An Optimist's Guide to Heartbreak
Jennifer Hartmann2023

There once was a girl with fireflies in her eyes and music in her soul.

(Remember her... she's important.)

She's the reason I panic-bought the little brick house on Maple Street; the one I lived next door to for eight magical years. Now that I'm back digging up floorboards and lost journals, I can’t stop thinking about the two people who grew up here.

You see, that girl was my best friend, and this house was once hers. She also had a big brother who was my everything before circumstance turned us into nothing more than memories.

That’s why I applied for a job at his auto shop—unprepared to discover that my new boss, Cal Bishop, is now gruff, built, and covered in tattoos.

I'm the sun to his overcast sky. The smile to his surly solitude.

A reminder of everything he longs to forget.

But my heart has a secret, and we’re running out of time to fix our torn pages.

Maybe... the same girl who used to be the glue still holds the key to putting our pieces back together.

(See? I told you she was important.)

Toodles,
Lucy