“I contain multitudes,” Finn deadpanned.
“Whitman. Nice reference.” Ollie set down the book he’d been examining and sighed deeply. “I’m sorry you had to witness my meltdown today. Not very mature of me.”
“It’s not as if you don’t have a reason,” Finn pointed out. “Besides, your friend and mine are getting married, and I wound up here because you called them for help after hours. I’m not sure there’s such a thing as strictly professional.”
Ollie looked at him curiously. “Maybe you’re right.” He paused, then added, “You’re very hard to read, Finn O’Riley.”
“I’ve been told that before,” Finn admitted. “Brooklyn says I’d make a fortune in poker.”
“Smart kid,” Ollie said with genuine fondness. “How is she, by the way? Still hoping to grow up to be the next Margaret Lowman?”
The fact that Ollie remembered details about his daughter despite his own overwhelming problems was sweet. Brooklyn had always been interested in science, and from a young age, she’d been determined to save the earth from the damage humans were causing.
“She’s… I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. Something’s bothering her, but she’s not ready to talk about it.”
“Sounds like the classic teenage communication blackout.” Ollie adjusted his glasses. “Give her time. She’ll talk when she’s ready.”
“That’s what I keep telling myself.” Finn hesitated, then added, “It’s hard though. Waiting. Watching someone you care about struggle and not being able to fix it.”
The words hung between them, laden with meaning neither was quite ready to acknowledge directly.
“Yeah, it is.” He gestured to the books around them. “Hence, my very productive cataloging session. I can’t fix the big problem, so I’m trying to deal with anything I can control.”
Finn nodded, understanding the impulse all too well. “Need help?”
Ollie blinked in surprise. “You want to help catalog damaged books? On your own time? When you could be, I don’t know, doing literally anything else?”
“I’m offering, aren’t I?” Finn reached for a nearby stack of books. “What’s the system?”
For a moment, Ollie just stared at him. “Thanks. It’s probably for the best that I’m not sitting here alone, wallowing in self-pity.”
“It’s not as if you don’t have a reason to be upset.” He didn’t miss the way Ollie’s breath caught when Finn gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. If it wasn’t highly inappropriate, he’d have given in to his urge to hug Ollie and tell him he’d find a way through this mess.
He listened as Ollie explained what the insurance company needed. He expected Ollie to chatter while they worked, but he was silent, other than an occasional sniffle. It broke Finn’s heart to see him so defeated. It startled him when Ollie broke the silence.
“My parents are talking about selling.”
Finn looked up. “The store?”
Ollie nodded, not meeting his eyes. “They’ve been considering it for a while, actually. Even before all this.” He gestured vaguely upward. “Business has been challenging. Amazon, ebooks, the economy—take your pick of retail villains to independent bookstores. Add in the fact that everything Maple Hill’s done to revitalize has driven up property taxes, and I think they’re hoping the money they’d get from selling the building would allow them to retire. It makes sense, but it still sucks.”
“I didn’t realize things were that difficult,” Finn said carefully.
“We don’t advertise it.” Ollie’s laugh held no humor. “Bad for business, you know? ‘Come shop at the slowly failing bookstore!Browse our selection with a side of financial anxiety and quiet desperation!’”
Finn set down the book he’d been examining. “What doyouwant to do?”
Ollie looked up, surprise flickering across his face. “What do I want?”
“Yes. Not your parents, not the insurance company. You.” Finn adjusted a stack of books that was perilously close to toppling. “You talk a lot about your parents when it comes to this place, but you’ve poured your heart and soul into it as well. Do you think it’s a lost cause?”
Ollie’s hands stilled on the book in his lap. “I want to save it,” he said finally, his voice barely audible. “I want to stay open. Indie bookstores are making a comeback. A lot of them are focused on particular genres, but I don’t know if I’d want to go that far. I think there’s a lot we could do just by strategically rearranging the store and inviting people in. I know it’s probably stupid, and definitely impractical, but this place is… It’s more than just a store to me.”
“It’s home,” Finn supplied quietly.
Ollie’s eyes met his, wide with recognition. “Yes. Exactly. It’s where I learned to read, where I hid when high school was too much, where I figured out who I was.” He gestured around them. “These stories saved me, in a way. And I’ve always felt like I owed it to them to keep this place going. To make sure other people could find what they needed here too.”
“That’s not stupid,” Finn said firmly. “Not at all.”
