But either way, Rinn was likely losing one of her favorite haunts. The store could close, or the store could become a place Rinn couldn’t work at regularly. She had to make the decision she could live with. Rinn took a deep breath. She knew what choice she’d make. She might as well save it for everyone else, even if she couldn’t save it for herself.

Rinn smiled and then she hit record. “Greetings, people of Earth—Rinn here. Guess who made it to the bookstore early? I’m not tagging my location—yet—but know that this bookstore is where. it. is. at.”

Rinn panned around the room slightly. She could, from where she stood, catch a glimpse of the roller-skating girl’s feet hanging precipitously over the back staircase. She could even catch a few of the ribbons of words that cascaded around the roller girl’s feet. But then the time ran out, and she couldn’t get any more of the store into the shot.

It was so much easier shooting video of the store than shooting video of herself.

Rinn uploaded the video—it would make a good intro—and began shooting the next. If she twisted, she could maybe get the whole roller girl into the shot, and she knew people would have a lot of questions in the DMs about that.

Rinn swallowed her nerves. She was fine. Filming was fine. She was going to save this bookstore. Sometimes, Rinn wanted to thank God herself for selfie mode.

Rinn offered up a silent prayer and did her best to smile for the camera. But then she tilted her head and the lighting changed on her.

Oof, not a good angle.

Rinn moved her head back to its original position. She held on tight to that smile. But even she could see it—the edge that crept into her face. The way her eyes looked overly bright and her smile seemed totally pasted on.

Rinn took another deep breath. Hit record. “I know there’s going to be a reading, followed by a Q and A, and a signing. But I think there might be some special prizes in store for a few lucky readers. I can tell you that this store is about to start setting up for the signing. I cannot wait to see what they do to the place.”

Okay, Rinn was getting aboard her own hype train, since she was the one who’d planned out the decorations herself. But her viewers didn’t necessarily need to know this. All they needed was to start getting excited for the Brock Harvey signing. Because then maybe a few more people would show up to the store.