Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Henry
“Hatchet by Gary Paulsen is the ultimate wilderness book for young adults. My grandson has read it at least ten times.”
—Leo’s Staff Pick
Subway girl seemed a little shocked. She was stock-still, pale as all get out.
I hadn’t expected to ever see her again. When I got off the train yesterday, I spent all night kicking myself in the foot for not asking for her number or at least her name. I had come to New York for plenty of reasons, but one of them was to learn to take risks and step out of my comfort zone.
And something told me she would be way out of my comfort zone.
She was the intimidating kind of beautiful.
She had dark hair that fell to her waist in long, loose waves and piercing green eyes.
When we first met, all I could see were black pants and a thick denim coat.
But now she was wearing a white turtleneck under a plaid black dress.
Last night, I had wanted to ride the train to wherever she was going just to keep warm in the lingering New York winter a little longer.
That warmth fizzled out now as she studied me for a moment, her gaze turning ice cold, and said, “Follow me.”
The booksellers weren’t subtle as they blatantly stared at us, some with their mouths agape, as she led me upstairs.
It’d been about twelve years since I’d been back to The Last Page.
I wasn’t expecting so much to have stayed the same since I was sixteen, but I wasn’t expecting so much to have changed either.
I wasn’t on social media, so it was easy to avoid any random posts about the store, but it took real restraint to not search it up on my own accord.
As we ascended the stairs, I resisted the urge to linger on the mezzanine between the first and second floor.
It was full of books dedicated to New York.
Once, I was grateful to be growing up in the greatest city in the world.
I’d flip through the books, taking in all the pictures before stepping out into the West Village.
But a lot had changed.
She led me past the children’s section to Grandpa’s old office. I furrowed my brow as she pulled out a keychain, unlocking the door. As far as I remembered, only my dad and grandfather had a key to the door. And they were quite possessive of it.
She walked straight in, but I hesitated. The last time I was in here was in high school, the last time Grandpa and I spoke. If I could go back … take back all the horrible things I said …
There wasn’t any time to wade back into the store. Slowly take in all the memories, painful and good. I had no choice but to go inside and face the ghosts of my past and regret.
I sucked in a breath, bracing myself, but I couldn’t stop a sad smile from forming at the sight of his office.
It was as messy as his apartment, but still had that particular Leo quality about it.
For one of his birthdays when I was little, I gave him a bobblehead I’d won at an arcade.
And there it sat on his desk, right next to a mug full of pens.
I could feel her gaze on me as I surveyed the office.
His chair was different. Way back when, he’d had a stiff, wooden chair.
I used to rag on him for it when I visited him during the summer, teasing him that his old man back would break.
He must’ve listened to me, because there was a plush roller chair in its place.
My eyes snagged on his photo wall, shocked.
I was still on it. There were some of me as a toddler or from that final summer.
In one, I was standing behind Leo’s desk downstairs, pretending to inspect one of the used books that came in with a determined seriousness.
But there was one of my mom and me from my college graduation.
I tried to swallow away the lump in my throat.
There were more pictures of subway girl and Leo on the wall than me. A photo of the two of them laid out on the floor, pretending to be dead. A candid of them laughing at his info desk.
When I turned to face her, she was standing in the corner of the room, watching me with her arms crossed.
“I didn’t know he was sick,” I said softly, swallowing back the thickness in my throat.
“Me either.” Her eyes fell to the floor. “He hid it well from all of us. There were times I wondered … but he chalked it up to old age. I never pressed.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know the right way to go about this, truthfully. The lawyer emailed me two weeks ago—”
“Two weeks ago?” she asked, frowning.
“I know it took me a while to get here, but I had to square some things away back home. I assume you’ve been holding down the fort and, really, thank you, but—”
She pulled out her phone and began clicking frantically, scrolling. “I never got an email. I thought he would’ve contacted me …”
“Oh, I’m sure my grandfather left you something.” I gestured toward the wall with the pictures of the two of them. I tried to keep any bitterness out of my voice as I said, “It seems like y’all are—were—close. I think the lawyer’s just digging through the—”
Her sharp gasp cut me off. “This can’t be happening.” She continued to read whatever was on her phone before her body sagged and she leaned against the wall. “Fuck. Fuck.”
I stepped toward her. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m such an idiot,” she said, mostly to herself, laughing humorlessly. “I never checked spam. Oh my God.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets, unsure what to say. “Well, did he leave you something good?”
Her eyes flashed up toward me. “He was supposed to leave me the store. I’ve been waiting forever for this email. I can’t believe I’ve been refreshing my email like crazy only for it to be sitting in spam.”
I frowned. “The email was just sent to me and the store.”
“I’ve been monitoring that email for years and after everything Leo said, I just figured it’d be sent to me through that email … and here it is in black and white. He left it to you.”
“Wait, what did my grandfather tell you?”
“I didn’t know about you,” she said, her gaze flickering to meet mine. “I mean I knew of you, but all I’ve ever seen are those pictures of you on the wall. I didn’t realize you were, you know, you.” She took a deep breath. “For the past couple of years, Leo’s been preparing me to become owner.”
My head jerked back, shocked. Unfairly, I’d assumed that Leo was waiting for me to come around. I always thought one day we’d pick up the phone, but I never put my pride aside. Now, more than ever, I wished I had.
“He was?” I asked, skeptical.
She shot me a knowing look. “Do you really think I’d have a key to this office if he wasn’t?”
She was right, even if I didn’t want to believe it. The summers I’d worked here as a teenager, he was protective of his space. Leo had told me so many times he wanted the office to be mine one day, too.
“I didn’t know,” I said apologetically.
“Please.” She stepped toward me. I still didn’t know her name, and I wanted to sit down and have this conversation with her name on my lips. “Henry, you can’t take over this store. It means everything to me,” she said, her eyes wide.
“He was my grandfather. This is all I have left of him.”
“I’ll buy it from you,” she said immediately.
I shook my head. “I’ll keep you on as a manager—”
“As opposed to firing me? I’ve been here since I was fifteen. I know this store inside and out. Can you say that?”
I held my hands up. “Look, I’m just here for a month or so to make sure everything’s running smoothly. Afterward, I’ll look after it remotely, back home in Tennessee. You’ll still have the same responsibilities, but I’ll be the owner.”
I had no intention of extending my stay in New York. Already, I was yearning for just a little more green in my life. I lived in Knoxville, nestled in a valley, where we were surrounded by mountains and picturesque nature.
“We don’t need you, I’ve got everything handled.” She gave a humorless laugh. “Have you ever even worked in a bookstore before?”
“Not since I was a kid, but—”
“So you don’t know anything about books? What’s trending and what’s not? What books are timeless classics?”
“I know this isn’t ideal—”
“No, it isn’t, Henry. You don’t know anything about this store and you think you can waltz in here and expect us to listen to you?”
“It isn’t my first time here,” I argued back. “It’s not rocket science—”
“And there it is.” She shook her head. “You have to run this store with heart and a passion for books. And if you don’t have that, then this store is fucked. Excuse me, I have to get back to the floor.”
She brushed past me, slamming the door. As she did, one of the picture frames fell.
“At least she didn’t body slam me,” I murmured.