Then it hits me: I have identified a contender!
My elation is immediately replaced with guilt. I want to make Amelia proud. I do. I only wish she’d asked me to help him—well, with almost anything else.
Fiona sets the kettle on the stove and lights the burner, then turns to Miguel. “Again, I’m so sorry Jon didn’t show up to your event.”
Miguel leans toward her. “I appreciate that, as we’re in a bit of a pickle here. How soon do you think JMB—er, your brother—could do a makeup event? Our customers are incredibly unhappy, and we need to reschedule right away to reduce the number of refunds we’ll have to issue. I don’t want to get into it too much, but the short version is that we can’t afford to pay them back.”
She frowns. “I’m not actually sure when he’d be able to reschedule.”
“What do you mean, you’re ‘not actually sure’?”
“I mean that in the literal sense of the words I used,” shesays, lifting her chin like she’s testing him. But instead of this irritating Miguel, his lips twitch upward.
Yes, that’s the way! I mean, sure, Chicago is an hour and a half from West Haven, so that’s a bit of an issue. Also, this Fiona Foster doesn’t like dogs. Still—she could be the person Amelia told me to find for him; I just knowit.
“Is life imitating art?” he asks.
“Is that aMissing Personreference?” Of course, because Miguel has yapped so much about this novel, I know that the main character is haunted by his parents’ death, and after he gets dumped by his girlfriend, he heads to Europe to grieve with nothing but a backpack and a book without telling anyone where he’s disappearedto.
“Perhaps.”
She laughs, which makes his face brighten. “Well done.” The kettle begins to whistle. “Let me grab that,” she says.
I watch her as she busies herself filling two mugs with boiling water and tea bags. Fiona may be good, but there’s something she is not saying. Dane’s unusually stiff spine tells me he’s picked up on that, too.
“Here you are,” she says, passing Miguel a mug and one of those plastic bears.
“Thank you.” When he’s done emptying way too much of the bear goo into his mug, he clears his throat and sputters, “Michigan. Our bookstore. What happened?”
Fiona wraps her hands around her mug. “I wish I knew. He said he was going to go to your event, and then…he went somewhere else.”
“If you don’t know where he’s disappeared to, is there at least a way I could speak directly with him to help him understand the impact this is having on us?”
She glances toward the hallway. “I’m afraid not.”
“Is healive?” presses Dane.
“Alive? My brother’s not dead. And hedidintend to go to your store. We discussed it back in April.” Fiona’s teeth land on her bottom lip. After a moment, she adds, “I thought it was perfect for him.”
“You did?” says Miguel.
She nods. “I coordinate most of his events, and I’d heard about Lakeside from another author. And while I’ve never run a shop myself, I know enough about the business to understand it’s hard to keep a bookstore open these days. Jon and I, we try to support literary underdogs—not just writers, but also stores where their work is sold.”
“With all due respect, this underdog is running out of time,” Miguel says quietly. “If I have to refund that money, I won’t be able to pay my employees next month.”
Dane stands and shakes out his legs. “Fiona, you seem chill, but let’s cut to the chase.”
“Dane—”
“Chief, I got you.” He turns back to Fiona. “We know you and your bro had a lousy childhood. That’s why my dude here likes his book so much—he and his sister had one, too. But judging from this crystal palace, seems like JMB’s success has made him lose touch with reality. Otherwise, he would understand how bad this is for us.”
Miguel clears his throat.
“No, it’s okay,” Fiona says. She pushes her glasses up on her nose. “Kitchen aside, I don’t like this place, either. I chose this neighborhood because of the schools, and this was the house Jon decided to buy so he could be close to us. And you’re right. It was crappy of him not to show.”
Miguel immediately softens. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to insult you or him. I’ve just had a rough couple of years, and this feels like the rotten cherry on top of themierdapie life has served me.”
Fiona chuckles lightly, and though he probably doesn’t realize he’s doing it, Miguel cracks a faint smile.
