Page 40 of Death in the Romance Aisle

As Shirley worked with the moms and kids, and Jonathon worked at a table on the other side of the shop, Rarity sat in the middle, writing down people who might have benefited from Janey’s death. On top of that list was Cara, her roommate who’d inherited Janey’s money, house, and dog. And her sister. Trish might have thought she’d be Janey’s heir. And maybe one ofthem was wrong.

Rarity wrote the wordTrustin the middle of her page. Then she grabbed her cell and called Drew. She left the register and caught Jonathon’s gaze. She pointed to the back room, and he nodded that he understood where she was going. When Drew answered, he didn’t wait for her greeting.

“What’s wrong?Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just had a question. You might not be able to tell me, or maybe you can. Either way, I think it has something to do with Janey’s death.” Rarity waited for a signal to go ahead. Drew was conflicted on giving her information because he thought it put her in harm’s way. In a way, she was already there. Whether she wanted to be or not.

Drew must have thought the same thing, because he didn’t disagree. “What do youneed to know?”

“Who gets the trust money when Janey dies? Is it her sister or Cara?”

He didn’t answer at first. Then he sighed. “You know, I don’t know. I’ve got an appointment with the family lawyer today at ten. Maybe he’ll be able to tell me. I know Cara thinks Janey transferred the house and the trust to her so she could take care of Whiskey, but maybe the trust was set up so her share just went back into it for Trish if she died.”

“That was what I was thinking today,” Rarity agreed. “I was doing a ‘who benefited’ brainstorm, and the idea just hit me.”

“Where are you?” Drew’s voice sounded wary.

“At the shop.”

“Alone?”

Rarity laughed. “Drew, I haven’t been alone since I was hit the other day. Your dad is here. Archer transferred me over to him as soon as we got here. Shirley’s teaching the Mommyand Me class.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid and go out back or take Killer fora walk, okay?”

“I’ve been informed that both of those items are off my list. At least if I’m alone.” She glanced through the back door into the bookstore and met Jonathon’s gaze. He’d been watching for her to come back. “Look, I’ve got to go. Let me know if you can. I think Trish isn’t off the hook until we know about the money. And maybenot even then.”

“I agree. And surprisingly enough, as a trained investigator, the idea was already on my list to explore.”

“Fine, I’m an amateur, and I’m putting my nose where it doesn’t belong. I get it.” She leaned on the doorway. She could see the back door, front door, Jonathon, and even Shirley when she stood still from thisvantage point.

“I wasn’t saying that, but sometimes I think you don’t trust me.” He said something she couldn’t hear. He must have had his hand over the receiver. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. Stay safe, okay? I’ve got enough on my worry list. I don’t need youon there too.”

Chapter 16

Nothing happened to Rarity on Wednesday. She finished her day, talked to an overly excited Shirley about the next book on the list, and congratulated Jonathon on his word count for the day. Tomorrow, she’d do it all again. But Caleb would be here instead of Shirley. She smiled as Archer came into the shop. “Today was a good day,” she announced as he walked backto the counter.

“Who’s here with you?” He looked around, and then Shirley popped out of the back and headed out to the club meeting area.

“Jonathon just went home. He left during Shirley’s class and got us lunch. Then we ate, and Shirley told us all about the new moms in her group. She’s really loving this. Then she took on shelving the new books, and Jonathon went back to his project. Then he packed up and left. He had a meetingin Flagstaff.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Archer didn’t push.

Rarity wouldn’t have told him about Jonathon’s project or what meeting he was going to anyway. But he didn’t even ask.

Shirley packed up her tote bag. “I can’t believe it’s so late already. I’ve got to run and see George and tell him all about today. He’s going to be amazed at all the stuffI’m learning.”

Rarity and Archer watched as she headed to the door. “I’ll see you Saturday morning.”

“If not before,” Shirley called back, and then she was gone.

The bookstore was quiet, and Rarity let out a breath. “That woman is a ball of energy. She sucks all the energy from the room, then shoots it back out at people, covered in pink and red donut sprinkles. She lights up the entire store when she’s here. The moms love her. She holds court for at least an hour after the session is done. And several of the moms tell me how much they’re learning about raising a baby when they buythe next book.”

“The job has been good for her and the community.” Archer reached down to rubKiller’s head.

Rarity was closing up the register as she talked. “This energy wouldn’t be happening if Janey was running the group. She didn’t have the experience that Shirley has. One woman told me it was like having her mom around to ask questions. I guess her parents had died a few years ago. Everyoneloves Shirley.”

“As it should be. The woman’s amazing. And this is with her worrying about George all the time. I think this job is helping her as much as she is helping others. She needed this, Rarity. Thank you.”

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