"Terrifyingly happy."
Evan laughs, and it sounds genuine. "Then I'm glad. Really. You deserve terrifying happiness."
"You deserve someone who wants the same kind of life you do."
"I'll find her. You focus on your orc and your bookstore and your beautifully chaotic future."
We say goodbye without drama, just two people who loved each other adequately acknowledging that adequate isn't enough. It's gentler than I expected, sadder and kinder both.
When I go back inside, Stone knows without asking. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Clean break, friendly terms. He's a good man, just not my man."
Stone pulls me onto his lap, ignoring Tess's eye roll and Aunt Rene's delighted cackle. "Your man's broke, impulsive, and doesn't fit in normal chairs."
"My man changed a city council's mind through sheer stubborn generosity."
"Our win," he murmurs against my hair.
"Always ours."
The next morning, I meet with the Riverside Co-op board in their sun-filled community room. Three women and one man, all mid-forties to sixties, all wearing the comfortable practical clothes of people who've survived multiple economic shifts and kept building anyway.
The terms are fair. Better than fair. Twenty percent of sales goes to the co-op for shared expenses, utilities included. I get a dedicated section for books plus rotating space for cultural events. They want monthly programming, classes or readings or craft demonstrations.
"We've watched what you did this past week," says Maria, the board president. "That's exactly the kind of community engagement we're built for."
"I can't promise huge crowds every time."
"We don't want huge crowds. We want consistent, meaningful connection. Quality over spectacle."
I sign the partnership agreement right there, my hand shaking slightly as I write my name. It's a one-year trial with option to renew, modest but real, the kind of foundation I can actually build on.
Walking back to the current bookstore location, I call Stone. He answers on the first ring.
"I got it. The co-op partnership, it's official."
His whoop is so loud I have to hold the phone away from my ear. "That's incredible! When do you start?"
"Two weeks. Gives me time to pack up here and plan the new layout." I pause at the corner, waiting for the light. "They want you involved too. Regular craft demonstrations, maybe cooking classes. Paid, not volunteer."
Silence. Then, quiet and wondering, "They want to pay me to share orc culture?"
"They want to pay you to be yourself in community with others. Apparently that's valuable."
"Lacy Ellis, you're going to make me cry in public."
"Don't you dare. I have a reputation to maintain."
He laughs, and the sound fills something in me I didn't know was still empty.
That afternoon, I start packing. Tess comes to help, both of us wrapping books in newspaper and loading boxes. Aunt Rene supervises from a folding chair, offering commentary and occasional useful suggestions.
"You're keeping the fantasy section intact, right?" Tess holds up a battered paperback with a dragon on the cover.
"Obviously. That's non-negotiable."
"Good. Because Stone mentioned wanting to do a genre reading series, and I think romance and fantasy readers would eat that up."
