Cassie puts down the phone, her heart pounding. I am making a horrible mistake. Things have gone from bad to worse. How did she let herself get in this situation? It was so stupid. And now it just keeps getting worse and worse.
All she wants to day is lay her head down on the desk and sob. Or throw herself off the Brooklyn Bridge. The former wouldn’t solve her problem, but the latter would.
Maybe she should level with Zoe. Confide in her how bad things have gotten. But what can Zoe do? She’s in worse financial shape than Cassie is.
Well, no. That’s not true. Zoe is poor, but she’s not in debt.
The door jingles again, and this time, an elderly woman with a puff of white hair and glasses makes her way to the counter. Cassie squares her shoulders—this feels like a sale. At the very least, this woman isn’t buying medical textbooks. If she is, Cassie will definitely burst into tears.
“Hello, young lady,” the woman says. “I was just wondering… do you buy used books?”
Cassie hesitates. Usually the answer is yes. But she has no expendable cash right now. So unless these books are very cheap, the answer will be no.
“I’ve got two boxes in my car,” the woman says. “I don’t want much for them. Really, I just want them to have a good home.”
“Okay,” Cassie says. She has a hard time saying no to people. “Let me take a look.”
She likes the idea of books having a good home too. That’s why she wonders what will happen to the books in the store if Bookland were to close. The bookcases might get sold, but the books probably wouldn’t— that’s the whole problem. So what would happen to them? Would they end up in a dumpster somewhere?
She cringles at the thought.
Cassie pushes those terrible thoughts aside as she follows the woman outside to where the old white Chevy is parked at the corner. The car looks almost as old as the woman. She waits patiently as the woman pops open the trunk and reveals two boxes stuffed with books.
“Please have a look,” the woman tells her.
Cassie bends down over the first box, prepared to thumb through a few volumes and offer a token price. But the second she looks at the first title, her mouth drops open.
These aren’t just books. These are Easton Press books. Easton Press books are like the classic cars of the book world. And these books have been very well preserved. She picks up a volume of Huckleberry Finn that is in mint condition. She’d guess the book is worth at least a hundred dollars, if not more.
“My husband used to collect books,” the woman explains. “He died in June and now I’m moving out of our house in Long Island to a senior community. I don’t have room for his books, but I know he’d want someone to have them. He loved his books.”
“Yes,” Cassie breathes. Her heart is pounding in her chest.
“How about twenty dollars for both boxes?” the woman says. “Or is that too much?”
Cassie can’t believe her luck. If she sells these books online, she could make… well, not enough to get out of debt, but enough to fix the worst of it. It’s like an angel was sent from heaven to answer her prayers. But then she lifts her eyes to look at the old woman. She’s got this beat up car and a coat with a large rip in the fabric. This woman is not rich. If Cassie takes these books from her without telling her what
they’re worth, she could never forgive herself.
“I…” Cassie’s voice cracks. She knows once she tells this woman the truth, she can’t take it back. She’ll have missed her chance. “I have to tell you, these books are worth a lot of money.”
The woman’s eyes widen. “But they’re just old books!”
Cassie slowly explains about collectible Easton Press editions. When the woman realizes what she’s got on her hands, her face lights up. Cassie was right—money is tight for her too.
They work out an arrangement. Cassie takes the books and agrees to sell them online for a ten-percent commission. She didn’t want to take even that, but the woman insisted.
The ten-percent commission will be nice, but it won’t change Cassie’s situation. Things are still just as bad as they ever were.
No, she has to go through with this.
