Scooter laughs. “Slow down,” he says. “Let’s just take it one day at a time. That’s all we can do in life. Adie Lou, I want you to find yourself first. Get your inn up and running. Empower women who have been lost, just like us. I want you to know I’d never want to get in the way of your dreams. I want to help fulfill them.”

Scooter grabs my hand, and we walk in silence toward the cottage, my heart beating so loudly in my ears I wonder if he can hear it.

When we reach the little creek near my cottage, we both kneel onto the shoreline, ice pebbles scattered across frozen sandy ripples, a winter Zen garden surrounding us.

I take off my mittens, hike up my coat sleeve and dip my hand into the water.

“Yow!” I exclaim at its iciness, before plucking a lightning stone. As I do, the necklace Scooter had made for me years ago pops free. I plop on my rear on the cold shore and compare the two. “You know, these stones have special properties.” I stop suddenly. “Sorry. Nate said all of this was nonsense and psychobabble.”

Scooter looks at me. “I’m not Nate.”

Our gaze is unbroken for a long time before I nod and continue. “I think it’s why I was always drawn to them,” I say. “The minerals in the stone provide peace and harmony so that you can face daily challenges with confidence and grace. And it’s supposed to make us understand things about our lives that we didn’t understand before.” I stop and hold up the stones in front of my face. “And, they’re also quite effective when you need to make something new out of something old, be it a home, a job...” I hesitate and smile. “Or a relationship.”

“Let’s gather all the stones we can, then!” Scooter laughs.

Together, we pull pretty stones from the icy creek, Scooter filling his pockets until he resembles a kangaroo. As we’re about to leave, Scooter points into the creek. “Look,” he says.

“I can’t believe it,” I say, reaching in to pull out a smooth bluish-gray rock in the shape of a heart. “Just like I used to collect with my parents.” I stand and hold the stone in front of my own heart. “Thank you. I think I needed to find this today.”

“Your heart?” Scooter asks, his voice filled with irony.

I nod.

“Look,” he says again. I at first think he’s talking about another rock, but the sun is setting behind Lake Michigan, slinking slowly into the horizon.

After its glorious departure, Scooter and I head for the steps. We immediately slow on the first one, shocked by how much weight we’ve added to our bodies. “I don’t think I can make it,” Scooter laughs. “I think you added two hundred pounds on me.”