Alice stared at the empty lot where the bookstore had once been.
It had been a week since she’d solved the case. Kris, having confessed, was in jail for the murder of Vince Malone. Darrell had been arrested for his role in sabotaging the bookstore, and he was under investigation for at least half a dozen other such criminal acts, including conspiring to destroy the Oriels’ cabin. Townsend Development had been shuttered. His brother Todd had skipped town.
Everything was wrapped up.
Or almost everything.
Whenever she walked past the empty lot where the bookstore had been, her heart seized up, as if a hand were squeezing it. And this morning, she’d felt a punch to her gut too, as she’d spotted a sign on a stake driven into the ground. It was from MacDonald Realty and said, “SOLD.”
As she gazed at the sign, footsteps approached.
“We thought we might find you here,” Ona said.
She and Becca stood on either side of Alice, joining her in looking at the empty lot and the sign. Becca handed Alice a take-out cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” Alice said, and sipped her coffee.
They all drank their coffees in silence.
“So…?” Ona said.
“So what?” Alice asked.
“Please,” Becca said. “The anticipation is killing us. You met Rich last night. Well, what happened?”
Alice smiled. She could count on her friends wanting to know every detail of her life. It was nice to know they cared.
“After Kris and Darrell were arrested, I told him I needed time and space…”
“We know that,” Ona said. “Skip ahead. What happened last night?”
“Well, I told the truth. I said I couldn’t come back to my old life. I’d never be happy with him, no matter how hard he tried. Then I gave him back the engagement ring and wished him all the best.”
Ona put a hand on Alice’s back. “I’m proud of you. That must’ve been hard.”
“Yeah, it was hard. But it would’ve been harder if I’d stayed with him.”
In fact, Rich had cried and begged and even bribed her with a bookstore of her own and an annual “alone vacation.” But she hadn’t wavered. She hoped he would find a partner who would thrive in the bubble of attentiveness he loved to create. In fact, she was sure he would eventually find the right person. It just wasn’t her.
“So, now what?” Ona asked.
Alice shrugged. “Now I take some time to figure out what I do next. Who knows, maybe whoever bought the property from Bunce will build a new bookstore and I can get a job as the manager. After all, it turns out that Old Mayor Townsend always intended for there to be a bookstore in this location.”
She pulled out the old notebook from her back pocket. Ona and Becca leaned in to take a closer look.
“See, this is a map of Blithedale,” Alice explained. “And the old mayor sketched the businesses he envisioned coming in. You can see the diner. He calls it a restaurant. Of course, the Pemberley Inn is labeled as ‘mayor’s residence.’”
“The old fox wouldn’t give up his own house, huh?” Ona said.
“Actually, later in the notebook, he notes that when he dies, he’d like the house to be turned into an inn.” Alice closed the book and tapped the front. “It’s amazing. You can see today’s Blithedale in these pages—much of his vision was on the way to becoming a reality.”
“Until his grandson, Darrell, got in the way,” Becca said. “Well, now’s our chance to continue the good work Old Mayor Townsend started so many years ago.”
Alice sighed. “That’s assuming the people who bought from Bunce are interested in establishing a bookstore here.”
“Well, that’s up to you,” Ona said.
“Me? How do you figure that?”
Ona smiled and looked at Becca, who gave a little nod, then said, “Ona and I took the liberty of pooling some of our savings. Plus, we ran a little fundraiser. All very hush-hush. Together, we managed to raise enough funds that we had enough to buy the lot from Bunce.”
“What?” Alice gaped at Becca, then at Ona. “When were you going to tell me?”
“Now,” Ona said. “We wanted you to talk to Rich first. We didn’t want to sway your decision.”
“But we hoped…” Becca added.
“Oh, yes,” Ona grinned. “We hoped.”
“So, you mean…” Alice was trying to make sense of it. “The two of you bought the property?”
Becca said, “Actually, the newly established ‘Blithedale Future Fund’ bought it. For too long, we’ve let the likes of Darrell Townsend shape this town. Now we, the people who love Blithedale, will invest in its future, and we want you to be the first recipient.”
Alice was at a loss for words.
I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say ‘yes, please,’” Ona said, laughing.
Alice had come to town to preserve the bookstore and the memories that continued to live within it. She’d failed. But instead she’d discovered that Blithedale could contain new experiences—she could make new happy memories worthy of the ones she’d made with her mom. And now Becca and Ona were giving her a chance to build on her old memories in the very place where her mom’s bookstore had stood. Yes, Blithedale Books was gone forever. But now it could be reborn.
Despite the excitement, despite her profound gratitude for what her friends were willing to do for her—not just her friends, but everyone in Blithedale who’d donated to the new fund—she told herself this was too big a gift. She couldn’t rely on their charity.
“You’re giving me the property? I can’t accept that.”
Becca held up a hand. “Not giving, no. We set the fund up so that we could help you, but we want to help others, too. The Blithedale Future Fund gives loans or makes investments. The fund has bought the property, the way the bank might give you a mortgage.”
“Except our mortgage interest rates are much better,” Ona said with a wink. “The property’s yours if you want it.”
Alice’s said, “I’ll pay you back.”
“That’s right,” Becca said. “That’s the deal.”
Alice let out a laugh. A loan was different. She could accept a loan. Even if it was the most generous thing she’d ever experienced.
“You two are amazing, you know that?”
She threw her arms around Ona and then Becca, nearly dousing both of them with coffee.
Then she stepped back and surveyed the property. Then thought: Loans have to be repaid. And how am I supposed to make enough money to repay a loan when I don’t have enough to rebuild?
The weight of reality settled on her shoulders, deflating her.
“But I still can’t accept this offer. It takes money to build a whole new bookstore, let alone stock it.”
“Don’t you have savings?” Becca asked.
“That would be enough for the books and getting started. But constructing a building? No way.”
“Lucky you,” Ona said, grinning, “I have one to spare.”