The Ex by Freida McFadden(60)

Please say no. Please say no.

Lydia stares at her for a moment, as if considering her offer. She hesitates, her eyes growing sadder by the second. “No,” she finally says. “But… thank you.”

“Any time,” Cassie says.

Cassie hurries back to the store, but she’s still thinking about Lydia. The woman always seems so together, but in that moment, she seemed like she was falling apart. Then again, Lydia doesn’t need Cassie’s help. She’s got plenty of her own friends—namely, Francesca. And Anna, of course. But in that moment, Cassie would have thought Lydia didn’t have a friend in the world.

Zoe is perched at the door when Cassie returns. She’s already got her coat on as well as that funky pink hat with the brim. Zoe got the whole outfit at a thrift shop last week. She invited Cassie to come along, but Cassie didn’t have any money to spare. Even thrift shop money.

“You mind if I grab an early lunch?” Zoe asks.

“Sure,” Cassie says. “It’s not like we have any customers.”

Zoe’s eyes suddenly light up. “You know what would bring in customers?”

Cassie frowns. “No erotica.” They had discussed it several times and Cassie wasn’t going to budge.

“No, I’ve got an even better idea.” She pauses to build the drama while Cassie braces herself. “We should have a petting zoo.”

Cassie’s mouth falls open. “A… petting zoo?”

“Just a small one,” Zoe quickly amends. “Like, a few rabbits, a chicken… maybe a small goat.”

“A goat?”

“We’d put a diaper on the goat, of course,” she says, rolling her eyes. Of course.

“Zoe.” Cassie dog-ears a page in her book and puts it down. “I’m not letting a goat in our store. It will make a giant mess.”

“No, it won’t. That’s what the diaper is for.”

Cassie doesn’t know what to say to that. “We’re not having a petting zoo in the bookstore. That’s a terrible idea.”

“Fine.” Zoe sniffs. “But at least I’m coming up with ideas. You’re just sitting there, reading…” She peeks at the cover of Cassie’s paperback. “Wuthering Heights? God, how many times can you read that book?”

“It’s my favorite book. It’s the greatest love story of all time.”

Zoe crinkles her nose. “What’s it about?”

“It’s about this man named Heathcliff,” Cassie says. “When he’s a child, he falls in love with a girl named Catherine. But they can’t be together, so he spends his life getting revenge on everyone who belittled him and kept them apart. And then when she dies, he begs for her spirit to remain on Earth—she may take whatever form she will, she may haunt him, drive him insane—just as long as she does not leave him alone.”

Zoe looks just as horrified as Cassie did by the idea of a goat in a diaper. “That is the greatest love story of all time? It sounds like a story about a psycho who gets obsessed. Sounds like my ex, Jack.”

“You have to read it to understand.”

Zoe shrugs. “Maybe I should write a story about how Jack followed me into the ladies’ room at that bar. Maybe that’ll be the new greatest love story of all time.”

Cassie rolls her eyes and doesn’t try to convince her further. Zoe just doesn’t get it. She doesn’t know about Bea and Marv meeting at that subway platform and bonding over the lost copy of Wuthering Heights. She doesn’t understand that kind of love. And while Cassie has never experienced that kind of love herself, she knows it exists. She longs for it.

When Zoe goes out for her lunch break, Cassie finds herself distracted from her favorite book. She’s thinking about Joel. If someone told the story of their courtship, would they call it the greatest love story ever told? Yes, he bought Wuthering Heights from her, but it was a gift for his mother. Then he asked her out on a date, and… well, they find each other attractive. They have a good sex life. They exchanged keys. He’s a Hot Doctor. He’s sweet, funny, responsible, and intelligent. He ticks off every box.

No, it’s not the greatest love story ever told. There have been no great romantic moments in their love story. It’s nothing like the greatest love story of all time—the book that brought Grandma Bea and Grandpa Marv together. But they’re good together. They’ve exchanged “I love you’s,” even though every time Cassie says it, she’s never quite sure if she means it.

The store is quiet now. Not one customer—that’s the whole problem. And now she’s in a bad situation, without many options.

“Tell me what to do,” Cassie whispers to the silence bookstore. “Grandma Bea?” She pauses. “Grandpa Marv?”

There is no response. The bookcase doesn’t open up a giant mouth and start dispensing wisdom. She still doesn’t know what the hell to do.

“Excuse me? Miss?”

Cassie hadn’t even heard the customer come into the store. She wipes her hands on her jeans and flashes her most friendly smile. She needs to make a sale. Selling anything would make her feel better. Since the New Year, things have been abysmal. And those gift cards that seemed like such a great idea back in December mean people are coming in here and leaving with books but not giving her any money.