“Tell me something I don’t know.” Natalie spread some papers on the table. “I’ve been going through Mom’s files. I actually did find her will.” It wasn’t much of a will, as far as she could tell. It had been drawn up from a boilerplate the year Natalie was born. According to the document, Grandy was her designated guardian. “It hasn’t been updated since she signed it, but I suppose it’s valid. I’m going to have to set up a meeting with a lawyer to figure out what it all means.” A lawyer. What lawyer? She didn’t have one. As far as she knew, neither did her mother.

Cleo went over the updated bookkeeping files, which only confirmed what Natalie already knew. “I wish we had better news, but your mom was struggling.”

Natalie nodded. “She was always struggling. I didn’t realize how much, though. She never told me she was covering so many of Grandy’s expenses after his broken hip. Unless there’s some secret source of El Dorado, I’m afraid we’ll have to close the shop and sell everything. Liquidate the inventory and put the building on the market.” A frisson of dread went through her. “I’ll try to explain it to Grandy.”

Cleo and Bertie exchanged a look.

“There’s so much to sort out,” she conceded. “I can stay for a day or two, but I’m going to need to get back to Archangel. Will you be able to handle things for the time being?”

“Of course,” Cleo said.

“Grandy, too? He tells me he’s fine on his own.” Natalie looked from one to the other. “What do you think?”

“He does all right in the new downstairs apartment. Your mom was planning to do more work on the place—fix the back railing, install grab bars in the bathroom, that sort of thing. He usually gets dinner from the corner deli and they deliver it. He and Charlie still hang out together almost every day, same as they’ve always done.”

“I’m nervous about telling him we have to close the shop,” Natalie confessed. “It’s going to be the hardest conversation of my life. How on earth will I explain it?”

“How about you make a plan and then tell him?” Bertie suggested. “You don’t have to do it all today.”

She sent him a wavering smile. “Thanks. You’re right. So … Business as usual today? How do we even do that?” Her chest felt tight with apprehension and grief.

A moment later, the bell over the door sounded off again, and in bounced a little girl, bright-eyed and fresh-faced. Yellow straw braids, big blue eyes. The first customer of the day.

Cleo gave her a nudge. “You just do it,” she whispered.