiles by cousin Mary. Instead, the Fredriksson specials were art prints of “scenic Bend” done in half-decent watercolors. Tove recognized Uncle Lars’s retirement hobby anywhere. “Or the prints. Guess who did them?”

“We should get going,” Tove said with a jerk of Kayla’s hand.

“Lars Fredriksson!” Trudy announced with a hoot. “You can’t swing a stick without smacking a Fredriksson who fancies themselves an artist. I mean, I only sell things I know tourists might like, and it’sallon commission…”

“Whoa.” Kayla turned to Tove. “You ever get anything sold here?”

“Huh? You know I’m not artistic. I’m a numbers girl.”

Kayla waggled her eyebrows. “You’re alots of thingsgirl.”

Embarrassed, Tove pulled Kayla a few feet away. “We have a reservation at Giuseppe’s!” she called to Trudy over her shoulder. “You know how it is!”

“Have fun you two! See you around, Tove!”

Trudy picked up her heavy A-frame sign from the sidewalk and leaned it against the entryway to her shop. By then, Tove and Kayla turned the corner, the latter asking a million questions about Tove’s supposed dream to “go into retail.”

At least it gave them something to talk about while they sat at the table in the restaurant and looked over the menus. That night’s specials were five-mushroom caponata and tofu Bolognese, both of which appealed to Tove’s desire to consume elaborate vegetarian Italian food.Thirty dollars a plate, though….She put down the small menu of specials and picked up the main booklet featuring the usual cheese ravioli and eggplant parmesans. Meanwhile, Kayla continued to pester her girlfriend about her retirement plans.

“It’s a silly thing I’ve always talked about.” Tove hoped that would put the discussion to bed, but it only made Kayla ask more questions. “I like tourists. I might be the only one in my family who does. I also like to work face-to-face with people and make them happy. When I was a kid, I associated a fun souvenir shop with happy people. So it’s always been this thing… believe it or not, it sounds more relaxing than being an accountant.”

“Sounds like you could stock a whole store with stuff your family makes for fun.”

Tove rolled her eyes across the seasonal wine list. “Don’t get me started. Everyone fancies themselves an artist like Trudy said.”

“Aw, she seems super nice. She’s selling her place?”

“Yes.”

“She thinks you should buy it?”

“It’s a crazy idea. Now’s not the time to get out of the accounting business.” Tove doubted she could until Aunt Kiersten was either dead or too feeble to do anything about it. “Retail is hard to make stay in the black, and the last thing this CPA should ever do is suggest bad business ventures. But…”

“It would be fun, huh?”

“I suppose so.”

The waitress arrived to take their orders. Tove splurged on the mushroom caponata and a bottle of wine to share with her girlfriend.Even if we don’t finish it now, I’ll take it home for later.She wasn’t sure what the laws were on that, but Giuseppe’s never had a problem with Tove taking home unfinished wine as long as she wasn’t tipsy on her way out the door. It made the sting of a bottle that cost as much as the special easier to bear.

“I’ll have the lobster risotto.” When Tove gave her girlfriend a startled look, Kayla asked, “What? Oh! I can get it if you want. I made bank in tips today. Pay it forward, right?” she said with a laugh to their waitress.

“Uh…” Tove swore she had heardlobster risotto.“That’s not vegetarian,” she said in a low voice. “Unless it said it was mock-lobster? I missed that.”

“Oh… oh! Wow. Silly me.” Kayla’s laugh was loud enough to make the waitress step back. “I did think it said ‘mock-lobster.’ Never mind. I’ll have my usual cheese ravioli with the accented green beans on the side. Thank you.”

Tove brushed that aside once the waitress was gone. So did Kayla, who gave her girlfriend her undivided attention as they held hands across the table.

“Soooo,” Kayla asked with her sweetest voice. “What’s the occasion? Come on. This isn’t ‘just because.’ You bought us a bottle of wine and are dressed up.”

“Am I dressed up?”

“Honey, babe, darling, you’re wearing work clothes and you didn’t work today.”

“Maybe this is how I normally dress.”

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