Page 2 of Dying to Read

“Archer’s busy tonight.” She hoped the hurt wouldn’t sound in her words. She wasn’t sure why his calling off dinner had hit a nerve, but it had. Probably a leftover Kevin issue. “I decided to cook. I’m doing a risotto with the salmon.”

“Sorry, my dance card’s full. The guys down at the vet hall have a standing poker game. We play on Mondays so Drew can attend. If you have a police officer sitting down with you, you’re less likely to be busted for illegal gambling.” Terrance tried to look innocent. Itwasn’t working.

“You’re so bad.” Rarity smiled despite herself. “Hey, can you watch Killer for me tomorrow? It’s book club night.”

“Of course. We’ll go over to my house and watch a movie. He’s partial to Marvel superheroes and you only have channels that feature DC superheroes.” Terrance leaned down and picked Killer up with one hand and put the dog on his lap. “You can retrieve him anytime yourclub’s over.”

“As long as I’m not interrupting your bonding time,” Rarity clarified. She pulled out a cookbook she’d brought home from the bookstore and flipped through it until she found the rub recipe she’d been thinking about. “I haven’t seen a lot of you these last few weeks. Stayingcool inside?”

“I have a job.” Terrance rubbed Killer’s neck and the little dog melted into him. “And I don’t want totalk about it.”

“Really. The neighborhood watch wasn’t keeping you busy enough? Or have you gone to the dark side and started bouncing at theveterans hall?” Terrance patrolled the neighborhood with a bunch of retirees who called themselves the Gray Patrol. Break-ins had dropped to almost zero in their neighborhood. Drew Anderson was using the group as an example to other neighborhoods on how to lower crime. It didn’t hurt that most of the guys in Terrance’s patrol team were ex-military who had come to Sedona for the rest when they’d retired. Then they’dgotten bored.

“I wanted a little more to do. Something to use my security skills.” He didn’t look up at her as he continued. “Don’t freak out, but I’m working over at Sedona Memory Care. They’ve been having trouble keeping their security system going. Someone keeps turning it off, so I’m there to stop it.”

“Sedona Memory Care. Where George lives?” George Prescott was Shirley’s husband and a patient. He’d forgotten most of their life together now, but Shirley still visited almost daily. Rarity knew Sedona was a small town, but this was pushing the line. “Are you crazy?”

“Rarity, I swear this isn’t because of Shirley. Or if it is, it’s for her. If George gets out and hurts himself or others, she’ll be devastated. I can’t turn my back on this. They need me.” Now he looked up and met her eyes. “Besides, he’s fighting with the assistant director. George seems to respond to me. We’re friends.”

Rarity stared at Terrance. She saw the pain in his eyes. “You realize that’s all kindsof messed up.”

Terrance was in love with Shirley. They’d started hanging out last fall, but she’d ended their friendship when Terrance made it clear he wanted more. Being married to George who was still alive, but not mentally there anymore due to his dementia, Shirley couldn’t deal with the feelings she was having for another man. It felt like cheating. Even though they hadn’t done anything physical, including a good-night kiss. In Shirley’s mind, she was married. Andthat was that.

Now, Terrance was not only working at the nursing home where George lived, but he’d also developed a friendship with the man. Shirley was going tokill Terrance.

“I know, but I can’t step away now. The nursing home needs me to find out why their systems aren’t working before someone winds up missing or worse.” Terrance turned his soda can in a circle. “Andwhen he remembers who I am, George is kind of a cool guy. I can see why Shirley loves him. In another life, we’d be friends.”

“Oh, Terrance. That’s so sad.” Rarity squeezed his hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He stood, draining his soda as he did. “Nope. I’ve got laundry to finish before I head out to the game. At least having a real job again keeps me busy. I’m going to grill a couple of these bad boys for dinner before I go. Sorry I couldn’t fill in for your guy tonight.”

“No worries. I haven’t finished the book club selection for tomorrow yet anyway. I need to at least skim the rest of it before we meet. Shirley’s caught me not reading the book too many times.” Rarity walked him to the door and watched out the window as he crossed the lawn between the two houses. Terrance Oldman was a good man, but he was playing with fire with this one. Hopefully, he’d fix the security system before Shirley found out her kind-of boyfriend was hanging with her husband at the nursing home.Otherwise, Rarity thought,Terrance was going toget an earful.

Shirley could be opinionated and strong willed. And easily hurt.

Rarity returned to the to-do list she’d created this morning. She’d already crossed off shopping and a swim. Rarity’s finger stopped at cleaning the house and then looked at the next item, finishing the book. She went to the bedroom to strip the sheets so she could get them in the laundry. Cleaning needed to be done. She was in a bad mood anyway. She might as well make the best of it.

* * *

The next morning, she arrived at the bookstore a few minutes before nine. Without Killer to walk with her, she was able to leave the house a little later. As they walked, the dog always had to stop for a smell, or a hundred. The two businesses on each side of her store, Madame Zelda’s fortune-telling and Sam’s crystal shop, weren’t open yet. Drop-in traffic didn’t start until late morning, sometimes until after lunch, especially during the first of the week.

Katie Dickenson hurried down the path and followed her into the bookstore. Katie was working on her master’s at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, but a lot of her classes were in the evening so she hadtime to work at the bookstore. “Hey, I was hoping to get here first. The store was slammed yesterday. I didn’t get all the closing tasks done before I had to leave for class. I hope you’re not mad.”

“I’m not mad, but you could have called me.” Rarity held the door open for her. “You would have saved me from cleaning my house.”

“I figured you were out with Archer. I saw his truck go by the shop at about three yesterday. Didn’t you guys go hiking?”

Rarity started turning on the lights. “We went on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My calves are killing me. But I was home alone on Monday, well, besides a trip to the grocery store. Next time you get swamped, call me. If I can’t come in, I’ll tell you.”

“Sounds reasonable. Anyway, the kids must have been out of school because I had several families who showed up after lunch. We need to seriously restock the children’s book section. I think they might have emptied it.” Katie tucked her bag under the counter and opened an energy drink. “Where do you want me first? Unpacking the boxes that came in? Or startinga book order?”

“Let’s get everything out of boxes and on the shelves before we start the book order.” Rarity looked around the bookstore. It looked normal, but she knew Katie was particular like her. She liked things to look perfect. Rarity only stressed about the doors being locked when she left. She’d put the store’s temperature gauge on a timer, so that was automatic now. “How are the bathrooms?”

“Honestly, I didn’t check.” Katie brought out a box of books. “Do you want me to goclean first?”

“No, I’ll do it. Keep an eye on the register while you’re checking these in. I doubt we get any walk-ins this early, but you never know.” Rarity went to the back room and pulled out the cleaning supplies, including a mop bucket, which she filled with hot, soapy water from the sink. She moved to the men’s first and quickly got that room cleaned and mopped. She propped the door open and taped a “Wet Floor” sign onthe doorjamb.

When she went into the women’s restroom, she found a book on the wash counter. She grumbled at the long-gone reader. “You couldn’t see the ‘Please Don’t Bring Books into the Lavatory’ sign?”

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