“Bricks. It’s just a pile of old bricks that some dude put together a long time ago, probably not expecting his stupid little book business to last because who even read books back then? No one reads them now, either. I’m not going out of my way to try to get that place some stupid status that would mean I can’t tear down the place if I get a good offer for it.”
“Ifyouget a good offer for it?”
Colter closed the food container and said, “You know what I mean. Anyway, lunch has been weird, and I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll see you at Thanksgiving or something.”
“I’m not going to Mom’s this year.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Going to your dad’s, then?”
“He’s on the yacht.”
“Isn’t he always? Why don’t you fly to wherever the thing is docked and have the holiday there?”
“Because I don’t want to,” she replied. “Maybe I’ll do Thanksgiving at my place this year and invite some friends.”
“What friends?” Colter stood up and walked over to his desk. “Wasn’t it only Funley you spent time with?”
“I know you know her name isFinley.”
“Mom and I always called her Funley behind your back because she was fun for you but wouldn’t last. Now that it’sover for good, I can call her that to your face.”
“No, you can’t,” India said, standing up. “Finley and I were together for years. We were in love. It didn’t work, but you’ve never been with a woman for more than a few weeks. You wouldn’t know anything about love.”
“Good. I don’t want to. Love comes with strings, and I don’t like strings.”
“I’ll leave you to enjoy your burger,” India stated.
“Great. Thanks,” he said. “And why do you care about some tiny bookstore? Is it because it’s next to where you work or something?”
“I know it because it’s next to my office, yes, but I also think we should preserve our history. It’s all we have here.”
“That’s short-sighted, India. We can have more than the past.”
“Colter, you can offer tax breaks and tell the community about jobs all you want. New Orleans is more than just corporations and drunk tourists. At least, it is to a lot of people. Those people want to remember and maintain where we come from for future generations.”
“We can put a plaque up on the business that moves in and replaces it,” he said. “Best I can do. I’ll even pay for the thing myself. How much are plaques? Like, five dollars?”
“Goodbye, Colter,” she replied.
India left his office and felt worse for making the trip. She’d thought she would be able to convince him to at least protect Maisie’s business. She knew it wasn’t exactly her place, but she was a fixer. She always had been. Whenever she and Finley had ended things, India had gone into fix-it mode, trying to find ways to put them back together again. Her most recent and embarrassing attempt had been to try to convince Finley to move in with her. She’d felt her slipping away and wanted to give it one last effort to make Finley see that they belonged together.
When she got back to work, she caught sight of Finley and Molly in the lobby café, laughing about something. She knew now that she was wrong. Deciding to make a U-turnto not run into them, she went back outside and breathed in the humid air of the city. It was better this time of year, but New Orleans was on the water and had enough rain to make the humidity feel nearly impossible at times. When her feet turned on their own in the direction ofChapter & Verse,she smiled as she pulled open the door and saw Maisie behind the counter, talking to a customer. Maisie laughed at something the old man had said, but the man looked serious and almost offended that she would laugh. Then, Maisie looked up, and when she caught sight of India, she smiled at her and gave India a small wave.
“My bag,” the man said.
“Oh, sorry,” Maisie replied.
She reached for a paper bag from under the counter and bagged up the man’s book for him. He probably would have been fine carrying the singular book without the bag, but he seemed like the kind of customer Maisie might just want to get out of the shop before he started complaining about the loud music from the store next to the shop, even though it wasn’t somethingChapter & Versecould control.
India moved out of the man’s way as he lumbered toward the door. She pushed it open for him, trying to be nice, and he gave her a grunt as he walked past.
“Um… Hi,” Maisie said.
“Hey,” India replied as the door closed behind her.
