“Mr.Cooper?”
Declanturned around, relieved to see a woman he assumed was the lawyer he’d spokento. The weirdness he was experiencing right now was probably just nerves.
“Declan,please,” he said, extending his hand. “This is Ash. He’s, uh-”
“Oh,you don’t have to explain to me,” Sue said, beaming at both of them. “You’veprobably noticed by now that this is a very open-minded town. Let’s go insidebefore we freeze to death, shall we?”
Shebrandished a key and turned to unlock the door.
Declanlooked over at Ash to see him grinning ear to ear.
Beingmistaken for Ash’s boyfriend never made him uncomfortable, so he probablydidn’t hate gay people. He just wasn’t used to seeing so many at once.
Evenas the lights came on, the interior of the bookstore was on the dark side. In acozy way, though. It made the whole space feel more intimate.
Itwas nice, honestly. Declan wasn’t huge on bookstores, but it reminded him of theones Ash had loved the most when they’d been in college, the ones he’d draggedDeclan all over town to visit.
Notthat Declan had been about to complain. He’d been thrilled to have a friend likeAsh, who seemed so smart and cultured compared to him. Ash knew things aboutShakespeare and Dickens and he was always up to date, too.
Atnineteen, Declan had been impressed. At twenty-eight, he still was.
“Idon’t know why I’m surprised that it smells of old books,” Ash said. “But Ilove it.”
Hewas grinning again, just as broadly as before.
“Ihave records for you to look at,” Sue said. “And that letter I promised you.”
“There’san apartment up here,” Ash said, already halfway up the stairs. He’d probablybeen looking for a store room, hoping to find some hidden gems.
Declanhad been in a lot of bookstore store rooms that Ash had talked his way into. Alot of older stores had no idea what stock they actually had, and they’d beenhappy to let Ash rummage through it.
Especiallywhen they realized he was going to come out with at least a dozen books he washappy to spend half his paycheck on.
“Youthink I could have a couple of minutes alone here? To read this?” Declan asked,brandishing the letter.
“Ofcourse.” Sue nodded, stepping back toward the door. “I’ll take shelter in thebakery a few doors down. Come get me when you’re done. I just need you to signsome papers to say that the property is in reasonable condition or note anyurgent repairs so they’ll be seen to before it’s let out.”
“Thanks,”Declan said. “I doubt we’ll be long.”
Suedisappeared out into the front street, leaving Declan alone on the lower floor.He could hear Ash’s footsteps upstairs.
Notwanting to be alone while he read the letter, he headed up after him. It wasprobably a good idea to scope the place out, anyway. Even if he wasn’t going tosee any use of it for a while yet.
Hefound Ash in the kitchen, staring out the window.
“Look,”Ash said, moving aside so Declan could stand next to him. “Look at thisview.”
Declanpaused to look out, taking in the mountains, the tree line, the slowly-liftingmist, the miles and miles of open land.
Itwas beautiful. Awesome, in the truest sense of the word. Declan wasn’t sure he’dever seen anything quite like it.
Definitelynot from his apartment in Denver. The view there was nice, but it was of acityscape. Not unspoiled wilderness.
“Notbad,” Declan said softly. He could have used a chance to stand and stare out atthe landscape, but the letter he’d been handed was weighing heavy in his hand.He’d come all the way out here to read it, after all.
Well,and to look at the store. Which was a lot nicer than he’d been imagining.
Declanpulled one of the chairs out at the table, setting the papers he’d been handedaside and focusing on the letter. He didn’t recognize the handwriting, butthen, he wouldn’t have. Great uncle Marv had never sent him so much as aChristmas card before.
