Page 51 of Secrets in the Stacks

“So did Ted Bundy.” Rarity took a bite of her fritter. “I just don’t trust him.”

Sam finished her fritter and threw away the bag. “I’ve got to go open the shop. I made some crazy necklaces last night that I want to stage today. I think people are going to love them. And don’t worry, I’ll get the cookies.”

“I could have asked Darby,” Rarity realized. “I’m not used to having help around here.”

“You just missed me. We should do a girls’ night soon. Maybe after this whole murder investigation is over. We can invite the crew,” Sam said as she walked to the door. “Bye, Killer. Take care of your mommy.”

Killer barked his goodbye, and then Rarity was alone again. She finished her fritter and checked her email. She had two yes responses from people about the Thursday night class. Archer had said she could fit him in when she needed to, so with these two, she had almost a full month of events, and she could start marketing the first event for January right after the holidays.

She was just updating her calendar and had responded to the two emails when she heard the doorbell announce an arrival. “Welcome to The Next Chapter. Feel free to look around.”

“Thanks, I will. Can you point me in the direction of your true crime section?” an unfamiliar male voice asked.

Rarity looked up and smiled at the older man. He was dressed in what businessmen who spent their lives in suits tended to think was casual. New jeans and a polo shirt. He looked familiar. Maybe he’d been here for the festival. “Over to your left. Next to the thrillers. Let me know if you’re looking for something specific.”

She finished her promotional artwork and saved it. She’d let Darby take a crack at improving it before she sent it off. Maybe Holly too. The girl was a computer genius, but her hobby was graphic design.

She took a sip of her now cold coffee, deciding to dump it and grab a water. The customer was still at the bookshelves looking at titles, so she popped into the back to switch out to water. When she returned to the front, he was standing at the counter, two books sitting in front of him.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were ready.”

“I tend to get lost in my decisions, but these two will work.” He pulled out a roll of cash. “How much do I owe you?”

She rang up the books, putting a bookmark in each before slipping them into a sack. She gave him the total, and he handed over three twenties to cover it. As she counted out his change, she asked, “Are you in town for vacation?”

“Family business, I’m afraid.” He took the money and carefully tucked it back into his wallet. “You have a nice store here. Are you the owner and operator?”

“Yep. This is mine. I have a part-time employee, but mostly it’s just me. Well, and Killer. He’s a paid mascot. Although he only accepts his payroll in dog biscuits.”

The man looked over and smiled when he saw Killer sleeping by the fireplace. “Well, only the most discerning of us know what exactly we are working for, correct? Some of us think it’s money, when really, we need the companionship or even an excuse to get out of the house.”

“And for some, it’s climbing the corporate ladder.” She thought about her past life in St. Louis.

When he turned back to look at her, shock on his face, she smiled and explained.

“Sorry, that was my story. Before this, I worked in marketing for a large corporation. I kept going for the next step. One more promotion and I’ll be happy. One more pay raise and I’ll be just where I need to be.” She glanced around the shop. “This isn’t a corporate job, and I don’t have any room to grow in my job title, but I love working with books. And people like you, who love books.”

He nodded and picked up his bag. “Like I said, the smartest of us know why we’re working. Looks like you’ve got it all figured out.”

“Cancer tends to clear up any false dreams.” She hurried to clarify as his face started morphing into that pity stare, the one she hated so much. “I’ve been clear for over a year now. It’s just that the diagnosis was a clear wake-up call for me. And a lot of people I know who are facing an uncertain future.”

He smiled and patted the counter. “You’re a wise woman and lucky you found your path.”

She watched as he turned around and left the shop. A lot of people were better at small talk than she was. But when you accidentally had a deep and meaningful conversation with a perfect stranger? That was the best. Still, there was something familiar about the man. Maybe he reminded her of an old boss? She put the question aside. Typically these things tended to come to her when she wasn’t thinking about them.

Rarity went through the stack of the advance reader copies and chose one to take over to the couch to read while she waited for the next customer, or Darby, or maybe even Archer. It was time to carve out a little Rarity time that she could totally classify as fun work. If she loved the book, she’d do a “staff recommends” sticker and put it on the counter with the other books she’d read and loved in the last six months.

In this moment, life was good.

Chapter 21

The book club had been talking for thirty minutes already. Sandra and Erin, the members who weren’t part of the sleuthing group, had come, said their piece about the current book, then were ready to leave at the first break. Rarity wasn’t sure why they were still part of the club, except they had really good insight into the books they read. And it wasn’t like they were against the sleuthing part of the club; they just weren’t interested.

Rarity had insisted that the sleuthing part of the book club be up front, at least to the members. Then new members could make a decision to participate or not. Most of the time, the group just read and talked about books. The murder rate in Sedona was pretty low and none of the group wanted to drive to the next town just to ‘solve’ a murder of someone they didn’t know.

Drew knew that the club sometimes talked about, and looked into, local murders, like Catherine’s. However, as Sam had said, he thought they were ‘cute’ in some of the methods they used, like reading the journals. But honestly, the group had good instincts with problem solving so she wasn’t going to stop them from their work. Unless it became dangerous. Which was what Drew worried about.

Darby headed to the counter to help Erin, who had picked up some books to buy before leaving. Rarity stretched, pulling the whiteboard closer so they could start talking about the Doyle investigation. Shirley had printed covers for their notebooks last week. The front of each book had a clear covering, and you could change up the cover as much as you wanted. It was cute.

---