Liv grinned even bigger. She slid into the jacket and asked, “How does it look?”

“Pretty good,” said Imogen.

Liv laughed as she said, “Alright, I’ll see you inside,” before she swooped back into the bookstore.

Imogen smiled at the air for a solid minute. Then she got out her phone. She clicked through, trying to find the app that Jo had recommended. Talk something. Fresh talk. New talk.

Talkspace. That’s what it was.

Imogen clicked through and began the sign-up process. It took much longer than she had anticipated. It was frustrating, but she kept going, didn’t give up.

She didn’t want to give up.

Maybe some piece of her—maybe it was only 3 percent, really—but that sliver hadn’t wanted to give up, either. It had held on, tethered her to this place, to these people. It had made her reach out. It was keeping her on task on her phone now. A few more clicks and Imogen had an appointment for the next day. It wasn’t perfect, and she didn’t know if she’d like the person, but it was a start.

Imogen stood up. She dusted off the gravel from her jeans. She opened the door and moved through the aisles. She stopped just short of the large open space where the chairs were set up.

Ahead, she saw Daniella signing Jordans with a look that was a mix of pride and astonishment across her face. She saw Rinn, enjoying herself. Smiling at what she had done, rather than focusing on what she hadn’t quite accomplished.

Imogen smiled. Nothing was perfect. But maybe things could still be all right.

31

A Stately Pleasure-dome

8:59 P.M.

Daniella

Madame Bettache was about as bossy as Rinn when put in charge of something, and she had run the two of them around the store for the past forty-five minutes. Eventually she was done stating what she could and couldn’t store. And Rinn was done arguing what was and wasn’t needed to keep the store running in a different space. And then Jo got involved, and they were all arguing and shouting, and for a moment Daniella thought it was going to come to blows again.

But instead they’d all found agreement on what did and did not need to be taken to the new space, wherever that ended up being. Rinn won her argument about the art in the building needing to be preserved.

Daniella had chimed in only once to suggest that they leave all the Clive Cusslers on the antiquated register for Archer as their parting gift to him.