55
Everest stopped into the bookstore that evening shortly before Sara’s shift ended. She knew that he knew she would be there, but he behaved as if running into her was a coincidence, leaning casually against the counter and asking, “Got any book recommendations?”
She was sitting behind the counter about a third of the way through a thriller set during the Cold War. She slid the book toward him.
“Could be fun to lose yourself in the threat of nuclear annihilation.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Sounds cheerful.”
“Positively lovely to dread the end of the world, rather than expect it.”
He picked up the book and looked at the cover. A rather ridiculous drawing of a man in a suit looking furtively over his shoulder. “You think this man would want to think the future he was fighting for woul
