Page 64 of November

“Mine?” Maisie laughed a little. “Well, I don’t want to be the family member who ruined the legacy by losing the shop.”

“That’s the shop, though. I meant you, Maise.”

Maisie turned her face to her and said, “Well, I’d like to get married one day and maybe have kids. I’m not entirelysold on that part yet, though. They’re a lot of work, and I’m not getting any younger.”

India laughed and replied, “Tell me about it. I’m almost forty.”

“What about you? What doyouwant?” Maisie asked.

“Same,” she said. “And maybe travel.”

“Travel? Where?”

“I like warm, sandy beaches,” she said. “But I also like the trips where I explore museums and cities.”

“I haven’t really been anywhere,” Maisie shared. “Well, a few places, I guess, but my life has always revolved around New Orleans.”

“Who knows? Maybewe’llgo somewhere one day.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Maisie said with a smile.

CHAPTER 17

“Night before the election. Want us to come over and hang out?” Lainey asked as she shelved a book.

“No, I’ll be okay. The commercial is running three times: twice tonight and once tomorrow. Was that smart? With that donation I got, I was able to put all the money toward that, and I chose twice today, but maybe I should’ve run it three times tomorrow.”

“I think it’s good. Twice today means you’ll get to the people who vote early tomorrow morning, and once more tomorrow means you could reach the ones who haven’t yet.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But I’m second-guessing everything today, including this shirt. Is this shirt okay?”

Maisie was behind the counter, so Lainey turned to her, looked at her shirt, and gave her a quizzical expression.

“It’s just a white shirt, Maise.”

“I know. But is it okay?”

“For what? You’re working in a bookstore. I think it’s fine,” Lainey told her. “Hey, where did that donation come from, again?” she asked before she returned her attention to the bookshelf.

“It was anonymous, but I can make a guess.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lainey replied.

“Mr. Barnard,” Maisie said.

“India,” Lainey said at the same time and turned around to look at Maisie in surprise. “What? Mr. Barnard?That’syour guess?”

“He’s been in a lot more than usual recently and actually asked me about the campaign right before the donation came in. He’s an old guy with some money, and he had a big crush on Grams. I thought… You think it was India?”

“Uh… Yes. It wasobviouslyIndia. Mr. Barnard? Come on.”

“She wouldn’t have just donated to my campaign. She’sbeen helping, but she wouldn’t just drop that kind of money on someone she hardly knows.”

“Someone she’s dating,” Lainey said, stopping with the shelving and walking over to the counter. “And it’s notthatkind of money to her. She’s rich. That might have been pennies to her.”

“She didn’t say anything,” Maisie replied.

“She might have thought you wouldn’t take it coming from her. Youarestill dating, right?”