“I’m nervous,” he whispers.
Oh, Miguel,I say, licking his cheek.It’s going to be okay. Ask for help if you needit.
“You’re right, Harold,” he says, and he doesn’t even wipe his face. “We’ve got this.”
We do—but deep down, I’m nervous, too. I see Dane, who has his arm around Miriam. She’s back from Ann Arbor, and as Dane told Riley, they’re having the world’s longest one-night stand. Judging from the way they’re gazing at each other, it might just last forever. I see the fellow with the cat backpack, on his butt in the middle of the crowd so everyone canoohandaahat his companion up close. I see Brenna withRiley and her Aunt Kathy at the front of the bookstore. And is that Becky slinking through the door? Bob isn’t with her. Still, whatever Miguel scribbled on the note he included in the box of Amelia’s books must have thawed her icy heart.
But Fiona and Amelia Mae still haven’t arrived.
Miguel’s been waiting for them. Despite the snacks and good company, the crowd’s getting restless as they wait for him to speak. Riley says something to Brenna, then goes over to Miguel to tell him it’s time to start.
He scans the room yet again and, with some reluctance, heads to the front of the store, pulling me behind him in the wagon. Dane’s set up the podium with a microphone, which Miguel taps, and it sends a terrible screeching sound through the crowd. However, it does get everyone to stop talking.
“Hello,” he says.
“Can’t hear you,” someone calls.
He tries again. “Thank you for being here tonight.” He sounds better, though he’s a bit warbly. “A few of you are new to our little bookstore. If that’s you, welcome. Most of you are regulars, and we appreciate you so much. I also want to welcome our novelists—I’m told we have authors here from as far as Cincinnati and Seattle.”
Someone hoots, and a woman yells, “Fresno in the house!”
Miguel waves. “Hola,Fresno. I so wish Amelia May were here to see you all. As most of you know, she was my partner and the cofounder of this bookstore. She died nineteen months ago.”
People murmur, and some lower their eyes.
“Thank you,” he tells them. “This event and your presence would’ve meant the world to her—”
A voice carries from the back of the store.
“Excuse us. Pardon us. Coming through,” says Amelia Mae, who is using snake hands to weave through the crowd. Fiona, who’s wearing my favorite yellow dress, is following on her heels.
I prop myself up on my front paws, and Amelia Mae runs to me as Fiona slides next to Miriam and Dane.
Miguel breaks into a grin. Fiona grins back, and the next thing I know, they’re staring at each other like a couple of fools.
Of course, fool, Amelia always said, is just another word for a human in love.
“You know, I’m going to go off script here,” says Miguel, still looking at Fiona. “There are no coincidences—that’s what Amelia told me. I loved her terribly, but I never did agree with that.”
Someone makes a surprised sound, but he continues.
“That’s only because I thought she was telling me I had to embrace the crap that life slung my way—and there’s been a lot of crap since she got sick and passed. But now I get it. That’s not what she ever meant. Which I should have known, because she was the first to stomp her foot and speak up when things weren’t fair. But she also knew that if you stop pushing so hard and let life happen the way it was always going to happen all along, the good will find you. The goodpeople,” he clarifies, and the lightest strands of Fiona’s hair sparkle as she shakes her head.
He points a finger at the banner. “Now, for our big announcement. I believe most of you know that our store’s next great adventure is dedicating this space to romance. We’ll stillcarry other books, but this is a destination for people who love love.”
The crowd erupts into cheering and clapping, and Dane kisses Miriam.
“Thank you,” says Miguel, overwhelmed by their reaction. “There’s more, though. My amazing co-owners and I—Riley, Brenna, Dane, and Natalie, who I’m honored to call friends as well—are pleased to announce that we are renaming Lakeside. Brenna?” he says, and she pulls the cloth off the new sign over the big picture window.
“ ‘Happy Endings!’ ” squeals Amelia Mae.
“That’s right,” Miguel tells her. He looks out at the crowd again. “That wonderful suggestion came from a budding writer who happens to share a name with my Amelia May. Something tells me that’s no coincidence, either.”
Oh, Miguel, you really get it. Keep it up and you might just come back as a dog in your next life.
He pauses and turns to Fiona, who’s beaming. “As I learned reading Amelia’s novels, love isn’t just the point of our existence; it’s the greatest gift you can give another person. I’m proud to be a part of a place that honors that.”
Miguel finishes his speech, and people cheer again before wandering off to eat and drink and buy books. Then he goes to get glasses of champagne for himself and Fiona, but when he returns to the place where she and Amelia Mae were standing, she’s missing.
