Page 12 of Once Upon a Beast

“That’s my hope, anyway,” Del said. “I have a feeling I’m going to be helping over at the bookstore more than usual for a while. At least until the roof gets fixed.”

“Sounds like you’re about to be stretched a little thin.”

She shrugged. “I don’t mind. It’s how we do things around here.”

Isaac studied her as she picked a burr from the hem of her shorts, adding another quality to his Del observations: selflessness. Had he ever met anyone so willing to give without mention of payment or recognition in return?

If only he’d taken a chance on someone like her instead of Katrina—there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that things would have turned out a whole lot differently. He’d still be out east, enjoying work as usual, his amazing apartment, the coworkers he missed, and that awesome dog park for Louie. But he hadn’t; he’d chosen wrong.

And then he and Will had made it worse, trying unsuccessfully to correct the social media misunderstanding on their own.

Now Isaac was stuck living in an ugly, outdated home in the middle of nowhere, his life on hold and career under the table. Needless to say, he was in no hurry to get into another relationship. Nor could he risk it, given his current circumstances. Which meant it was probably for the best that the hours he’d be working with Del were numbered.

The less temptation for him to throw caution to the wind, the better.

Chapter Four

“Twenty-five grand?” Deldropped onto a chair at the bookstore. “You can’t be serious.”

Aunt Faye shrugged. “That was the inspector’s professional opinion.”

Del ran her hands through her hair. Where the heck were they going to come up with $25k? She’d expected to hear they would need a chunk of change, just notthatbig a chunk.

“Then get a second opinion, because that guy is crazy. There’s no way it’s gonna cost so much to fix the roof.”

“Technically, you’re correct. That’s the price for a new roof, which is what our store desperately needs. It also includes a tear off of the existing roof—which has apparently been patched over three times—disposal of the old material, and repairing suspected rot problems in three areas because of leaks we hadn’t even seen from the ground floor yet.”

Del cringed.Rotwas definitely one term no one wanted to hear. She’d had to mitigate some of that when remodeling her own home, and yes, that tended to get expensive. This also meant they needed to get a move on with this new roof before the rot spread. With winter and the end of construction season only a few months off, the clock was definitely ticking.

“What did Thomas say?”

Faye sighed. “What I expected the town’s finance man to say: that Bourbon Falls doesn’t have that kind of money lying around. Worse yet, the storm caused some damage over at the park as well. They’re starting to wonder if a small tornado didn’t form as it moved past downtown.”

“So they’re going to fix stuff at the park but not our roof?”

“The park doesn’t have tenants who can help foot the bill like this building does. Besides, we need a safe place for the kids to play.”

Del growled in frustration. She wanted to argue both points, but knew it was no use. Thomas Knoblocker might have been the most frugal controller who’d served in Bourbon Falls, but the guy was sharp as a tack. He also had the board in his back pocket, which meant what he said went.

“And our insurance?”

“Won’t cover this. I already asked.” Faye offered her a sad smile. “Sweetheart, Brooks Books did everything your mother had hoped it would for this town and then some. Bringing back the love of reading to families in this area, tutoring those who struggled with reading. It’s had a good run, but maybe it’s time to start thinking abo—”

“No.” Del rose and leveled a stern look at her aunt. “We are not closing the bookstore. Not now, not ever. We just…need to find a way to come up with twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“Delaney.”

The sound of her aunt’s soft voice nearly broke her. It was the tone she reserved for sharing the worst of news. When her mother passed. Her grandparents.

Del’s gaze shifted to the entranceway, with its sunny storefront and season-inspired display case. To the shop’s rustic brick walls, to row after row of books. To her late grandmother’s handmade braided rug in the children’s section, where they hosted story time each week. Memories of her family were ingrained in every inch of this store, and she refused to let them go.

“We are not giving up yet.” Del started for the backdoor, needing to escape Faye’s defeated look before it became contagious. “Wewillfind a way.”

Del stepped out into a wall of humidity and felt her stomach begin to revolt. It was all too much. The storm damage, waiting all day for news about the inspection, and now the bad news. She rushed to a nearby garbage can and lost her dinner. The stench was vile, but the following feeling of weakness bothered her most of all. Because she wasn’t weak, and she refused to bow to these circumstances.

But twenty-five grand?

She dragged a hand across the back of her mouth and made for her truck. There was a bottle of Scope in the center console, kept handy for moments like this. It’d been a while since her last anxiety overload, but unfortunately this was just how her body reacted to overwhelming news. At least this time there had been no witnesses.

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