I paid forty-two dollars at the wooden front register for a folded historical map of Pitkin County and walked back toward the mountain history shelves.

Lucas stood near the back aisle, holding a heavy hardcover titled *Structural Load Systems and Cantilever Design*.

“That book is meant for college engineering students, Lucas,” I said, stepping up beside him.

“The diagrams explain bridge supports,” Lucas said, scuffing the toe of his right shoe on the carpet.

“It shows how weight spreads out evenly under heavy winter snow loads.”

He closed the heavy textbook slowly, keeping his index finger tucked into the middle of chapter four.