Page 31 of Dying to Read

“Oh, Gretchen’s group. We love the puppies coming in. The next day, that’s all the residents can talk about.” She reached out her well-manicured hand with red nails. “I’m Cindi Kennedy. I’m the marketer for the facility. My job is to find everyone in town who needs our help. One festival at a time.”

Rarity shook the woman’s hand and introduced herself. “I own the local bookstore, the Next Chapter. So do you mostly find residentsat festivals?”

Cindi laughed and swung back her hair with a twist of her head. “Oh, heavens no. This is mostly community PR. You know, to keep our name out there so if something happens they think of us. I also visit church groups and community charity events. Sadly, most of our referrals come from the hospitals. Grandma falls and has been living alone, and we find out she has a hundred cats with her. Those sorts of situations. I’m good friends with all the local social workers.”

Rarity could see Cindi acting like she was someone’s friend, even if it was a bit of a transactional relationship. “I had one question after visiting Sedona Memory Care. Do people get better and leave?”

Now Cindi looked sad. The woman had a ton of emotion showing on her face and seemed to switch from one to another like she was trading masks. “Hardly ever. We have a strict screening process. We don’t want families warehousing our senior population. So they’re pretty well into their diagnosis by the time they land withus. However…”

Cindi paused, and Rarity could see she was thinking about something or someone. Was she going to verifyMalia’s story?

“Sorry, I need to work my magic.” An older woman walked by, and Cindi grabbed a flyer and bottle from the table. “Good afternoon. Have you heard about SedonaMemory Care?”

Rarity had been dismissed, and Killer was pulling on his leash away from the booth. He wanted to continue their walk. She tucked the flyer and sanitizer into her pants pocket andkept walking.

Maybe Malia hadfound a clue.

Chapter 12

Rarity left Killer home later when she came back from her break that evening to work with Katie. The dog looked worn out, and he didn’t even lift his head when she grabbed her tote. The afternoon had been almost as busy as the morning. Rarity had asked Shirley to stop by the bookstore tomorrow and fill a box with kids’ books before she came to work the booth. Shirley had warned her that with Easter coming up, there would be a lot of demand for children’s books, but Rarity hadn’t realized how much demand. Next year, she should plan to have a children’s author come in and sign at the booth. Ormaybe several.

She made a note in her phone app to check into the idea next week. Maybe there was a festival still coming up this year that she could match with an author signing. She’d talk to Katie when she got to the tent. Lost in thought, she almost missed seeing Terrance out on his porch, waving at her. She stopped at the walkway and waited for him to join her.

“Can I walk with you to town? I’m heading to work at the home to finish up the repairs on the security system. Now that no one’s actively messing with it, I’m almost finished with my work there. Of course, I’ll come back in monthly to do checks, but I think I worked myself out of a full-time job.” He glanced back at Rarity’s house. “Where’s the big guy?”

“I left Killer home. Being outside all day wears him out.” Rarity thought about the security system issues. “Question, do you think Jully was the one messing with the system?”

“It’s the fresh air.” Terrance reached for her tote bag, and she gave it to him. It was old fashioned, but Terrance was an old-fashionedguy. “As far as Jully, I don’t have any proof, but like I said, somehow, I’m not having to redo all my work every day sincehe was killed.”

Rarity digested the information. Of course, telling Drew would put another bull’s-eye on Terrance’s back. Instead, she didn’t look at her friend and asked, “So howare you doing?”

“I’m not in jail. That’s a good thing,” he said as they paused for a car to drive by. “I guess I should be grateful. George is stuck in the locked ward. He’s going crazy in there. I went by and they let me visit him since I seem to be able to calm him down. He wanted to see Lizzy. He’s worried that something is going to happen to her like thatother woman.”

“Lizzy went out to dinner with her sister the other day. They were talking about her leaving the facility.” Rarity turned to Terrance. “You’ve met her, right? Do you think she needs to be in a memory care unit? According to Shirley, it’s hard to get in.”

Terrance didn’t answer for a few minutes. Finally, he shrugged. “I don’t see the same type of memory issues in Lizzy that I do in George and the other patients. But I’m not a doctor. I don’t know what the criteria for admission are or the symptoms of the diseases they deal with. I do know that woman can throw a fit with the best of them. I’ve had several girlfriends who had thesame ability.”

“I’m wondering how she got into the facility and if she can leave anytime.” Rarity paused as a bike sped around them.

“Those my dear, are questions above my pay grade.” They were at the edge of the park. He handed her tote back to her and pointed toward the east. “I’m going this way unless you need me to deliver you to your booth.”

Rarity took her bag and smiled. “I think I can find my way. Be careful. There are a lot of people out and aboutthis weekend.”

“Same to you.” He glanced at his watch. “How long will you be here? Do you need an escort home since you left without your guard dog?”

“He’d love hearing you call him a guard dog.” Rarity laughed at the image. “But I’ll be fine. I close up the booth at seven tonight. Then I’ll be back tomorrow. Books make greatEaster gifts.”

“I’ll be at the home until ten. Text me when you get home. I’ll worry.” Terrance kissed her on the cheek then headed off to his job.

“You and every other male in my life right now,” Rarity mumbled as she made her way through the crowd. The town council had brought in a local carnival with rides and food trucks. The local teens were out in force. She kept getting waves and “Hi, Ms. Cole” from a lot of the kids who were in the store’s book clubs. As she walked, she realized how many people she knew this year compared to the last festival she’d participated in. She was becoming alocal herself.

When she got close to the tent, she saw that Cindi had been replaced by the nurse she and Archer had talked to the night they’d taken the dogs around to visit the patients. She waved as the woman looked bored out of her mind. “Hi, I’m Rarity Cole. We were at the nursing home withthe puppies?”

“Oh, I knew you looked familiar. But then again, a lot of people do. Cindi’s on a break for dinner if you need information. I’m supposed to hand out these flyers and hand sanitizers to anyone who even looks this way. I’m not as social as Cindi.” She stood and walked over to where Rarity stood. “I’m Lee Marks. I know, it’sa boy’s name.”

“It’s pretty. So you’re filling in?” Rarity wondered if she even talked about work due to the privacy laws.

“Yeah. Sally asked me to come here first before I went to the facility. She’s paying my night shift nurse salary for me sitting here. I guess there are worse ways to make a buck.” She rolled her shoulders. “The facility is finally getting back to normal now that Jully’s out of the picture. Worst junior administrator ever. You could never find him when you needed a decision but if you made it without him? You were always wrong. I’m so glad he’s gone.”

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