Page 18 of The Romance Library

What Cecil said was true. I genuinely believed that creating a romance library would be meaningful.

And it’d be much better for the community than some fancy luxury flats that only a small percentage of the people from that town could afford.

But what if I failed?

‘If I say no, will you find someone else?’

‘No.’ Cecil shook his head. ‘Meredith made her wishes very clear. She wanted you to run it.’

‘And if I don’t, what will happen to the books and her money?’

‘Well, as far as the money goes, no doubt her son would try and come after it.’

‘Can he do that?’

‘Anything’s possible. As for the books, he’d probably try and destroy them out of spite.’

My stomach churned and bile rose in my throat. Cecil didn’t realise it, but his words had just opened a wound I’d been trying to heal.

‘I’ll do it,’ I blurted out.

I still wasn’t convinced I was up for the task, but I’d give it my best shot.

I owed it to myself to at least try. And even though we barely knew each other, for some reason, Mrs Davis believed in me, so I owed it to her too.

‘Excellent news!’ Cecil beamed. ‘Do you have somewhere to be right now?’

‘No. You hired me for the day, so I told my other jobs I couldn’t make it in.’

‘Great. Let’s go to my office and go through all the paperwork. The clock’s ticking. There’s just two weeks until the presentation, so the sooner we formalise everything and get started, the better.’

‘Yeah, about the pitch…’ I paused. ‘I have a question.’

‘Fire away.’

‘What happens if I don’t secure that particular building? Mrs Davis’s will said that I’d have a salary for a year to get the library up and running. But what if the vendor sells the building to Eaves Enterprises? What then? Do I have to find another location and keep working on that instead?’

‘No.’ He sighed. ‘Meredith’s instructions were very specific. It’s that particular building she wanted and that building only. It has to be secured. Failure is not an option, I’m afraid.’

Shit.

In a way, that seemed unfair. Especially as I had no control over how much Eaves Enterprises chose to bid.

‘But what if the competition outbids us?’

‘Remember what the vendor said: it’s not just about the money. It’s about the idea and how it will benefit the community. That’s why the presentation is so important. Nail that and build a relationship with the vendor and I’m sure everything will fall into place. This is a golden opportunity, Jessica. It could change your life. The question is, how hard are you prepared to work to make it happen?’

A surge of adrenaline pulsed through me. Cecil was right. If I could put together a killer pitch and win that Edwin guy over, I really did stand a good chance of securing this building.

After everything I’d been through in the thirty-one years I’d been on this earth, I wanted a better life. I wanted a happier future. And this was my chance.

I hadn’t dared to dream before, but now maybe I could.

I was doing this.

Although this was going to be so far out of my comfort zone it might as well be outer space, I was going to do everything I could to nail that pitch, secure the building and get Mrs Davis’s romance library off the ground.

And now I’d set my mind to it, no one, not even a sexy rich guy named Theodore Eaves, was going to stop me.

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