Chapter V Part I
I can handle it
It felt strange locking the door behind Sidney and staying in the empty shop. Kyle had said goodbye shortly before, even if she wasn't sure when he'd left the shop. She had been too distracted from her own worries. And how all the explanations about the bookstore system had made her head spinning. But even if she longed for peace, something was still on her list. Grace went upstairs and made tea while she microwaved her dinner. Then she went to Evellyn's office with everything. So far she had kept the door between the stairs to the attic and the television out of her mind. It had been the one thing Evellyn hadn't been kidding about. Her office had been off-limits to her. And when she was working in it, the door stayed shut unless it was something really important. It had been her routine to sit down with the books right after the shop closed before starting to cook dinner. That discipline had been the clearest indication that Evellyn was part of her family. Her grandmother and mother had also always stuck to their work routines and the children had to support them. Now opening the door to this room and just going inside was a strange feeling. She would probably have knocked beforehand if her hands weren't full.
The office was simple and the smallest room in the house. Except maybe the bathroom. The walls were covered with filing cabinets, there was an armchair in one corner of the room and a desk just to the left of the door. An older computer was on the table. Folders had been placed on the keyboard. As if someone had laid everything out for work. Grace's fingers tightened on the handle of her mug as she walked towards it. After she put everything down, she picked up the portfolio. As soon as she flipped through it, she realized that it was last year's financial reports. Neatly filed, every expense and income noted. She felt admiration for her great-aunt's meticulous work. It was really in the family that everyone somehow ended up in the corporate world. Or run their own company. Like Evellyn and Melody. She slowly sat down in the chair while she was already looking at the past few months. The shop was in the black. And not bad. That was also due to the café, which obviously had a good clientele. And Kyle seemed to be doing his job well too. At least that's what she had to accept, because everything had been entered by her aunt. Two months ago she had paid off a small loan. But even in that time she had already started to put in small reserves and had used the months without debts to be very frugal. It was noted for the month before last that she had made a closeout sale. Perhaps that explained why the warehouse had looked so tidy when Sidney showed it to her. The more she delved into the store's reports, the more there was a deep admiration for her aunt. She had done this alone all these years. Although she also found the address of her financial advisor, she had mostly only forwarded the documents to her so that she would not have to do the taxes as well. Felicia decided to go looking for the bank records. She went through the files shelf after shelf, but in the end only the locked filing cabinet remained. Grace returned to the desk to search the drawers. At the end she found a key hidden under envelopes. And it fit in the filing cabinet. With a satisfied smile she found the documents and stacked them on the desk as well. She actually already knew from Mr. Steel that the accounts were funded, but she couldn't shake the urge to take a look for herself. Her heart started beating a little faster at the thought and she felt herself getting uncomfortably warm for a few seconds. She liked Mr. Steel and didn't think badly of him, but she had to make sure everything was okay. That was her right. Relief swept over her like a cool breeze when she saw that the last bank statements were what she had felt. It was easy to see how much money she had left from the shop, because Evellyn had strictly separated business and private life. She'd even paid herself a monthly salary, and the expenses indicated that she'd really only used the store's money to get things for work. Everything else had gone through her personal account. With a deep breath Grace leaned back. A heavy load seemed to fall from her shoulders. It seemed as if Evellyn had done everything to ensure that she would not inherit a mess.
She made sure that you can carry it on afterwards.
The thought stabbed her chest. That was the truth. Everything was ready to be taken up and continued by a new owner. She stared motionless at the papers in front of her. The fact that her food and her tea was now cold again did not get through to her at that moment. There was just this feeling that she must have let her aunt down very badly. Why she? Why you of all people? She hadn't cared how the shop was doing, what Evellyn was doing. Her thoughts had always been with herself. Grace wanted to scream in anger. But she couldn't. The anger didn't come out of her, but boiled inside her. As she always did. Grace rubbed her eyes wearily when her gaze finally fell on her food. With a sigh, she neatly put the papers aside before taking her plate and going back to the kitchen.
