“Well, you keep that cat out of my sight or I’m liable to stomp on it,” Jake said, still grumpy.
“You come near my Bubbles and I’ll stomp on you!” Michelle’s anger finally broke loose. “I said I was sorry, there’s no cause to threaten him!”
“You’re the one threatening me,” Jake snarled. “I’m the—”
“Hey, Jake, you spilt beer all over your shirt. Come on, you’ll catch your death of cold if we don’t get you changed,” Tina placated him, pulling him away. She glanced at Nora and cocked her head towards Michelle. Understanding what she wanted, Nora immediately put a hand on Michelle’s back and began ushering Michelle in the opposite direction.
“We’d better get Bubbles back in the basement,” Nora said. “Poor little guy. He must have gotten quite a shock, too.”
“Exactly!” Michelle said. “Thank you! The poor boy. Can you imagine how shocked you’d be if you brushed against something and a thousand-pound monster came crashing down on you? Bubbles is so confused and upset.”
Jake, hearing this, turned around from halfway across the room and yelled, “Alright, that’s it! First you threaten me, then you make cracks about my weight? Y’know what, lady? I’m going to make it my life’s mission to make sure nobody shops here. You’re going to be bankrupt before you even get started.”
“I didn’t call you fat,” Michelle protested. “I was just saying that, to Bubbles, that’s how huge you seemed. I wasn’t—”
Jake wasn’t listening. He shook off Tina’s arm and stormed to the door, grabbing his coat from one of the ornate brass hooks on the wall. He pulled the door wide open and stomped out into the street, nearly crashing into a man in a grey trench-coat. Tina gently shut the door behind him and turned to the party, “Well, now that we’ve got that out of our system, who’s ready for some cake?”
Michelle bit her lip and Nora hurried her downstairs, hoping she’d regain her composure there. They walked down a long flight of stairs into a cold basement lit with bare bulbs. Like most basements, it felt like it was saturated with dust. An old statue of an Egyptian cat-god lay on top of a pile of books on one side, a chest of drawers with a broken mirror on the other. Then, as far as the eye could see, an ocean of jumbled books and old, broken furniture filled up the place.
“Pretty horrid, right? No wonder poor Bubbles escaped as fast as he could.” Michelle kissed the cat on top of his round head and rubbed noses with him. “Now, buddy, I know you hate it, but please just stay here for a little while. I really need to make friends and influence people right now or we’re going to be done for before we’ve even started.” She sighed and looked at Nora. “Thanks for dragging me away. Between my temper and my big mouth, it’s a wonder I haven’t driven everyone away already.”
“Nonsense,” Nora said. “We’re all starved for drama here. Everyone’s probably fonder of you now than they were before. Besides, nobody likes Jake. I’ve longed to take him down once or twice myself.”
“Really? Why?” Michelle asked.
“He’s one of those customers that makes you regret owning a diner,” Nora explained. “I once served him coffee with only one packet of sugar on the side and he wrote a scathing review, finding fault in every dish I made.”
“Wait…hang on…this Jake — who was he exactly? What’s his profession?”
“Er…his name is Jake Tipper.“ Nora gulped. “He’s a writer for The Milburn Gazette.”
Michelle groaned and covered her face with a hand. “Oh, man. Oh, man! He was here to write about my store, wasn’t he? Some review I’ll get now! I’m done. Might as well pack up.”
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Nora said quietly. “You’re going to take a breath, you’re going to gather your courage and then you’re going to go back up and keep the party going.”
“How can I? Oh, boy. I told him I’d stomp on him. Can you believe it? I just…he threatened Bubbles and I saw red. I’m such an idiot.”
“So you’d take it back if you could?”
Michelle considered it. “I guess not. He did threaten the poor boy. I mean, I’ve been bitten by a dog before and I didn’t blame the dog for it. Animals can’t help themselves, you know? I’d have understood if he’d threatened me. But not my Bubbles. Still… Oh, Bubba, of all the people you could have tripped over, did it have to be the one writing a review about this place?” She reached down and stroked his fluffy grey hair and the cat shivered all over. He purred loudly and stared up at her with intelligent eyes.
“He knows he can get away with anything if he gives me that look.” Michelle sighed. “I can’t go up there. I just can’t face everyone. If Larry could see this now, he’d regret ever leaving the place to me.”
“By the way, why did he?” Nora asked. “I mean, no offense, but you weren’t related, were you?”
“He adopted me. Kind of,” Michelle said. “It’s a long story and I’m going to make it even longer so I can put off going up. If you wanna hear it.”
“I’m always ready to hear a good story,” Nora said.
“Well, this will come as a shock to you, but I used to be married to Flint. Flint Biggs.”
Nora nodded, pretending to be surprised. Michelle wasn’t buying it. “You knew that already, huh? Small towns and big mouths…name a more iconic duo. Well, anyway, I was married to Flint for ten whole years. From 25 to 35. No kids — which always made me sad — but maybe that was for the best. See, around the time I turned 33, Flint decided he’d had enough marital bliss. He tried to hide his affair but I eventually found out…our divorce dragged on and on. You know, it’s the same sad story you’ll hear a thousand times over from women like me. I put on twenty pounds of fat and lost 180 pounds of toxic husband. Frankly, it’s a terrific bargain.”
“I’m so sorry,” Nora said.
“Don’t be. I laugh about it now. I really do.” Michelle looked down at her feet. Bubbles scratched her ankles tentatively, sniffed the air and then walked away, tail swinging. “I got Bubbles around then, and he’s quite an upgrade from Flint.”
“You seem very fond of your ex-husband,” Nora joked.
Michelle laughed. “Sorry. I know I sound bitter. Anyway, the one good thing about marrying a man like Flint was that I got to know his extended family. Larry was Flint’s maternal grandfather, so I first met him at a Christmas Dinner. I don’t have much family of my own and Larry and I really bonded. I told him I’d always dreamed of owning a bookstore and peppered him with questions about his own. After that, every single Christmas, we’d talk about the books we’d read, the authors we loved, we’d quote poems at each other, and I found out Larry’s near-encyclopedic knowledge of limericks. He had a limerick for every occasion. He was a kind, old soul and he made me feel like I’d gotten back my own grandpa. When Flint and I divorced, Grandpa Larry took my side. He told Flint he was being a fool and he supported me totally. He was living in the retirement home by then and he urged me to run his bookstore, but I told him I couldn’t. At that point, all I wanted was to get out of Milburn. Besides, I had a job as a nurse and I valued the stability. Still, I made sure to visit Larry each Christmas.”
“Did he tell you he was leaving the bookstore to you?”
“The last time I met him, Larry mentioned that he’d added me in his will, but I hated any talk like that, so I brushed it off,” Michelle admitted. “Quite frankly, I thought he’d leave me one of his first editions or something. It really was a shock when the lawyer said I’d inherited the bookstore.” Michelle sighed.
“So what made you come back and take over?”
“I’d been a nurse for 25 years by that point. It wears you out after a while,” Michelle said. “Plus, I just turned 50…I guess I just realized that life is short. You know? If I didn’t take a chance and chase my dream now, when would I? I couldn’t possibly say no to Larry’s parting gift.”
“And Flint?”
“It’s been fifteen years since we divorced.” Michelle shrugged. “I don’t p
articularly like him, but I’m not raw and hurting like I was at 35. I can stand to be in the same town as him now. I just won’t stop to make small talk when we pass each other in the streets.” She paused. “I was so excited about this, you know? Like I said, my own parents passed when I was quite young, and my one brother is half a continent away. The idea that I’d be carrying on Larry’s legacy…it really appealed to me. Of course, I want to put my own spin on it. I have so many things I’m dying to try and…” She trailed off and a smile lit up her face. “Right. I’m going to go back upstairs now. In fact, I’ve got an idea right now.”
“What kind of idea?” Nora asked, confused, following Michelle back to the party.
“You’ll see.” Michelle smiled and closed the basement door behind them.
As soon as they arrived in the main room, everyone grew silent. Nora saw that Tina and another friend, Simone, had cleaned up the mess Jake had left behind, piling the books up neatly. Michelle sent them both a grateful look then turned to address the crowd.
“Hello, everyone. I’d like to thank you for being here today. Seriously, it’s freezing cold outside and you could have been home in your pajamas watching TV. But here you are, ready to welcome a new bookstore to Milburn. I can’t thank you enough. Owning a bookstore has always been my dream. Some people think it’s impractical these days — I beg to differ. Whenever circumstances have been rough in my life, I’d cheer myself up by visiting a bookstore. I don’t even need to buy anything to feel better, just sitting in a quiet corner and re-reading an old favorite makes my worries dissolve a little. Books have been my friends ever since I can remember. They’ve always been there for me. That’s what I’m hoping to offer Milburn and all the wonderful people in it: a quiet haven where you can make new friends and rediscover old ones.” She paused, smiling and nodding at the crowd.
There was a scattering of applause and smiles all around.
“I guess you all saw that little scene between me and Jake. I guess you can also imagine the scathing review I’m going to get in the next issue of The Gazette,” Michelle said, her eyes twinkling. “Well, in honor of critics everywhere, I’m going to run a new promotion starting right here, right now. If you can bring me a good book and a newspaper critic’s scathing review of it, I’ll give you the book for free! Just to remind us all that, despite horrible reviews, people…and books…can still soldier on and succeed.”
Laughter filled the room. Nora clapped, as did quite a few others.
“You can do this, Michelle!” someone called out from the back.
“Thank you,” Michelle said, a big smile on her face. “With kind folks like you supporting me, I’m sure I can!”
Nora looked around the room to see that everyone was beaming — except at the very back, where Flint and Betty Biggs wore scowls as they turned to leave. Flint whispered something into Betty’s ear as he pulled the door open. He looked over his shoulder once at Michelle, and his eyes held pure hatred.
*****
Chapter 3
Home Alone
Nora went home late that night, lingering at the party as much as she could. The truth was that, with Harvey out of town and both Hazel and Grace now leading their own independent lives, the house felt too quiet for her. She switched on the light when she walked in and stood for a moment, looking around.
The house was also neat. Too neat. Closing her eyes for a second, Nora could picture the house as it had once been — Grace’s hockey stick propped up against the TV, Hazel’s books lying face-down on the coffee table, shoes untidily scattered around the room. More than once, Nora had lost her temper at the girls for not putting away their things — funny how she missed it all now.
Sighing and calling herself a sentimental fool, Nora locked the door behind her and switched on all the lights in an attempt to feel more cheerful. The quiet still lingered even as the darkness vanished and Nora decided to switch on the radio.
“Oh-oh-old habits die hard, when you’ve got, when you’ve got a sentimental heart…”
On second thought, Nora considered, feeling even more melancholy as the song progressed, maybe silence would be better.
She sat down on the sofa, switched on the TV, then switched it off when the screen showed only static. Groaning, she remembered that Harvey had promised to fix it soon. She flopped her head back and closed her eyes. With family around for her to look after, Nora was a veritable dynamo, always on the move and generally sunny and cheerful. Alone, she felt empty. Nora thought of Michelle, of the story she’d told earlier that day. Married at 25, divorced at 35, moving away to a big city and then, at 50, moving back to chase an old dream — the bookstore. Smiling to herself, Nora sent good wishes Michelle’s way. It took guts, guts that Nora couldn’t even imagine having, to upend your life and move back to the same town as your ex. Even though Nora felt lonely, it was a temporary thing. Hazel, Grace and Harvey were very much in her life and, even now, only a phone call away. But Michelle had nobody. Well, nobody except Bubbles the cat. No wonder she’d lost her temper at Jake Tipper. Nora lay down on the couch and pulled the comforter up. She knew she should go up and get changed into pajamas, but her couch was comfortable and her eyes were heavy. Closing them, she decided to sleep for just ten minutes…
*****
Across the room from where she’d tossed her purse, a buzzing sound began. Nora blinked, wondering whether Harvey was calling. Surely not, she’d spoken to him earlier that evening. She sat up, her head feeling heavy.
How long had she slept? She’d clearly been more tired than she’d thought. The lights were still on all over the house. Jumping up, Nora rummaged through her purse and found the phone, which sounded like an angry hornet by now.
She didn’t recognize the number and wondered, once again, who it could be. Glancing up at the clock, she saw that it was extremely late — nearly 3am.
“Hello?”
“Nora?” a scared, slightly shaky voice spoke up. “Nora is that you?”
“Yes. Who is this?” The voice sounded familiar, but Nora couldn’t immediately place it. Whoever it was, they were calling from a noisy place — Nora could hear sirens on the line.
“It’s Michelle. Michelle Reed. I’m so sorry, I just didn’t know who else to call…and Bubbles…”
“Michelle?” Nora was instantly alert. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”
“It’s all so confusing.” Michelle’s voice still sounded as though she were on the brink of tears. “The bookstore…it caught on fire somehow. The firemen and the police are here now. I was just wondering…is there any chance I can stay the night with you? I don’t…”
“That’s terrible about the store!” Nora exclaimed. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right there.”
“No, no, I’ve got a car. I can—”
“You don’t sound like you’re in any state to drive,” Nora said firmly. “Wait there, I’ll come as soon as possible. Don’t worry about a thing. Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?”
“No, Bubbles and I are fine. Thank you so much. I’m so sorry to do this. I just…I didn’t know anyone else and…we got along so well today. But I’m—”
“Don’t apologize,” Nora said. “I’m glad you called me. OK? See you soon.”
Hanging up, Nora grabbed her coat and her keys then hurriedly slipped into her boots. A fire! How terrible. Still, it couldn’t be too bad. Michelle sounded shaken but unhurt. If the fire had happened just a few hours earlier, with so many people at the party present on premises, maybe it would have been far more terrible.
Driving carefully so as not to slip on the icy roads, Nora managed to reach the bookstore fifteen minutes later. The fire had clearly been extinguished by that time, although a thick smoke still hung in the air. A fire truck and the sheriff’s car were parked right outside and, despite the biting wind, a crowd of people had gathered around the store. Nora spotted two firemen having a discussion with Sheriff Ellerton while Michelle sat in the back of an ambulance with a blanket aroun
d her shoulders, shivering slightly.
“Nora!” A hand grasped Nora’s shoulder as soon as she stepped out of the car. Betty Biggs was in the crowd, her hair done up in curlers and a coat thrown on over pink & white striped pajamas. “What’s going on? The police won’t talk, the firemen won’t talk and I can’t find Flint!”
“Can’t find Flint?” Nora blinked, confused. “What do you mean? He went home with you, didn’t he?”
“Well, he wasn’t next to me when I woke up. Flint’s phone was on the nightstand but his side of the bed was empty. I searched the whole house. He isn’t there. I don’t understand it, his car is still parked in the garage so he can’t have gone far in the cold,” Betty explained. “I’m frantic, and Sheriff Ellerton just won’t listen. Please talk to him, won’t you? I don’t know what’s going on.”
Nora frowned. Betty and Flint lived in an apartment above their art gallery, just across the road from the bookstore. Nora looked over her shoulder, half-expecting to see Flint’s footprints making a neat line from their house to the bookstore. However, the snow on the road was now sooty with dirt and the scattered footprints of the crowd.
“How long ago did you wake up?” Nora asked.
“I don’t know…maybe twenty minutes? The sirens woke me,” Betty said.
“Twenty minutes is a long time for a man to be walking around in weather like this,” Nora said. “Did you notice if his coat was missing?”
“Yes. It wasn’t hung up next to mine,” Betty confirmed. “Besides, Flint would never go outside without a coat in this kind of weather. Not unless—”
Over Betty’s shoulder, Nora could see Sheriff Ellerton speaking to Michelle, a notepad in his hand. From the expression on Michelle’s face, he’d just told her something she really didn’t want to hear. Michelle’s mouth formed an “O” and she covered her eyes with one hand.
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