Daniella smirked her mischievous smirk. “I say we go in there and celebrate that nobody is going to jail and nobody is going further into debt. Also, that I actually like you two fools and I never thought I’d hear myself saying that. And I say we throw a dance party on the roof when it’s all over, because if Wild Nights Bookstore is closing, it’s closing with a goddamned bang.”

“Yeah,” said Rinn.

“Agreed,” said Imogen, with one of her own quiet half smiles.

“And then, I say we steal the roller girl on our way out.” Daniella raised her eyebrows.

Rinn and Imogen said deal at the same time.

And then Daniella’s smirk stretched out into a grin as she was about to say something when a figure popped out of the shadows.

“I’m sorry to be rude, young ladies. But I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re looking for a place to store all these lovely books.” Madame Bettache stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the alley, like an avenging angel. She was stubbing out a cigarette under her foot, and she looked like a woman who knew about the world in a way that Rinn might never.

And in that moment, Rinn found her hope again.

30

But Still, Like Air

8:34 P.M.

Imogen

Imogen watched as Rinn and Daniella and Madame Auntie left the back alley. They were going back into the store and talking through how much space she had in her enormous brownstone that she now lived in alone and how much the bookstore could temporarily use. Madame Auntie said she could loan the space and they could pay her back for it.

Business, she said. It was all treating them like businesswomen.

Rinn was back to organizing and rallying. Imogen had watched as Rinn’s mind began counting up boxes and shelves. She said she would enlist Rashida—who had stayed for the poetry event—and Charlene, who had come back especially for it. Daniella had immediately asked for fair pricing and whether there would be interest on the space as a loan.

Madame Auntie started quoting numbers, and she was talking about the ways in which she could delay the interest. She said she would write up a contract and that while it wasn’t legally binding for them to sign it as minors, she would take their signatures on the document along with Jo’s. Because she wanted to treat them like equals in this deal.

Imogen had stuck out her hand for a firm handshake. Madame Auntie had taken it solemnly and followed the other two inside.

Imogen had the outside to herself, now. She said she’d be inside to help them in a minute.