Page 34 - It Ends with Us

Chapter Three

Six months later

“Oh. ”

That ’s al l she say s.
My mother turns and asses ses the building , runni ng a fing er over
the wind owsill nex t to her. She picks up a layer of dust and wipes it
bet ween her fing ers . “It’s . . .”
“It need s a lot of work, I kno w,” I int erru pt. I point at the wind ows
behi nd her. “But look at the storef ront . It ha s potent ial.”

She scrolls over the wind ows, no dding . There’ s thi s sound she
makes in the back of her thr oat somet imes , where she agrees with a
little hu m but her lips rema in tight . It mea ns she does n’t ac tual ly
agree. And she makes tha t sound . Twice.
I drop my arms in def ea t. “You thi nk thi s was stupid?”
She gives her hea d a slight sha ke. “Tha t all dep end s on ho w it turns
out, Lily,” she says. The building used to ho use a res taurant and it’s

still full of old tables and chairs. My mother walks over to a nea rby
table and pulls out one of the cha irs, taking a sea t. “If thi ng s work out,
and your floral sho p is succes sful, then peo ple will say it was a brave,
bold, smar t busine ss dec ision. But if it fails and you lose your ent ire
inheri tanc e . . .”
“Then peo ple will say it was a stupid busines s dec ision. ”

She shru gs. “Tha t’s just ho w it works. You majored in busines s, you
kno w that.” She glanc es around the room, slowly, as if she’s seei ng it
the way it will look a mont h from no w. “Just make sure it’s brave and
bold, Lily.”
I smile. I can acc ept that . “I can’t bel iev e I bought it witho ut asking
you firs t,” I say, taking a sea t at the table.