Page 32 of Merry Murder Season
“Beth baked.” I hugged him. “I’ll wait for her to be off the phone. Do you want to take Emma with you? She’s been missing you.”
“I can do that, but I’ve got to go now. Thanks for bringing this up and for the patch. I can’t believe the Bakerstown guys missed seeing this. Of course, it could have been lost after the break-in, but it gives me a reason to chat with Dom again.” He took Emma’s leash.
“Great, another reason for Lille to hate me.” I hadn’t thought about it being a clue to a crime when Beth found the patch. I watched Greg and Emma jog down the street toward home. Even without a full eight hours of sleep, Greg had more energy than I did. Especially in the morning. I sank onto a bench, waiting for Beth to finish her call. From the tone of her voice, I didn’t think it was going well. But I tried not to focus on the words.
A lady came up and stood in front of me. “You run the bookstore, don’t you?”
I stood up and smiled. “Yes,I’m Jill King.”
“I came over last night but your store was already closed. Now the sign says you’re closed on Mondays too? When are you open?” The woman glared at me. “I only brought one book with me thinking that you’d be open. Especially with the holidays coming up.”
“I’ll be open at six tomorrow.” I tried not to remind the woman that the store wasn’t open twenty-four seven. That wehad lives too.
“In the morning?” Her eyes widened. “Does anyone comein that early?”
“Yes, a lot of people stop in for coffee on their way to work. The store will be open until nine at night, but we have book club tomorrow at seven. You may want to come.” I tried not to laugh as I told her about the book we were reading and sheshook her head.
“I’m not much for people. I just like books. I’ll be over sometime tomorrow. But not at six.” She walked away, still grumbling about my early open hours.
Beth walked up next to me and watched the woman leave. “Someone you know?”
“Nope. A customer dissatisfied with the hours the store is open. I guess she’s staying at one of the bed-and-breakfasts in town.” I tried to push the nagging feeling that I should be open on Mondays out of my head. I couldn’t be all things to all people. Even as much as I tried.
“Jill, the store hours are fine. You have a good mix of people working for you. Don’t stress about it.” Beth turned off her phone. “Jim wasn’t happy when I told him I was working at the bookstore. He said if I had time for that, I should just come home to my real job.”
“I’m thinking he was talking about the one at the church?” I nodded toward the other end of Main Street. “Have you seen the whole town yet? I’d love to check out all the holiday decorations.”
“I need the walk to burn off some of this annoyance. Why can’t he just love me as I am?”
I thought about her comment, and as we came up on the winery, I finally responded, “I think he loves who he thinks you are. Jim did the same thing to me. I was a home-wrecker in his eyes and he couldn’t get past that, even though Greg and Sherry were divorced before we started dating. He needs to understand that people grow and develop. Maybe he’s scared that you’ll outgrow him. Which is pretty insightful on his part since I think you already have. But don’t tell him that.Love is love.”
Beth giggled. “You are so bad. But I think you’re right. When I call him tonight, I’ll just tell him what I’m doing. And I’m scheduling a counseling appointment. He can be there, or we’re done. I’m willing to see him as the head of our family, but he needs to see me as a helpmate, not an employee.”
“You’ll still talk to Sadie on Wednesday, right?” I didn’t want to be the only voice in Beth’s head. Sadie would be able to understand Jim’s side much better than I could. I would have dumped him the first time he told me I couldn’t do or be something.
Beth nodded. “Don’t worry about it. I’m getting good counsel from all sides. I’ll make an informed decision.”
That was what I was worried about. But it wasn’t my place to say. We headed home to get the car so we couldstart our day.
Chapter 13
Tuesday morning around ten, the woman who’d complained about the store hours came into the bookstore. She nodded a greeting, then went right to the stacks. When she finally came out with five books, I offered her a coffee or treat to go with them.
“Coffee, please. My sister-in-law is dragging me to more tourist spots and I’ll need to be awake. I told her that we weren’t going anywhere until I visited your shop. Sorry I was a little grumpy yesterday. Being with her all week is going to be a challenge. But when she suggested the trip, I thought we’d be hanging out at the beach, reading. Instead, she stops at every historical sign and has a whole list of places we need to visit here. She’s already talking about doing the Amish area in Pennsylvania next year. I think I’m going to have to get a job to have an excuse not to go.” The woman pulled out her credit card. And then picked up a flyer that listed our open hours. “I’m sure I’ll be back. Thresa goes to her room right after dinner and I’m more of a night owl.”
“Where are you staying?” I grabbed a couple of cookies and put them into a bag. When she narrowed her eyes, I shook my head.“On the house.”
“South Cove Bed and Breakfast. The couple who run it are nice. He’s the one who told me aboutthe bookstore.”
“Bill and Mary have a great library if you run out of reading material and we’re closed. Mary loves sharing her books with guests.”
“Huh, I didn’t think of that. Of course, I saw the library, but I assumed it was off-limits. I don’t loan my books out at all. Sometimes I weed through and put books in the little library down the street from me, but I never let someone borrow oneof my keepers.”
I rang up her purchases and handed her back her card and the receipt. “I have a hard time letting books on my keeper shelf go as well. ButI have lots of room at home. Not an actual library, but my den has several full bookshelves. Thank you for coming in and not giving up on us.”
She blushed a bit. “I did buy a couple of ebooks yesterday, but I love reading print. Holding the book lets people know I’m busy and they leave me alone.”
“Catherine, come on. We’re going to be late for our first tour.” A blond woman came into the store and stood by the treat display case. “Ooh, those look good.”
