Page 13 of Dying to Read

“Don’t tell me you forgot.” Sam pushed her way into the house and headed to the kitchen. “No worries. I figured you’d run late so I’m early. Go get ready and I’ll pour us coffeefor the trip.”

“Good morning to you too.” Rarity closed the door and followed her friend. “Did we have plans?”

“Come on, Rarity. We go through this every month. You’re always too busy to go to Flagstaff for Yoga in the Park. Well, today, I know your morning is free. I called Archer and he assured me that you two didn’t have plans. In fact, he sounded weird. What’s going on with you two? Did you have a fight?” Sam pulled out two travel mugs from the cabinet.

“Why, what did Archer say?” Rarity had been ghosted in high school after junior prom. The guy had dropped her off at her house then never talked to her again. He hadn’t even tried to kiss her. At least he hadn’t gone to her high school; that would have been awkward. This was feeling a lotlike that time.

Sam turned around from filling the first cup. “Now you’re sounding weird too. He said that you two weren’t doing anything today and I should call you. Then he said he was busy and hung up. What’s going on?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” Rarity wasn’t going to cry over something that might not be happening. “Let me get dressed and we can talk in the car. I think some yoga and getting out of the house is what I need. Maybe lunch too.”

“I’m game,” Sam said. She didn’t push on theArcher thing.

By the time Rarity was ready, Sam had already filled Killer’s food and water bowls, let him out, and given him his favorite toy. Sam smiled as Rarity came into the living room. “Maybe he’ll be mad at me and not you whenwe get home.”

“Probably not. He has a long memory.” Rarity picked up the Yorkie and gave him a snuggle. “I’ll text Terrance and let him know I’m out this morning. He might swing by and take him on a walk ifhe has time.”

As they walked out of the house, Sam studied the house next door. “I didn’t know that Terrance was working at the nursing home until Friday night. Shirley ignored him until George came up and slapped him on the back. They act like they’rebest friends.”

“Yeah, Terrance is working on their security system. It keeps going down and unlocking the main doors. He worked in security in the navy.” Rarity didn’t want to comment on the Shirley connection. “I guess he and George hit it off.”

“Which is weird, right?” Sam backed out of the driveway and headed to the highway. “Tell me what’s going on with you and Mr. Perfect. I never thought the two of you wouldhave issues.”

Rarity blinked back tears. “Neither did I.”

She told her friend about the last few conversations. “I don’t know where we stand. He won’t tell me why he’s reconsidering, but I can see in his eyes that he still cares about me. Or am I fooling myself? I’ve donethat before.”

“You’re not fooling yourself. I wasn’t joking when I called Archer Mr. Perfect. He is that, for you.” She reached over and squeezed Rarity’s hand. “We’ll figure it out. I promise. Or I could give you Drew. He’d probably be alot happier.”

“Don’t even joke about that. You and Drew are meant to be. I know that. I was a shiny rock that he saw first.” Rarity wiped her face, hoping that none of the tears had fallen. “Besides, I’m committed to figuring out what happened to Archer and me. Maybe I’m a bad girlfriend.”

“Not possible. It’s never about us. Remember that. You’re the star of your own movie. Not the boys.” Sam glanced at the road. “Westill have thirty minutes. What else is going on? I don’t want to talk about the conversation Jonathon and I had about Drew’s blind date.”

“Someday, you need to tell me, but I’ll give you a bit. I know you. It might be entertaining.” Rarity took a deep breath, trying to push back the emotion.

“It wasn’t entertaining for Jonathon.” Sam laughed. “I’ll tell you someday. So what’s going on at the bookstore? Is the sleuthing club being called into service on Tuesday?”

“Does a bear…” Rarity began, but then she changed the subject. “First, I need to tell you about a book that showed upat the store.”

Rarity told Sam all about the book and how Jonathon realized it had belonged to Archer’s grandmother. “Archer confirmed it. At least it’s at the police station. I’ve looked up the approximate value of the thing, and I don’t want it in my shop or at the house. It should be in a museum somewhere under high security.”

“Andit showed up?”

“In the women’s restroom. What if someone had dropped it in the sink? Or in the trash? It could be sitting in Sedona’s landfill by now.” Rarity sipped her coffee.

Sam was quiet for a few minutes. “The weird thing is the book shows up at your bookstore. Especially since you are dating Archer. It’s like whoever left it wanted to get it back to Archer, but didn’t want him to know he or she had it. You’re like a property drop in those movies. Or those safe baby haven spots at afire station.”

“If the book was a baby.” Rarity thought about Sam’s statement. Maybe she was right. Everyone in town knew she was dating Archer. The small-town rumor mill ran rapidly here. She’d tried to keep the fact that he was reconsidering their relationship under wraps. Except Terrance had seemed to know Saturday when he came to walk her home. Whohad told him?

Rarity had told Terrance that their Monday night date had been canceled due to Archer having to work. But who had told him to show up on Saturday? It had to be Archer. Maybe he had asked Terrance onFriday night?

And maybe all this overthinking over a relationship wasn’t doing her any good. It was time to think about other things, like the expensive, antique book that had shown up at her bookstore. She alsoneeded to figure out who killed William Jully, although she thought everyone who’d ever met the man would probably be on the list.

Who didn’tlove puppies?

* * *

The trip to Flagstaff had been the distraction Rarity had needed. When Sam dropped her off, she’d gone straight to the couch and had called Killer over to join her. She had things to do, but after working out twice in one day, she didn’t feel like jumping into the house chores. She could do those tomorrow. It wasn’t like she had a date or something. She turned onthe television.

---