Chapter 8 #3
Leo returned to the front of the shop to see Via behind the counter again.
He’d arrived at Second Chapter about fifteen minutes before they were scheduled to meet, the list of books that Earl wanted him to find in hand.
Since he had some time, he decided to check out the bathroom.
It indeed needed redecorating. If he were going to keep the property, he would just gut it, maybe add on an extra one—
Then he stopped himself. Although he no longer worked in real estate, it was ingrained in him, including figuring out ways
to rehab and enhance a property to bring in a higher price. For a business like Second Chapter in a small town like Pecan
Corner, cleaning, organizing, and getting the bathroom in decent order were all he needed to do. If he were actually going
to keep the business—and he wasn’t—he’d want to make some upgrades.
He realized while he was talking to Owen that he left his list in the bathroom. It was good to get some intel from one of
Earl’s friends and avid customers. The more he knew about the history of Second Chapter and how his uncle ran his business,
the better.
Leo stopped in front of the counter. Sir was still there, and Via set down a big plastic tub with a fake-butter name on it.
As soon as Sir saw him, he presented his fluffy belly for more pets. “What’s in there?”
Via smiled and peeled off the lid with a flourish. “Keys.”
He peeked inside. Whoa. “It’s all keys?”
“That’s what Earl said. I’ve never looked through them.” She ducked behind the counter again.
He leaned forward and watched as she moved things around. Tonight she had on another cozy sweater in forest green over black
leggings that clung to her shapely legs. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she was wearing small gold hoop earrings and bright
orange tennis shoes. When she had scooted by him to get the door for Owen and had brushed against him, her sweater had ridden
up over her backside. The enticing view had him wondering again about that heart-shaped birthmark her sister had mentioned.
“Here it is,” she said, pulling out a stack of bright folders and placing them on the counter.
She took the bright pink one on top and flipped it open.
Empty spreadsheets poked out of both pockets.
“I hoped that at some point Earl would have let me catalog his books, so I made these folders and spreadsheets. I wanted to have them ready for when he would give in.”
“You sound sure he would.”
She smiled. “I was making some headway.”
He picked up one of the spreadsheets and looked at the headings. Title, author, ISBN—whatever that meant—date of publication,
even the publisher. “Very thorough,” he said.
“At first I was just going to do the title and author. Then I realized I would need more information to find anything about
the book.”
“Like the value?”
“That, and if they were first editions. Or the latest edition. Among other things.”
That got him thinking. “I wonder how Earl valuated his books?”
Via tapped her temple, much in the way Leo did earlier. “I’m sure it was all in his steel trap.”
He grinned. He’d been worried things would be strained between them, but it took only a few minutes in her presence for him
to relax. And now that he was getting the tiniest grasp on the scope of the task ahead of him, he needed her and her organizational
skills. He couldn’t afford to ruin that by making things weird. He unfolded the list and handed it to her. “Do you know anything
about these books?”
“Are these the ones Earl wanted you to find?” He nodded and she leaned on her elbows and started to chuckle.
“Ridiculous, right?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think How to Sweet-Talk Your Plants might be useful.”
“I thought My Toothbrush, a Date with Destiny was a particularly poignant title.”
She laughed, a charming, pure sound that had him grinning again. She handed him the paper. “Nice joke,” she said. “Where’s
the real list?”
“This is it.”
“Seriously? Those seem esoteric, even for Earl.”
“It’s what Bennett gave me.”
She took the list again, folded it, and put it in her pocket. “I’ll make a copy and give it back. That way we can divide and
conquer.”
“Sounds good.”
Via clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Time to get started.”
“I thought we already did.”
She pointed to the opposite wall near the back of the shop, away from the austere bathroom. “That’s where the real work begins.”
His interest piqued, and he and Sir followed her, passing an unexpected open space with two vintage, comfy-looking chairs
flanking a brightly painted bookshelf filled with what appeared to be children’s books. An oval rag rug was in the middle
of the area, and a basket of toys was near one of the chairs.
“Your handiwork?” Leo asked.
She shook her head. “Earl’s.”
“Huh?”
“He decided one day he needed a kid’s area and spent a whole afternoon creating one. He was right—parents appreciated it.”
It seemed out of character for what he’d learned about his brusque, eccentric uncle.
Then again, he still didn’t know enough about him to make that judgment.
She motioned for him to follow again and pushed on a door he hadn’t noticed before, mostly because it looked like the rest of the wall.
“Welcome to Earl’s second Second Chapter. ”
His jaw literally fell open at the sheer volume of books and junk in front of him.
“Earl went to auctions every Monday. During the week, he shopped at antique stores and thrift stores and other secondhand
bookstores and estate sales—”
“I get the picture.” He slumped against the wall. “There’s no way,” he mumbled. “No way to get this done in a year, much less
a month.”
“Sure we can.” Her tone was full of confidence as she walked over to the nearest stacks of books piled halfway to the ceiling,
some looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Only a miracle was keeping them from toppling over. “This is where he kept a
lot of his doubles. He’d buy boxes and crates of books online and out in the wild and go through them. Then he’d store whatever
duplicates he had back here. That way he never ran out of inventory.”
“Great,” he said faintly.
She faced him and smiled. “We’ve got this, Harvard Boy.”
He couldn’t even joke with the nicknames. “If you say so.”
Sir Meow sauntered inside, gave a quick imperial glance around the room, then promptly left.
“Even the cat knows this is crazy,” Leo said.
“It’s not crazy. We’re going to take a picture of each one, then pack them in labeled boxes. Then we’ll have room to move
some of the books out front in here so the shop will be less cluttered. I’ll fill out the spreadsheets so we know what we
have here compared to the front of the shop.”
“I can do the spreadsheets.” She was already doing more than he’d expected.
“Oh. Okay.”
“I’ve never seen anyone disappointed about not doing paperwork.”
“What can I say? I’m one of a kind.”
She sure was.
Via picked up a book and aimed her phone camera over the cover. “Time to get busy.”
He crossed his arms in faux indignation. “Anyone ever tell you you’re bossy?”
“All the time.” She poked his arm. “We’re losing daylight here.”
It was already dark outside, so her cliché had no punch. He saluted her for the effort. “Yes, ma’am.”
What was the old saying? Eat an elephant one bite at a time instead of trying to choke down the whole thing? Earl had a huge
elephant of a collection, but Via’s confidence was contagious. Time to get to work.