Page 4 of Secrets in the Stacks

Drew pulled back and held the tent door open for her. “I want to find out what happened. Don’t you?”

“Of course, but it’s obvious. She must have seen Brook with another girl. He’s the guy she has a crush on. Darby’s so shy. I knew this was going to happen.” Rarity followed him into the tent, to find a confused Carson collecting her tarot cards that were scattered all over a five-foot-by-five-foot section of grass, while Holly stared at the tent entrance in shock. “Okay, maybe not obvious at all. Carson, what happened?”

“Sure, now you ask,” Drew mumbled.

Rarity gave him a dirty look as she moved closer to help pick up the cards.

“Carson, why was Darby so upset?” Rarity repeated her question and started picking up the cards that had been scattered.

Holly spoke before Carson could answer. “She drew a Death card. I tried to tell her it was a literal death, or nonliteral? I always get that confused. Anyway, it doesn’t always just mean a physical death. It can be the loss of a friend, a change in a person’s life, or even just the end of an era. She just mumbled something about her grandmother and went running off. It was a bit spooky for all of us.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid she put a totally literal spin on the reading of the cards.” Carson stood and took a piece of grass out from between two cards in the middle of the deck. “Anyway, I know you wanted a reading, Rarity. Can we do it now? I’d like to grab some dinner. I’m starving.”

“Of course.” Rarity looked at Drew, who still had Killer’s leash. “Do you want to hang around for a bit?”

“Go ahead. I’ll watch the dog.” Drew slipped into one of the folding chairs. Drew was almost as attached to Killer as Rarity was now. If Drew’s parents hadn’t been living with him, Killer would have been Drew’s dog instead.

“I’m all yours, then.” Rarity turned back to Carson. “Can I help you with the table?”

After they got the tarot reading area set back up, Rarity sat and waited.

Holly brought her a bottle of water. “We’re all out of trail mix, but I have a few chocolate bars that I tucked into the fridge if you want one.”

“You had me at chocolate.” Rarity took the water and downed half of it. When Holly brought back the bar, she asked, “Do you have to work tonight?”

“No, I worked Sunday night so I could have tonight off. I’m a couple of weeks away from finishing the police files, then I go to the water department. I’m sure I’m going to die of boredom before those files are scanned and completed.”

Drew snorted. “You’re not supposed to be reading the police files when you’re scanning them.”

“I don’t. I just happen to see things. At the water department, it’s going to be all accounting stuff.” Holly opened her candy and broke off a bit to offer to Drew and Carson. When they both refused, Holly popped it into her mouth.

“Happen to see things, which means you are reading the files.” He shook his head. “You need to be careful. Sometimes you’ll see things you can’t unsee.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Holly asked.

“Listen, can the two of you either go outside or be quiet? I want to start Rarity’s reading.” Carson paused, but when neither Drew nor Holly left, she sighed. “Okay, be quiet it is. Rarity, cut the cards three times.”

Carson had just finished Rarity’s reading when another person entered the booth.

“Sorry, we’re closing up for the night,” Holly called from the back of the tent, where she was setting the chairs in little groupings.

“I’m just here to walk home with Rarity. But it looks like my place is already taken.” Archer reached out his hand. “How have you been, Drew?”

Drew stood and shook hands with Archer. Then he handed over Killer’s leash. “I’m just here puppy sitting while Rarity gets the wisdom of the ages revealed to her.”

“Hey now,” Carson warned. “I’ll tell the spirits you’re a nonbeliever. They can get a little testy when their wisdom is being made fun of.”

Drew held up his hands to fend off any attack. “I didn’t say you weren’t hooked in with the spirit world. Living in Sedona, I know weird things are possible.”

“Yeah, like Rarity being an alien,” Archer supplied as he picked up Killer and put him in his duster jacket’s pocket. The dog loved to ride in there as Archer and Rarity walked.

“Stop calling me an alien. Someone’s going to hear and take it seriously.” Rarity tucked some money in Carson’s tip jar, then moved to greet Archer. She put her arm around him and smiled at Drew. “Sorry, private joke.”

“You two are too cute, but all of you need to get out of here. Carson’s hungry, and I said I’d go to dinner with her. So I need to close up the tent.” Holly put her hands on Drew’s and Archer’s shoulders. “We can catch up later.”

When they were outside the tent, Drew paused, then focused on Archer. “Hey, would you mind calling Darby’s grandmother? Darby kind of freaked out and took off. I’d like to know she made it home.”

“You worry like an old woman,” Archer teased, but something in Drew’s eyes made him pull out the phone. “Hey, Catherine, is Darby home?”

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