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Plus a few days in the city might be nice. See some people, that sort of thing. It wasn’t that serious. Besides, what else did he have to do?
Nothing, that’s what. He had no goals, no place to be. He didn’t have a fucking clue what he wanted to do with his life. Did Gary have the answer? Doubtful, but wouldn’t it be prudent to hear him out?
Besides, I don’t have any place to be or do. Oh wait, I already said that, didn’t I?
He’d left Wall Street for good reasons. Valid ones that hadn’t changed. Had he changed, though? He didn’t feel like the guy who had left New York City only a few days ago.
“Gary, I need to check my calendar. Can I call you back?”
12
Lucy was unpacking a box of books and stacking them on an endcap display when her former English teacher, Mr. Hayes, walked into the store. He’d retired a few years ago, and since then had come in regularly to pick up a mystery novel or two. He didn’t come in as much in the summer months since the weather was nice, but in the winter he was there each Monday morning like clockwork.
“Hello, Mr. Hayes, enjoying the warm weather?”
“Lucy, you know you can call me Dale, right? I’m not your teacher anymore.”
He’d said it several times, but…
“It seems weird,” she admitted with a laugh. “You’ll always be Mr. Hayes to me.”
“I think this is a battle I won’t win so I’ll stop trying. So please tell me there are some new mysteries for me. I’ve gone through all of the ones that I purchased last time I was in. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting in the backyard reading and watching the birds at the feeder.”
“I do,” she said, placing the last book on the display. “We have the new S.S. Cooper book Murder in the Tower you’ve been wanting. I placed a copy behind the register just for you.”
The older man’s lined face split into a grin; his cheeks rosy. It looked like he’d been given a fantastic Christmas gift.
“I was hoping but I didn’t dare ask. This is wonderful news. I can’t wait to read it. Have you read it yet? Am I going to like it? No, no, don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.”
“I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t give you any information on it. But if it’s as good as the last several, it’s going to be amazing. Are you looking for anything else today?”
“I’d like to get a couple more, although they’ll have to wait. I know what I’m going to read first.”
She and Mr. Hayes walked together to the mystery section where she pulled out several new releases for him to look at.
“Mr. Hayes, was Sarah one of your students?”
Lucy wasn’t sure why she was asking, but Sarah had been on her mind today after seeing some of the people they’d gone to high school with at the wedding.
Hayes’ lips turned down at the corners and he sighed before answering.
“Yes, she was. Sweet girl. Bright and curious. I think she could have done much better academically if she’d applied herself. She was intelligent, that was clear to see, but from what I understand she had some things going on in her life that kept her from really buckling down.”
“What things?”
Lucy was genuinely curious what Mr. Hayes might be talking about. Her former teacher appeared uncomfortable with the question, however, avoiding her gaze and shifting from foot to foot.
“I don’t know for sure. I mentioned Sarah once to one of the other teachers. She said not to bother trying to talk to Sarah. That there were home issues at play, and none of the teachers wanted to deal with Sarah’s mother and stepfather. Apparently, they were…combative, let’s say, and less than interested in their daughter’s education. In my experience, when a parent isn’t involved in a child’s academics there often isn’t anything that we can do to help the student.”
“I knew that Sarah didn’t get on with her stepdad.”
“I think that was common knowledge,” Mr. Hayes agreed. “There was some talk in the teacher’s lounge that Sarah was also partying quite a bit as well. If she was running with the wrong crowd, that might be why she disappeared. I hope the sheriff is looking into that.”
“I know that he’s planning to talk to her parents,” Lucy replied. “And I guess we probably all partied a bit back then.”
He gave her an odd look, snapping one of the books shut and placing it back on the shelf.
“You went to that club, too? I’m kind of surprised about that, to be honest. Did your parents know?”
