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“Oh, all the time,” she scoffed, clearing the emotion from her throat. “But now they know that their hair is special, and it keeps them safe.”

“That’s beautiful, Vanessa,” I said, hoping she could hear how sincere I was. “And brave, given the circumstances.”

“Kids are just misguided,” she said. “But Frankie says my kids are special. And I believe her. They chose me to be their mom, after all.”

“Frankie mentioned that you’d been here for as long as she could remember,” I mused, wondering how young she was when she started. “How did that happen?”

“The Ivey’s were old friends,” she explained. “We all met in high school and managed to stay in touch. When they opened the store I’d just graduated and had no job lined up, so it seemed like a sign. Cosmic, as Frankie puts it.”

That word shook me to my core, my thoughts spiraling for a moment before I hauled them back.

“That’s one way of describing it.”

“She was a wild kid, though.” Vanessa chuckled, the sound soft and brimming with nostalgia. The kind of sound that made me want to listen to her stories. I imagined she was the center of her children’s world. “Just this tiny tornado of energy and imagination. She had all of us wrapped around her finger before we even knew it. I was still young, barely into my twenties. She ran us ragged.”

Something in my gut unfurled, warm and pleasant, the kind of feeling I’d get from eating a hot meal on a cold day.

“She still seems like a tornado to me.” I chuckled. “Or maybe ‘firecracker’ is more appropriate.”

Vanessa laughedhard, long enough that I ended up chuckling along with her.

“You have no idea how accurate that is,” she eventually managed to say. “But it all comes from her heart, and she’s a really good person. Massive, bleeding heart, but it makes her all the more wonderful.”

That warmth spread throughout my chest and I scrambled for some kind of control. “I’m sure there were moments where you thought ‘I’m gonna jump out of the nearest window’ while you babysat?”

Vanessa leveled me with a look so serious I half imagined I’d offended her. But she just patted my shoulder, as if in consolation, and said, “Every damn day.”

I attempted a laugh, but Vanessa’s deadpan expression made it a hollow attempt. She excused herself to tend to a few customers, and I turned back to the aisle.

Several things happened all at once.

Frankie walked into the store, carrying a large box of produce, and locked eyes with me.

At the same time, three men stepped in front of me, wearing suits that were so painfully out of place I could have screamed.

The box that Frankie was carrying crashed to the floor; she’d walked into the doorframe leading to the cold room and dropped the stock.

I winced, but Joe was there, taking the box from her.

I glanced at the men. They were the first group of investors I’d invited to have a look at the store, but I hadn’tdreamedthey’d show up right at that second.

“Gentlemen,” I said, seeing the angry flare in Frankie’s eyes and hoping to put my crisis management skills to good use, “please make yourselves comfortable at Vanessa’s station. She’ll help you out with your drinks, and I’ll join you in a moment.”

I didn’t wait for their response. I slipped past them and made a beeline for Frankie, who was already marching toward me. I reached her just as she made it to the aisle and hooked an arm around hers, spinning her around and dragging her to the staff room.

“What are you doing?” she commanded, flailing in my grip. “Let go.”

“Save it for the staff room,” I murmured, and to her credit, she did.

“Do you want to explain who the hell those men are?” she demanded. “And why the hell they’re in the store right now?”

I took a deep, steadying breath. “I wanted to talk to you about it but there was no time,” I explained. “They’re potential investors who are interested in making the store a beneficiary.”

“Not interested,” she grunted.

I stared at her, at a loss for what to say or even what to do.

“What?” she quipped.