Page 24 of One Last Thing Before You Go

I can’t wait to hear the rest of her story, to take advantage of this time together. All I want is to bask in her.

It’s clear she doesn’t realize how amazing she is, but god, I do. I don’t even know her well, but I know her. I feel like I know who she is in her core. One night together was enough to find out.

And even though Walter for sure wanted to screw me over with this project, the joke is on him. Because now I get to spend all this time with the woman of my dreams, getting to know her life and the rest of who she is. Even if she won’t give me the time of day in the way that I want her to.

I smile to myself, excited for the first time since getting to this town in the middle of nowhere.

“Lottie, we should use your talents and expertise to make it as good as we can before selling it so we can get the most amount of money possible. It’s, like, a no brainer.” Jenn rolls her eyes.

“Wait, what? No. Let’s just sell it as is. At most, add a new coat of paint,” Lottie says, waving her hands in front of her. “Why change it? I mean, I know it’s not in the best shape ever, but it’s got character.”

“Why would we leave it like that?” Jenn asks. “If we can get more money⁠—”

“It’s a lot more work than you think, Jenn. I don’t think I could do it all on my own. At my old job, I at least had a team.”

“And what are we? Chopped liver? We all own a percentage here. We all have a vested interest. Of course, we’d help out with whatever you need, right, Knox?”

“Yeah. Of course we’ll help. It actually sounds like fun.”

Lottie snorts. “Fun? It’ll be hard work. And what about the money for the remodel?” “What about it?” Jenn blinks.

“Uh, maybe the fact that we don’t have any?”

“That isn’t exactly true, though, is it? We can just do what Walter did: sell the books we found upstairs. If they’re all that valuable, we can definitely scrounge up enough to pay for part—if not all—of the renovation. Some of them looked like they were in pretty solid condition. We can reach out to past buyers, hit up some conventions.” I shrug casually. “Honestly, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. And like Tracey said, we can vet the buyers when the time comes, if that makes you feel better.”

And I can’t help how much I love the way I can see her mind racing, watching the way it begins to form a plan. Her expression shifts to one of excitement, a look in her eyes that tells me that maybe this “problem” is something she’d enjoy solving, despite whatever emotional attachment she may have to a store.

I love her sudden confidence—it’s like she’s rediscovering it, and it’s nothing short of a privilege to watch it happen in real time.

“Yeah, okay.” She smiles, excited this time. “Let’s do it.”

“Together,” I emphasize, as a slow, hopeful grin spreads across my face.

Jenn exhales in relief. “Thank god.”

CHAPTER NINE

LOTTIE

Now covered in a kaleidoscope of Post-Its, I stand back to admire the wall of Walter’s office. Taking in the rows of neatly placed sticky notes, a familiar sense of satisfaction courses through me. Of a type of peace that only comes when there’s order and a plan in place.

I can see everything that still needs to be done at a bird’s eye view, giving me a better sense of control, of organization. It’s so well-organized and thought-out that it almost takes away the sting of parting with the bookstore. Almost. I put my hands on my hips and smile.

I’m ready for this. I can do this. But most of all, this is fun.

“Hey.” Daniel, my older brother, breaks through my concentration. “I’m here for—Whoa. What the hell is this?”

Without taking my eyes off my masterpiece, I grin. “My battle plan.”

He snorts and stands beside me, eyes roaming over it. “You know, you could basically organize this all in a project management softwares. Or even a goddamn bullet journal, right? You don’t need to wallpaper the place in office supplies.”

I turn to face him and raise an eyebrow in his direction. “You’re telling me? Of course I know that there are a ton of PM softwares available, and yes, we have one. We even have an excel sheet for it, too. But there are few bigger satisfactions in life than the feeling of ripping one of these off the wall when a task is complete.”

“Is that so?” He presses his lips together to try to keep from laughing.

I glare at him and walk to the wall, searching for the orange neon sticky note with the words “Prelim. Meeting w/Daniel re: Real Estate listing” and pull it off in one quick movement.

“See?” I smile, showing him what’s on it before crumpling the task in a ball, tossing it in the nearby trash. “Now let’s get this over with.”