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But John shakes his head. “I know what you’re going to say. And I don’t know. It just happened. For years, people have dropped off old books they don’t want. I’ve sold lots in the shop, and replaced them when they go. I couldn’t bear to get rid of any of them. Books should never be thrown away, or banned, or burned.” He picks up a paperback sitting on his table and waves it at us. “This is freedom, right here.”

“I agree,” Mitch says. “Totally. But… we need to talk about the future.”

John sighs and puts the book down. “Yeah, I know.”

Mitch leans forward again. “This is a really difficult conversation for me to have, Grandad. I was really hoping I’d be able to make the place manageable for you so you could still live there and work a few days a week.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Are you sure? With regular physio, and exercise, you could get a lot better…”

But John shakes his head. “It’s time for me to move on, boy. To pass the baton on to someone else. I want you to sell it.”

Mitch looks at the floor, holding the mug in his hands, and doesn’t say anything.

John looks at me and smiles. “Don’t suppose you want to buy a bookshop?”

I give him a pained look. “I wish. That would be my dream. I don’t know the first thing about running a business, though.”

He sighs. “Well, I’m sure someone will want it.”

“Of course they will,” I insist. “It’s such a great location.”

“Vix had an idea for all the books,” Mitch says, and he proceeds to tell John about the grand sale.

John’s eyes light up. “That would be a great idea. It would be wonderful to know someone was using them.” He looks into his mug. “The bookshop was everything to me and your grandmother. I hope you manage to find someone who appreciates it.” He looks away, out of the window. He’s getting emotional, his eyes filling up, and his chin trembling.

Mitch glances at me, his brows drawing together. I give him a pitying look. This can’t be easy for him.

“But life goes on,” John continues, looking back at us. “Nothing stays the same. I’ve been thinking a lot about it over the past week. And I’m ready to sell. I’m just sorry I can’t be there to help you sort it out. I know what it must look like. I never meant to let it get so out of hand. You can get rid of everything in the flat. All the boxes, all the furniture. I have everything I need right here. The library’s not bad, and Vix is a good girl and brings me any other books I want. And I have my Kindle, too.”

Mitch’s eyes widen. “You have a Kindle?”

He picks it up from the table and shows it proudly. “Vix helped me choose one, and she showed me how to order books and load them onto it. It can hold over two thousand books! That should keep me busy enough.” He chuckles.

Mitch smiles. “I never thought you’d want a Kindle.”

“I do prefer a real book,” John admits. “But they’re so expensive in New Zealand, and ebooks are much cheaper. The Kindle’s great for fiction. I just like to have coffee-table books in the flesh, so to speak.”

“Last week I brought him a bird-watching book,” Vix says. “So he can spot all the birds that come to visit him.”

“I’ve been trying to write them all down,” he says, showing us a notebook. “But I’m having to write with my left hand, so it’s a bit scruffy.”

We stay for a few hours, and continue to talk, about books, birds, and life in the home. Mitch asks him a few more questions about what he’d like him to do in the bookshop, but John just waves his hand and says to use his initiative.

As it gets closer to lunchtime, Mitch says it’s time for us to go, but promises his grandfather he’ll come back in a couple of days.

“Whenever you want,” John says. “I’m fine here, boy. Don’t feel you have to keep coming up.”

“I’d like to visit while I can,” Mitch says firmly. He bends and gives John a big hug. “It’s good to see you,” he says huskily.

When he draws back, I give John a kiss on the cheek. “See you soon!”

“Yeah, all right, love. Very good of you to visit.”

We wave goodbye and head out.

Mitch doesn’t say much as we go down in the elevator and cross the atrium. It’s only when we’re out in the sunshine that he blows out a long breath and admits, “That was hard.”