The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(76)

She smoothed back her hair and straightened her wrap dress. When she was especially out of sorts, she liked to wear something with lots of color. The bright pink-and-purple pattern usually lifted her spirits. But it wasn’t working today. She addressed the front of the envelope and tried not to sigh. She had hoped to meet BWK in person, but it was never meant to be. Still, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to have a conversation with someone who loved these old books as much as she did. That was something she hadn’t known since Mr. Perrault, and she missed it.

The phone rang and Alice reached over the desk to lift the receiver.

“Alice Augustine? This is Peter Chatham from city hall. I wanted to let you know that your petition for an emergency injunction was approved by the court. Construction has been halted on the ScreenStop store.”

“Oh. Thank you for letting me know.” Alice cleared her throat. She should sound happier. Or not. It was clearly a complicated situation.

“I’ve already notified the owners that they won’t be able to complete work on the premises until the injunction is lifted. The court date for review is December first.”

“December? That’s three months away.”

The man let out a sigh. “Yes, both sides usually like to have plenty of time to gather evidence. You’ve sued to prove the zoning laws were bypassed and you want them to be enforced. They will need to be able to produce the necessary applications and when they were approved and by whom. These cases usually take years to be decided.”

“Thank you,” Alice said slowly, and put the phone down. When she’d filed the petition she hadn’t been thinking of years of this battle. She’d wanted the store to somehow magically move somewhere else. But now the store may just sit there empty for months and months. It might be more of an eyesore now than if it were actually finished.

Bix came through the front door, whistling something jaunty and upbeat. “Hello, sha!”

“Mornin’, Bix. How was Casablanca?”

“Oh, it was just the way we remembered it. So romantic. It put Ruby right in the mood and it wasn’t even morning time.”

Alice pretended she hadn’t heard that last part. “I’m just sending a book to the man who runs the Browning Wordsworth Keats site. Just think, The Duke’s Secret will be rediscovered by thousands.”

“Well, that is a mighty fine thing.” He took off his hat and started to unbutton his coat. “I’ll be able to download it as soon as it’s up.”

“But don’t go crazy with all these downloads. Even ninety-nine cents adds up when you buy a few hundred books.”

Bix pulled the e-reader out of his pocket. “I’ve already got fifteen hundred.”

Alice put her hand to her mouth. Bix was on a fixed income and Ruby didn’t come from money, either. “Just in the past few days?”

“Well, some are free. But Paul told me he linked it to his account, so anything I buy comes out of his pocket. He said to get whatever I wanted.” He slipped off his coat and hung it on the hook.

Alice crossed her arms over her chest. “And so you did.”

Bix looked up, surprised. “Of course I did. The man has more money than he knows what to do with. If he wants to help feed my reading habit, I won’t argue.”

She said nothing for a moment. It was true that Paul had plenty of money, but that didn’t seem right. “Are you sure that’s what he wanted?”

“I tried to refuse but he said it was already set up.” Bix flipped open the case and touched the screen. “He’d already downloaded a bunch of different things for me. He said he didn’t know what I’d like but thought it would get me started. Some of ‘em look like those books from the Browning site you keep talking about. Beau Geste is on here. And there’s a lot of old science fiction I used to read when I was a lot younger. But there’s James Patterson and Louis L’Amour, too.”

Alice peeked over his shoulder. It did look pretty nice, the way the books moved across the screen like they were on some sort of literary carousel. The covers were bright and clear. She reached out, tapping one called The Story of San Michel by Axel Munthe.

“I read that one already. Fascinatin’ stuff. Some old doctor wrote about his life on a tiny island in the Mediterranean at the turn of the century.” Bix looked up. “Sounds duller than dirt but I’m tellin’ you, I could hardly turn it off.”

Alice smiled. “I’m so glad you get to read again.”

“I don’t know how to thank him. He’s given me back somethin’ I never thought I could have again.” Bix’s brown eyes filled with tears. He shook his head. “Look at me. A crazy old man cryin’ over some stories.”

Alice’s throat closed around the words she wanted to say. She’d thought people like BWK were rare, but maybe in his own way, Paul was a little like him. “I understand,” she said, squeezing his hand, feeling the warmth of his papery skin under her fingers. He’d brought joy to Bix in a way that she couldn’t, and she was so grateful.

“This might not be the right time, but I don’t know what is.” He sighed. “I don’t want to be tellin’ you how to run your life.”

“But you’re going to.” Alice braced herself. She respected Bix. Beneath all the offbeat habits and the marital TMI, he was a man who had the wisdom of having lived much longer than her.