The man still couldn’t find the words to speak to her—this woman whom he was still so unsure about. His mind flitted back to that black office, to that lamp in her hand, to moments before, when he’d awoken inside the boxy, narrow interior of the incinerator.
But the woman continued, saying in the same soft tone, “I’m sorry,” and her voice was so different from before, not at all like that of the woman who had bashed him in the head.
Not quite like the woman he’d been coming to know over the past few weeks, either. The woman he’d been coming to love.
No, it was somewhere in between. And he didn’t know what that meant. But it was enough to finally make him lift his eyes.
As soon as he looked at her, their eyes met and held and exchanged a message of . . . a better future. Or the possibility of one. The possibility for a future together, a future all the prior Lucas and Everlys had missed. The woman extended a hand. “Come on,” she said, the smallest of smiles beginning to tilt up her lips. “We have work to do.”
Yes, the building decided as Luca Reyes took the hand of Everly Tertium. This is going to be fun.
Acknowledgments
First comes thanks to God, for, well, for everything, but specifically right now all of my thanks for imbuing me with a creative spirit and filling me up with these stories I can share.
So many thanks go to my parents, Jeff and Twila Miles, who have always encouraged me to follow my dreams and do what I love. I want to thank my dad for always believing in me and being excited for my small achievements. And my mom, who was the first person to ever read a draft of this book all the way through—thanks for not giving up on me after reading that terrible draft, Mom, and for sticking with me and this wild book through to the finish line.
I’m gonna throw out a thanks to my four darling siblings as well—Carl, Jeffery, Felicia, and Madison—none of whom are readers, and who have each, on individual occasions, told me they probably wouldn’t read my book, but they’ll watch it if it ever gets made into a movie. Love you guys, and I love that you support me, despite not sharing my bookish passions.
Thanks also need to go to my cousin Amanda, who is my science fiction soul sister through and through. Thanks for always being up for nerding out with me, and thanks for your constant enthusiasm.
I also want to thank some of my nearest and dearest friends: Jessica Schultz, Carsyn Bernhardt, JJ Ward. You might not realize this, but I really couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for listening to my endless rambles about my ideas for this story in its way early versions, and for always getting excited for me and my writing, and for being so over-the-moon thrilled when I got this book deal. Thank you for being some of this book’s first supporters.
A million thank yous need to go out to the entire CamCat staff, who have changed my life in more ways than one. Thank you Helga Schier, one of my editors, for your insightful feedback at the beginning that helped me see my blind spots for my own story and helped mold it into something I can be proud of. And thank you Kayla Webb, my other editor, for taking the time to help bring my characters and their stories better to life. Thank you Elana Gibson as well, for your behind-the-scenes editorial work and help with this book, and for all you do on the acquisitions side of things: thank you for being part of the team who decided to take a chance on The Building That Wasn’t and bring it on. I also really want to thank Laura Wooffitt, both for the time and care I know she puts into marketing and promoting every single one of CamCat’s books, but especially thank you for the time and care she’s given me. I’ve learned so much from you, and I’m so thrilled to know my book is being introduced to many readers by the work of your hands. Thank you also to Bill Lehto for your patience in walking through contract logistics with me, and for all you do in ensuring our books will be printed and out there for people to buy. Thank you to Maryann Appel for her absolutely stunning cover design; it’s the perfect cover, Maryann, in every way. Thank you to Meredith Lyons for your hard work in helping my book to become its final product, to Gabe Schier and Jessica Homami for the effort you put into social media and the podcast, to MC Smitherman, Camryn Flowers, and Nicole DeLise for the ways in which you support this team and keep everyone afloat—and sane. And last, but most definitely not least, thank you to Sue Arroyo, CEO of CamCat Books, for believing first in me and then in my book and for pursuing this dream that now allows so many others’ dreams to come true.
And also thank you thank you thank you to everyone I couldn’t list, because writing out all of the friends and family who have been supportive over the years could take up an entire book, and I doubt anyone other than myself would actually want to read that. But I still appreciate each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart.
And finally, thank you, dear reader, whoever you may be. I’m the kind of reader who always loves turning to the acknowledgments at the end, and it always fills me with joy to see the readers of the world being thanked. So, here’s my thanks to all of you: Thank you for finding this book, and for picking it up, and for reading it all the way to the end of the acknowledgments. Thank you for taking a chance on this story. Just . . . thank you.
About the Author
Abigail Miles decided to dedicate her life to stories from a young age, leading first to majoring in creative writing in college and now to spending far too much of her time attached to her computer, composing stories and books. Abigail currently lives in Boston, where all her time (or very nearly all her time) is spent in some combination of writing books, reading books, baking, eating said baked goods, making tea to go along with said baked goods, drinking said tea while eating said baked goods and writing and/or reading said books. Sometimes she does actual work, too.
In 2021, she was part of a Tin House Workshop and has had short fiction published through various platforms, including Cold Mountain Review, Strange Fictions, Bending Genres, The Quiet Ones, Marathon Lit Review, and Bookends Review. The Building That Wasn’t is her first novel.
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The Mechanics of Memory
Audrey Lee
Never Forget
“Come with me,” Luke said. “Before it all disappears.” He leaned across the kitchen counter and pushed at the lid of her laptop.
Hope swiveled in the turquoise kitchen stool, feet hooked in the rungs. Luke moved through the sliding glass door and onto the tiny patch of uneven concrete in the backyard, black Nikon hanging from a worn leather strap off his right shoulder. Hope watched as he pointed the camera at the sunset, then turned to aim the lens into the house, fingers focusing.
“Don’t.” Hope covered her face with a laugh. “Yuck.”
“Then get over here.” He waved at her. “It’s magnificent.”
Hope slid off the stool and grabbed two lowballs and a bottle of single malt from the counter.
The desert sunset was spectacular. Shimmering sheets of fuchsia and amethyst were splashed across the scarlet sky, palm trees and rough mountain peaks silhouetted against it. And above their outline, a moon so luminous it may well have been dipped in gold, hung lower than seemed possible.
Without meaning to, Hope reached out to touch the moon.
“Didn’t I tell you?” he said.
She smiled. “You did.”
Luke snapped more photos, from every conceivable angle and with every possible lens attachment. He paced the length of the yard, barefoot, camera case knocking against his hip.
