“Still, just be mindful.”
“Okay. If you need me, leave a message with my assistant, and if I can fit in a minute for you, we can chat.” Grace headed up the stairs.
Liddy laughed. Grace’s “office” was an old table they’d found under the second-floor eaves and cleaned up, and there was no assistant. They’d finished outfitting her office with a folding chair she’d brought from Maggie’s garage. As long as Grace had internet access, she didn’t care about her surroundings, quite a change from her former life, when she’d had a fancy office in a highly desirable building in Center City, Philadelphia, and as daughter of the owner of the prestigious firm, Flynn Law, Grace had had it made. Until she didn’t.
Liddy hummed as she arranged the books on the shelves, beginning in the children’s section and moving forward toward the front of the store. Literary fiction. Mystery and thrillers. Romance. Women’s fiction. And so on until she reached the halfway mark in the shelves and it was time for a rest. Outside the temperature had begun to rise, and inside the shop, the air was becoming increasingly stuffy. She turned on the two ancient window air-conditioning units and prayed for the best. When she realized one was blowing warm air and the other barely cooling, she turned them off with a growl.
“Is it warm in here or is it me?” Maggie said by way of a greeting as she came into the shop. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, much like her daughter’s, and she wore navy shorts and a yellow-and-white-striped tee.
“It’s warm. Thank you for noticing. Damn it. Now I’m going to have to replace these.” Liddy felt like kicking something.
“Have you thought about central air?” Maggie asked.
“I have invoices coming in from publishers for books I’ve ordered, and I owe a staggering amount to Tuck. I’m not exactly sure how much, but it has to be a lot. I had him here again this morning because there’s a cracked pipe upstairs, and he’s going to have to replace it so the ceiling doesn’t come down. So while I have thought about having central air, I’m going to have to put it on hold.”
She pulled a book from the shelf and threw it across the room. “This place is a money pit, and I was so enamored of the idea of being the one to save the town’s bookshop I ignored what my accountant was telling me. I’ll be lucky to still be in business come Christmas.”
“Whoa. I’m sorry if I pushed a button. I didn’t mean to.” Maggie raised a hand as if to halt whatever Liddy was going to say. “That wasn’t an attack. I get you’re overwhelmed right now. I do. You’ve taken on a big project. I know you, and I know you want to make everything perfect. That the store has to represent you. It’ll get there.”
“The temperature is going up to ninety today, and the forecast is for more of the same for the next ten days. If it’s this hot on opening day, people will be walking in and walking right back out again. I can’t afford that. I need people in the shop spending money.”
Liddy went to the front of the store and, leaning both forearms on the counter, slumped dejectedly. “I’ve worked so hard, and I’ve put so much into this place, Mags.”
“I know you have.” Maggie walked around the counter and rubbed Liddy’s shoulders. “And it’s going to be fine. Better than fine. We’ll make it work. If you need money, I’m good for it. I sold Art’s firm, so I can help out. I’d be happy to give you a loan—no interest—or invest and become a silent partner.”
“Ha. You? Silent?” Liddy forced a laugh.
“It could be written into any deal we might make that I only give advice you ask for.”
“Thanks, Maggie.” Liddy gave Maggie’s hand a squeeze.
“Hey, what are best friends for? Besides, I figure I owe you. I never did properly thank you for giving me your turn with Derek Demarco in the kissing closet in seventh grade.”
“Are you kidding? I’d have died before I kissed him. He always smelled like garlic.”
“Which is my favorite thing to cook with.” She paused. “Which could trace back to Derek. Never thought about that, but maybe.”
Liddy laughed. “Old debts aside, I appreciate the offer. I do have an emergency stash since Emma arranged to sell some of Jess’s paintings, so I’m not desperate. Yet. But I’d like to hold on to as much of that as I can, because I don’t know what other expenses I’m likely to have. It just seems there’s no end to it—and I haven’t even opened the shop yet. What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking it would be the perfect business for you, and it will be. You’re just having a little down moment because it seems like everything is coming at you at once, but you can’t resolve everything at once. My advice—and since I haven’t signed an agreement not to offer it—handle each issue one at a time. You said Tuck’s taking care of some work for you?”
Liddy nodded. “He’s fixing the pipes and the water damage, and the insurance will cover most of that. And he’s going to work on the front of the building for me. You know, paint, spruce it up.”
“So you can wipe all that off your plate. What else?”
“Well, the obvious. It’s like a freaking oven in here. The one air conditioner isn’t working at all, and the other one is rolling on its back with all fours up in the air.”
Maggie walked to the back of the shop and opened the window overlooking the harbor, and moments later a light breeze made its way in.
“The people I bought my house from had central air installed, but for years, my mom had window units upstairs and down. There are several in the storage space in the garage. I’ll test them when I get home and see if any of those work. If so, we’ll bring them down. What else?”
Liddy ran through all the things that had been keeping her up at night, starting with not knowing if she’d ordered enough books and ending with not knowing how many employees she was going to need.
“I put in orders based upon what the salespeople suggested, but I don’t know if that’s going to be enough. Fred never kept detailed records of how much of which authors he sold, so I had to guess based on my own preferences.”
“You have very eclectic tastes in books. If you’ve gone with your gut, you’re probably okay. I’m sure you can reorder, right?”
Liddy nodded. “The publishers I ordered from said their delivery turnaround was pretty quick.”
“Okay, then cross that worry off your list. You sell out of something someone wants to buy, you tell them you’ll special order it for them. Next?”
“Employees . . .”
“You already have Grace. So that’s two of you. It’s a small shop, Liddy. This isn’t the general store. Maybe bring back Evelyn Marshall. She knows the shop, knows the customers.”
“I called her a month ago, and she said she didn’t know if she wanted to come back, but I’ll give her another call and see if she’s changed her mind. Even if she could just come in part-time for the next month or so until I can get my feet on the ground, it would be helpful. If she’s not interested, maybe I can find someone else.”
“If worse comes to worst, I can fill in till you find someone permanent. Emma’s really busy at the art center right now, but I know she’ll help out when she can. So that’s three big things knocked off your worry list. What else is there?”