Page 58 of When the Angel Falls First

There was a pause on the line as I tried to think of my next words, but I couldn’t figure out what they should be.

Fred answered before I had to. “I’ll be right there.”

In that instant, a weight lifted and I had to keep my knees from buckling. Thank you wasn’t enough, but it was all I had. My voice broke as I said, “Thank you, big bro.”

There was a pause, and I waited on tenterhooks for whatever chastising might come next. But it didn’t. Instead, he chuckled.

“You make the coffee. Lots of it, little sis.”

I watchedas Fred rifled through my disastrous accounting records with a furrowed brow. He sat at the small desk in the back room of the Bookish Cat, surrounded by stacks of paper and an empty coffee cup that had seen at least three refills in the last hour. I hovered anxiously nearby, wringing my hands and biting the inside of my cheek.

Fred picked up a document and squinted at it through his glasses. “Josie, this is your 1120-S tax return. It says here you elected S-corp status?”

I swallowed, my throat suddenly parched. “It looks that way.”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression. “And you know this means you’re a pass-through entity, right?”

A pass-through entity?I thought, my anxiety spiking.

Fred, noticing my blank expression, sighed and massaged his temples. “That means the corporation’s income, deductions… everything has to pass through to shareholders for federal tax purposes. Have you identified yourself as a shareholder in the business?”

My mouth opened and closed. No words came out. This was as good as Greek to me.

“I… I don’t know, Fred. I thought I was doing it right. I filed with the state. That should be in the pile somewhere.”

Fred ran a hand through his hair, clearly exasperated. “You still have to file the necessary tax forms for your personal return. Where’s your Schedule K-1?”

I shrugged, blinking back the tears. “I don’t know,” I whispered, “I thought I could do this on my own.”

“Everyone uses a CPA, Josie. Coffee shops, hair salons, even CPAs use CPAs!”

I looked down at my shoes, fighting the burning tears threatening to spill over.

When I looked up again, Fred’s stern expression softened. My hands were trembling. He took off his glasses and studied me for a moment. “Josie,” he said in a softer tone. “Strong-headed, emotionless Josie. What’s happening to you?”

I somehow managed to meet his eyes. “Strong-headed? Emotionless?”

“That’s how you always made us see you. There was no convincing you of anything, ever. You remained aloof unless you were biting our heads off.”

“That is not true…”

Except it kind ofwas.

Fred and I stood staring at one another, perhaps for the first time realizing how out of control things had become. He’d said things he shouldn’t have, but so had I.

“Hey, sis,” he said in the big brotherly tone he hadn’t used in years. “We’ve got time to figure out the past. Right now, we’ve got a bookstore to save. And I’m going to help you do it.”

Thank God.I resisted the urge to bawl in my big brother’s arms by nodding quickly and tightening my fists at my side.

He let out a quick exhale. “Come here, you crazy kid.” He pulled me into a bear hug that I’d needed all day. All week.

Actually, I’d needed it for years.

“Now,” he said, fitting his reading glasses back in place. “We’ve got some serious paperwork to do.”

“Right. I’ll get more coffee!”

He looked at me over the rim of his reading glasses, and I swore I saw a smile sneak onto that stern big-brother face.

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