In all the hubbub of actually getting to meet Harvey, she hadn’t even been thinking of the TV show. He’d been helping with the writing and the production of the episodes—most of his fans blamed the show for the fact that Harvey had stopped writing books. They’d all wanted a follow-up to When We Were Us; they hadn’t gotten one. Rinn hadn’t really minded the TV show before this moment—it got more people reading the book—but she had been a little bit disappointed that the show had taken away from any more books being written.

Rinn pasted on her bright smile and tried, tried, tried again. She put her hand out to Maya. “Hi! I’m Rinn Olivera, and I work here. I can take you to Jo if you like, or to the back room where you can sit and have some refreshments.”

Maya took Rinn’s hand and shook it. Then she looked at Rinn, a puzzled expression on her face. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

But Rinn didn’t want to talk up her book channel. She wanted to be appreciated for herself as a fan and a worker at the bookstore alone. It didn’t seem right, in this moment, to talk about the following she had built. She smiled, brighter and even more pasted on. She was excited for this. She had been excited for this all day. All week. “I’ve just got one of those faces.”

Maya let go of her hand, gave a quick and friendly smile. “Yeah. Must be. It’s nice to meet you, Rinn. I think a trip to the back room for some refreshments would be amazing.”

Maya’s friendliness, Rinn could see, was to overcompensate for Harvey’s lack thereof. Harvey was eyeing the whole store as though the goth-punk-library vibe was a sad, odd thing. He looked out of place in the bookstore, which, Rinn had never seen an author looking out of place in a bookstore.

There was some undercurrent to Harvey that she couldn’t place. Waves of irritation were rippling off him. But Rinn didn’t know what she had done. She’d tried to introduce herself. She’d offered to take them back to a waiting area. She was doing everything in her power to make both Harvey and Maya feel comfortable. But in the end, she could tell that lingering disquiet was rolling off both of them. It was making Harvey surly and was making Maya overly bright.

“It’s back here,” Rinn offered, pointing toward the back office. “I can give you a tour if you like?”

But Harvey put her off again. “I’ve got it from here, kid. Why don’t you give Maya that little tour of yours?”

Harvey was off and away before Rinn could even open her mouth to respond.

Maya gave an apologetic smile in response. “I’ll take the tour. It sounds great.”