“Well, you’ve come to the right place.”
“Is Tuck Shelby any relation to Lincoln Shelby?” Grace dragged a box of books farther from the wall.
“He’s Linc’s father.” Liddy turned to Maggie. “Tuck married a girl from Fall River, had Linc and a daughter. His wife died years ago. Maybe twenty or so?” Liddy told her. “Tuck’s supposedly semiretired, but he still seems to work a lot. Linc has taken over a lot of the business. They still live on Shelby Island—Tuck’s dad’s still alive, but I heard he’s not expected to be around much longer. He’s gotta be in his late eighties, early nineties by now.”
“How’d he get the name ‘Tuck’?” Grace called from the back of the shop.
“Oh, something to do with him never tucking in his shirt when he was little, so his mother was always yelling at him to tuck it in,” Liddy said. “It stuck.”
“I remember his sister, Angelina, used to call him something that rhymed with Tuck,” Maggie reminded Liddy. “Whatever happened to her, Lid? Do you know?”
“Moved out west somewhere back in the nineties. As far as I know, she’s never been back. No idea what she’s been doing out there all this time. Don’t even know if she’s still alive.” She paused. “Though I guess if she’d died, I’d have heard about it. Now, Tuck’s daughter—”
“Okay, ladies, if you’re all done gossiping,” Grace interrupted. “Let’s get these bookcases moved away from the wall and get the tarp down. If we get paint on the floor, we could have a problem.”
Liddy nodded. “Excellent point. I’d been thinking I’d have the floor refinished, but it’s not practical at this point. I think maybe a good cleaning will do the trick now.”
“Could you grab the other end?” Grace stood next to the side of one of the bookcases from the children’s section. “We can start painting back here and move around the room and go section to section.” She pushed on the bookcase, but it remained in place. “Damn, this thing is heavy.”
Liddy took hold of the end of the bookcase opposite Grace. “On three . . . one, two, three.”
The bookcase didn’t budge.
“This sucker is heavier than it looks. Maggie, give me a hand on this end.” Liddy took a step to the right to make room for Maggie to work with her. “Okay. Once again . . . one, two, three . . .”
Despite their collective efforts, the bookcase didn’t move.
“Ahhh, Houston, we have a problem.” Grace blew out a long breath. “We need brute strength.”
“Well, it looks like it’s solid oak, so yeah, it’s going to be heavy.” Maggie glanced at Liddy. “We’re not going to be able to do this ourselves. Brett’s on duty right now, so he can’t help us. Anyone we can call?”
Liddy groaned. “The only person I can think of is Tuck. Maybe if he’s free sometime today, he could stop in and give us a hand.”
“Is his number on your phone?” Maggie asked.
Liddy tapped the side of her head. “It’s in here. I’ve had to call him so many times over the years the number has been imprinted on my brain.”
“Oh?” Maggie raised an eyebrow.
“Like I said, he did all the work on my house. Get that look off your face. It was strictly business.”
Liddy went to the front of the store and searched her bag for her phone. Finding it, she tapped in the number she knew by heart.
“Damn. Voice mail,” she grumbled. “Tuck, it’s Liddy Bryant. I’m down at the bookstore—” She paused. “You know I bought the bookstore, right? ’Cause Fred Lattimore was retiring? Anyway. I’m trying to move some bookcases out of the way so we can paint the walls, and we just can’t get them to budge. We think they’re solid oak. So I’m calling to see if you might have some time to stop by and maybe give us a hand. Call me when you get a minute, please.”
It took Tuck less than a minute to return the call.
“Liddy? Sorry I didn’t pick up right away.”
“Hey, Tuck. Thanks for calling back,” she said.
“So you bought yourself a bookstore.” Tuck chuckled.
“I did,” she said with no small amount of pride.
“Now, why does that not surprise me?”
“I don’t know, why doesn’t it surprise you?” Smiling and maybe feeling just a teensy bit flirty, she leaned on the counter.
“I’m guessing you’re bored with all that volunteer work and all those town boards you’re on. I’m not surprised you’d be wanting to do something for yourself. And I did know Carl was going to sell his dad’s store, and it did cross my mind not too long ago you might be looking for someplace to put all that energy of yours. Besides, the bookstore suits you.”
“Well, lately the only volunteer work I’ve been doing is at the art center when Emma needs a hand. But you’re right. I needed something that was all mine, and this opportunity came at just the right time.”
“I sure wish you much success, Liddy. I hope you have a heck of a time and enjoy your new venture. Now, what can I do for you? Something about moving some bookcases around?”
Liddy explained the situation.
“Sounds like you need some muscle,” he said after she finished her rundown. “I can send a few guys over right after their lunch break.” He paused. “If I get a few of my men over there within the next hour or so, you’d be good?”
“I’d be ecstatic, are you kidding me?” Liddy gave a thumbs-up to Maggie, who grinned. “Thanks, Tuck.”
She hung up and told Maggie, “He’s sending some guys over in about an hour to give us a hand. I should probably leave the door unlocked for them.” Liddy tossed her empty coffee cup in a nearby trash can. “I never expected those shelves to be so heavy. I’m lucky Tuck’s on a job today and is willing to lend us a few hands.”
“Nice of him,” Maggie said.
“Yeah, he’s a good guy.”
They resumed culling books from the shelves and boxing them up, occasionally commenting on a title they came across.
Moments later, Liddy went to the door and peered out. “One of Tuck’s vans just pulled up out front.” She glanced at her watch. “Damn, that was fast, guys,” she said as she opened the door. “I’m so happy to see you. You’re saving the day.”
Three burly young men in their twenties shuffled into the shop. They all wore dark-blue baseball caps, dusty jeans, and dark-blue T-shirts with SHELBY & SON on the front, their faces partially covered by sunglasses.
“Boss said you had something you wanted moved?” the first in line said.
Liddy nodded and pointed to the bookcases, which lined the walls of the shop from front to back. “I need those all moved away from the wall so we can paint.”
“And who’s going to move them back?” a deep, familiar voice boomed from the doorway.
Liddy turned around and smiled without realizing she was doing so. “I thought maybe I’d head out to Route Six and flag down a few truckers. Or I could give my cousin Ron a call. He’s a guard out at Barnstable County Correctional Facility. Maybe he could bring me a few buff inmates for a day.”