Gift of Fire

market last month. Turned out it had some value. I advertised it in a little antiquar ­ ian booksellers’ catalog and within a few days a man in Colorado phoned to say he wanted to buy it. I’m going to deliver it to him next week while I’m on vacation.”
    “You’re going to take it to Colorado yourself? Isn’t that service above and beyond the call of duty? Why can’t you just mail it to the man?”
    “He wants it hand delivered. He told me he doesn’t trust the mail and this book is very important to his col ­ lection. He’s been looking for it for some time, Ι gather. At any rate, he considers my trip expenses to Denver part of the purchase price of the book. He says he prefers not to travel.”
    “He’s paying your way?”
    Mercy nodded as she finished totaling the sale. “He said I was to fly first class, but of course I won’t. He’s being generous enough as it is. I’ll fly to Denver and rent a car to drive to his place in the mountains. I get the feeling it’s quite a remote location. He’s invited me to stay at his place for a couple of days. After that I’ll take a leisurely trip through the Rockies and end up back in Denver. I’ll fly home from there.”
    “Hmm. This sounds interesting. Young or old?”
    “Who?”
    “Your customer,” Christina said impatiently. “Is he young or old?”
    “Oh.” Mercy wrinkled her nose slightly, thinking. “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. He sounds very charming on the phone. Has a great voice. Cultured, if you know what I mean, but I can’t tell how old he is for certain. Maybe somewhere in his forties.”
    “A little old for you, but not too far beyond the realm of possibility. A woman has to be flexible these days.”
    Mercy smiled. “Whatever his age, he’s definitely not too old to spend a fortune on a book. He had the money wired into my account yesterday.”
    Christina burst out laughing. “You’re too young to let money replace romance in your life.”
    “Don’t you believe it. Running a small business ages a person in a hurry. The money he paid for Valley is going to pay the rent on this shop for several months. What’s more, he hinted he might be talked into throw ­ ing in a couple of books from his private collection as part of the purchase price. I could turn around and ad ­ vertise them the same way I did the first one. I’d actu ­ ally be dealing for real in antiquarian books. That’s the classy end of the used book business.”
    “I can see it now:” Christina narrowed her eyes as if seeing a glowing sign in the distance. “Mercy Penning ­ ton, dealer in rare books.”
    “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Mercy acknowledged happily. “First editions, private printings, beautiful eighteenth-century bindings, copper plate illustrations. Definitely high class.”
    “Does that mean I’ll have to start shopping some ­ where else for my romances and mysteries?”
    Mercy laughed. “Not for quite a while. It takes a great deal of money and a lot of time to get into the rare book business in a big way: Even if everything goes well with the sale of this book I found I’m going to be selling paperbacks for a long time to come. The rare book business will be a sideline. For a lot of dealers it never gets beyond that point.”
    “Well, good luck to you. And enjoy the trip to Col ­ orado. Is Dorrie going to handle the shop for you while you’re gone?”
    Mercy nodded. “I think she’s looking forward to being in charge for a full week. I’ve never left her alone here for longer than a couple of hours.” Actually, that was an understatement. Dorrie Jeffers was positively elated at the prospect of running Pennington’s Second Chance by herself. After several months of part-time work, she was eager for the opportunity.
    “That’s exactly why you need this vacation. You treat this place as if it were your firstborn. You’re much too devoted to it. You need to get away from it for a while.” Christina took the paper sack full of books from the counter and turned to leave. “Have a great trip and drive carefully. Those roads in the Rockies are some ­ thing else.”
    “I’ll be careful.”
    And take a good look at your customer. Do yourself a favor. Try to see him as something more than a means of launching your new career in the rare book business. You never know. He might be a sexy recluse just waiting for the right woman to come along and take him out of the mountains.”
    “Somehow I doubt