Page 15

Jude

“Wow.”

Jude couldn’t help saying the word out loud as she bent over the glass-enclosed bookshelf at the back of the Gottliebs’ living room.

No one else in the crowded room seemed to care, but Richard and Ashton had a shockingly good collection.

The Next Chapter didn’t deal in rare or collectible books, but Jude had some sense of how much a first edition could go for, and the bookcase in front of her held easily half a million dollars’ worth of books.

Moby-Dick, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, Atlas Shrugged …

It seemed like they had practically every classic American novel, many with the original dust jackets still intact.

Jude wished she could examine them, but she didn’t dare open the glass doors.

“Go ahead,” a woman’s voice said. “No one’s watching except for me.”

Jude straightened up, startled. The voice belonged to a white woman in a long purple shift dress covered in elegant blue, green, and gold beading reminiscent of a peacock. She had gray hair and a kind smile on her face.

“I was just admiring their collection,” Jude said, feeling awkward about being caught.

“I think it’s a travesty,” the woman said. “All of these famous books, locked up where only two people can see them. And they never take them out, either. They just like the having of them.”

“Well, I suppose they’re a little too valuable to read,” Jude said, eyeing the cracked brown spine of The Scarlet Letter.

“I think books are meant to be read and shared, don’t you?”

“Definitely,” Jude said. “I’ve never understood the point of buying books just to collect them. I love the way well-read books look on a shelf.”

“I agree. I love a torn, waterlogged paperback the best.” The woman smiled. “I’m Nina Maguire. I run the Gala Literary Foundation.”

Jude actually gasped. Gala was the queer literary organization. “You’re kidding!”

Nina laughed. “People don’t usually get that excited about literary foundations.”

“The work Gala does is incredible. Anytime I see a Gala Award seal on a book, I know it’s going to be phenomenal. The book that won the literary fiction category last year? I think about it constantly. The way it interrogated the intersection of gender and longing…That book changed me.”

Nina nodded seriously. “The committee debated about that for a long time. Half the people wanted to give it to that book about the gay businessman. But I fought tooth and nail.”

“Are you on the committee ?” Jude was standing in a room full of famous theater people, but this was the best celebrity sighting yet. “As your actual job ?”

“Well, not every year. It rotates. Most of my job is fundraising. But I’m always surrounded by books, which makes it worth it.”

Jude shook her head. “That is so cool.”

“And what do you do?”

Jude told her about The Next Chapter and the foundational queer texts display she’d just finished putting up. Nina seemed delighted and promised to come by the store to see it.

“And are you a bookseller for life, do you think?” she asked.

“Oh. Well. I don’t know. I, uh.” Jude paused. “I never meant to be. But I love The Next Chapter.”

Nina nodded kindly. “Well, I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but the director of our emerging writers grant program is leaving us soon.

We’re planning to start looking for her replacement in a few weeks.

It’s not a glamorous position—a lot of paperwork, a lot of slogging through applications.

But the director helps pick which new queer writers we give the grants to. ”

“Wow,” Jude breathed. “So many of your recipients have gone on to become incredible novelists.”

“Exactly.” Nina winked at her. “Maybe you should apply for the job.”

“Me?” Jude nearly laughed. “But I have no nonprofit experience.”

Nina shrugged. “You know the queer literary world. That sounds like plenty of experience to me.”

“I—Wow. I don’t know what to say.”

“Think about it.” Nina reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. “If you decide to apply, send me an email when you see the job listing go up. I’ll make sure you get an interview.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Nina smiled at her, then melted off into the crowd. Jude stared down at the business card in her hand, trying to convince herself it was real. Had she actually just been offered a chance at a job at the biggest queer literary organization in the United States?

Not that she could take it, of course.

She couldn’t leave The Next Chapter. Abandon Rhys and Talia and L.J.? Abandon her mother’s dream? Let the store become another cookie-cutter Book City with all the personality of an airport newsstand? It was out of the question.

Still, she tucked the card carefully into her wallet. It was nice to be asked, even if she couldn’t do it. Nice to imagine other possibilities, just for a little while.

She had just finished putting the card away when someone grabbed her arm. She spun around and found herself face-to-face with Kat, who was beaming and flushed, her eyes glinting gleefully.

“Come on.” She wrapped their fingers together, the touch of her skin making Jude’s melancholy mood burn off like a morning fog. “I want to show you something.”