the front, using his keys, because they had another hour before opening. Judy raised her gaze from the computer at the cashier’s booth where she was once again making notes. “Good morning.” She scanned him up and down. “Hmm, casual Wednesday?”
Someone came out from the back. His heart kicked in his chest. Millie looked so sexy, so alluring he couldn’t speak. She reached them.
Judy added, “I guess it is. And you two match!”
Millie grinned and Finn grinned. And for a minute, his mother’s behavior, the store being in jeopardy melted away and all was right with the world.
* * *
After talking with the staff about the change in their relationship, Millie walked into the small rare book section of the store to update the contents. She unlocked the eye-level case and checked the inventory. Steinbeck had sold out. She didn’t have any more of his books in her stock, so she’d be sure to search for offers online. Zora Neale Hurston, a popular women’s author who wrote about racial issues in the early 1900s, was down to one copy left. She was about to lock the case, when somebody joined her. “Please don’t lock it yet.”
She turned to find a handsome man in his fifties. “I’d appreciate viewing the copies directly and not through glass.”
“All right. I’m Millie Morrison, and I handle the rare books section. I’ll have to watch, so you don’t touch anything.”
He held out his hand. “Jacob Wayne. And I think I can bear the company of a beautiful woman for a bit.”
She smiled, he smiled, and they spent fifteen minutes together talking about old books. He bought two for a few thousand over what she’d paid for them, so it was worth her time. She went back to the office to enter the sales and other information she’d gleaned and found Finn at the computer.
He leaned back in the chair, lazy and content. “Mr. Wayne is right, you know. You’re a beautiful woman.”
She glanced around. “Hush. We still need to act professionally even though everyone knows.” She nodded to the computer. “What are you doing?”
“I zoomed Hayley. We just finished.” His eyes were… troubled. They turned to almost jade when he was upset.
“Everything okay?”
“No. Bridget ambushed me this morning.”
“Already? It’s only ten o’clock.”
Getting up, he closed the door. “Can you sit for a few minutes?” She took a chair and he explained to her about the incident and Hayley’s birthday. “Objectively, I can’t believe a parent would treat her children like she does.”
“Finn, you’ve told me enough over the years and I’ve seen enough to know you and your mother are pretty much estranged.”
He leaned forward, closer to her. “I’ll tell you the background soon, but I have an immediate issue with her.”
“All right, but for the record, what she did today? It’s not how a mother should treat her son. I never would do that to my children.”
He sighed. “You know, every time Hayley and I decide we’re done with her, one of us relents. Usually me. Hayley’s going to email her and tell her she’ll consent to the party if it’s in New York.”
“So, the ball’s in Bridget’s court.”
“Yes, it is.”
“What made you want to walk to work?”
“Take a wild guess.”
Warmth spread through her. “Me?”
“Yes, sweetheart, you.”
Her eyes dilated. “You’d better leave the office.”
“Yeah, I think I’d better. All our decision making about our behavior at work is going to go right out the window in about two minutes.” He opened the door. “God, you look good.”
“You, too.”
* * *
At six, the tenants of the building met at a restaurant a few blocks away that one of them owned. Finn had secured a private room big enough for twenty-five people. They sat at small tables and Martin Silver, who in normal times ran the tenants’ meetings, stood up front. “Glad to see you all here. I know we’re concerned, a mild word for what I feel, about the sale of our building. I’ll turn it over to Finn Casella to update you on where we are.”
Finn stood. “We formed a subcommittee at the first meeting we had with the neighborhood. Some of you were able to make that one on short notice. Afterward, we met the owner, Jonathan Parks. Markham Managers gave them a proposal to buy the building for fifteen million dollars. But the offer has contingencies and since the deadline to close the deal is close, the sale isn’t final. They’re still taking bids.”
Murmurs through the crowd.
“We have a couple of choices.