Chapter 8: Loose EndsAll in all, it took two days for Jess to feel like herself again. Natalie spent most of the second day with her, too, but by the end of it she was happy enough with Jess’s health to leave her in the care of Rick and Mike. There was a pang in Jess’s heart when she left, but they agreed to meet, as usual, the next day, during their work breaks.
Jess woke the next morning with a new sense of purpose; the past few weeks had been a road of self-discovery for her, and her sickness had been the catalyst for putting it all into action. She had a plan, now—her goals were simple, if hard. She would sell the shop, find a new apartment, confess her feelings to Natalie, and finally finish her poetry book.
No small tasks, of course, but she was determined.
It was an unusually bri
