Dad gave his head a small shake. “I guess so. The sheriff should be able to put all of the pieces together. But what’s important for you two is the why.”

“Why what?” I asked.

My dad met my gaze head-on. “Violet saw something before any of the rest of us. She was beginning to realize that she and Ford might not be a forever match, but that you and Ford might be.”

“What?” That was ridiculous. Vi loved Ford like crazy. Sure, she’d messed up, but…my thoughts trailed off as Dad interrupted.

“Violet always saw the bond between you two. Knew you shared something special. Something she thought might turn into more than friendship when the time came.” He looked from Ford to me. “She was trying to gather her courage to step out of your way.”

A faint shudder ran through Ford’s body. “She told me there was something important we needed to talk about that weekend. We were going to hike out to our spot and talk. I thought it was about our college plans.”

My dad gave Ford a sad smile. “She was trying to let you go.”

EPILOGUE

BELL

TWO MONTHS LATER

“So, what do you think?” I nibbled on my bottom lip as I watched Caelyn take in the space around us. I tried to picture it through her eyes. It was small, but my wallet needed that when I was starting out. And the location couldn’t be beat. Right on Main Street, prime for all the tourist traffic.

The shop itself was long and narrow, but I was already visualizing how I could best fit my furniture pieces into the space. I’d started picking up little bits and bobs that could be used as decoration and later sold to shoppers. But the best part of all was that there was an old storage space behind the row of stores that was currently going unused. The landlord was giving me access for just a couple hundred dollars more each month. It would be my workshop and storage unit for overflow pieces. If a customer was looking for something specific that I didn’t have up front, I could take them to the workshop.

Caelyn beamed. “It’s absolutely perfect. When are you going to open?”

My belly did a series of what felt like cartwheels and backflips, a mixture of excitement and nerves. “I’m hoping to be up and running in two months. There’s still a lot of work to be done. I want to refinish the floors, change the paint—”

Caelyn reached out and grabbed my hands. “You’ll get it there. Have you settled on a name?”

“Second Chances.” It was perfect in every way, for the furniture and for me.

Caelyn sniffed. “I love it.”