Page 16 of Silver Linings
Turning the phone to me, I see he has Instagram pulled up to an account called @SilverLinings. Silver’s face beams back at me from her profile picture, and it stuns me stupid yet again.
“Is this her?” I suspect he already knows, so I only give a non-verbal nod to confirm. I stand and head into the kitchen for another beer and hear him chuckling. “Dude, you aresofucked.”
five
. . .
“Wait a minute.”Holly stares at me like I’ve sprouted three heads right before her eyes. “You’re telling me I was off work for a couple days…and now youownthe store?”
Well, when she says it like that, I guess the decision to buy Brownstone Books did come out of nowhere.
“I expect my ’Sexiest Boss Ever’ mug to arrive within five to seven business days,” I say with a nonchalance the momentabsolutelydoesn’t call for.
“That’s a violation, and I’m calling HR.” There’s mirth in her gaze before she wipes it off her face and levels me with a no bullshit stare. “What’s going on? How did this happen?”
I understand her shock and hesitation. It’s exactly how I felt for days after I heard the words “I’ll buy it” come out of my mouth a week ago. Since then, I have felt apprehension, excitement, nausea, certainty, anda lotof fear.
I had my meeting with Pat a few days ago to crunch numbers, and it’s going to be really tight. The money from my dad’s life insurance was substantial, but in the New York real estate market, it doesn’t go as far as one would think. Pat bought the store back in the late seventies, when property was a lot moreaffordable, and because of that, she’s able to sell it to me for under current market value and still make a profit. We also agreed I would make monthly payments to pay off the rest, but she insisted on far too small a sum, telling me to take the extra money and use it to turn the store into something I could be proud of. I’m proud of it now, but there’s no denying it needs some updates.
“To be honest, I sort of…blacked out and offered to buy the store. I don’t know, Hols. It seems crazy, but itfeelsright. I can’t explain it.”
“Carmen has been freaking out, going on about how you must be affiliated with the mafia.”
“I think I’m going to start using that theory. That sounds much cooler than the ‘my dad died and I got a lot of money’ story I’ve been operating off of.” I finger the necklace settled around the base of my throat, the one I’ve worn every day for over twenty years.
“Oh,” she exhales. “You’ve never mentioned… I mean you never talk about your parents. I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry.” The pity in her gaze is one of the reasons I never brought it up.
Only Kena and Nan know my whole sordid past. It’s not something worth dwelling on or talking about, and I’m not going to start now. The day I lost my dad—and by proxy, my mom too, is a wound that’s still raw, even twenty years later.
Shaking myself out of my morose thoughts, I paste on a forced smile. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to make it all doom and gloom there,” I chuckle, but I can tell from Holly’s face that it sounds fake to her ears too.
Before she can try to pull me into her comforting embrace, I deflect. “So, basically, I run this shit now, and we’re bringing in monster smut, updating everything from the look of the store to the inventory. It’s too dark in here and too outdated. We needto liven this place up, start hosting events, and tailoring to more people. I want to build a community.”
“Monster smut?” She gives me a quizzical look.
“You know, aliens, gargoyles, dragons, krakens?—”
She cuts me off before I can continue. “What the hell can krakens do?”
I smirk. “Whatcan’tthey do is the better question. Multiple tentacles and unlimited sucky things, Hols. Think about it.”
She gives me a horrified look that morphs into intrigue the longer she thinks about it.
“So, will you stay with me now that I own this place?” I have a knot of anxiety in my chest that she might say no. It’s not like working at a bookstore pays a premium salary. I don’t want to assume that just because we’re friends, she’ll want to stay around as everything changes. She has to look out for her own best interests, and the people around me do have a tendency to leave eventually anyway. It’s for the best that I never get too attached or expect too much from anyone.
“If I stay—” she leaves the question open, and my anxiety expands like a balloon— “do I have to read the monster smut?”
The anxiety ebbs, and a smile stretches across my face. “It’s not required, but it isverymuch encouraged.”
“I’m in,” she says right before pulling me in for a tight hug. “This might be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.” She pulls away and surveys the shop. “Where do we start?”
I tell her about the plans I’ve been making in my head for the last week. “Clearly, this place needs a facelift.” She nods in agreement.
“It has its charm, but it could definitely use an overhaul if we want to compete with the big box bookstores in town.”
“Exactly. We still have some time while all the papers are finalized before I can start on anything that’s cosmetic, so I think the first thing we need to assess is our inventory. We’ve beenbarely surviving on selling cult classics and new bestsellers, but we’re sitting on a lot of old inventory, things that have been in this shop longer than I have. We need to clean up the stock and donate a lot to libraries, shelters, and schools.”
She looks at me contemplatively. “I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty hot when you go into boss lady mode. So confident and assertive.”
