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Thursday afternoon, Caleb showed up for his work shift. He looked like he’d gotten at least some sleep. The deep circles were gone from under his eyes, and the red had turned to pink. He smiled sadly as he came into the store. “I made it. I wasn’t sure I could do it yesterday, but I made myself get up and shower today. Janey wouldn’t want anyone wasting away because she’s gone.”
“Probably true. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I know losing Janey was a shock, but life does go on, and we honor those who don’t by living a good life while we’re here.” Rarity didn’t want to sound like a commercial, but since she’d survived cancer, she knew the value of life. And not to leave with any regrets. “So let’s get busy. I’m closing the shop midday tomorrow for Janey’s funeral. I probably won’t reopen until Saturday morning, so we need to be on point for Saturday’s book club today. And I hired someone to do the Mommy and Me club. Do you want me to transfer Janey’s elementary school club to someone else? Or do you want the extra hours? It’s up to you.”
“So I’d work every Saturday? I could do that. I need the money until I graduate. Then I’ll be hopefully working full-time at some college.” He twisted his lips into a sneer. “If someone hires me.”
“I’m sure you’ll get placed. And until you do, you’re welcome to run all three Saturday book clubs. But if you need a break, just let me know, and I’ll either step in or Shirley will.” She thought about the book club breakdown. “Honestly, Shirley’s probably going to be better at the younger club, not the teenager one. Anyway, we’ll handle any timeoff you need.”
“Sounds good.” He nodded to the back. “Did our books come infor Saturday?”
“They’re in the boxes by the back door. I’ve checked them into our system, so let’s figure out a way to display them here by the register.” Rarity followed him into the back room, and they both brought out a box. Then they got busy setting up the room and the store for Saturday’s event. Working felt good. She might have been pontificating about the value of purpose to Caleb earlier, but she believed in it. Working didn’t make the sadness disappear, but it did allow room for the happy memories to float up when you weren’t paying attention. Those memories eased the pain of losing someone at least a little. And that and time was all you could count on while your heart healed.
When it was time to close up the shop, she sent Caleb home first, then she worked on closing the till. They were as ready as they could be for an inaugural book club. Now, all they needed was for kids to show up. This was the middle school group, and the group that Rarity had gotten the most RSVPs from both kids and parents. The book had pre-sold well, and she had hope that the club would start out strong. Next week, they’d open the elementary school club. And then the high school one. Then they’d have an event empty Saturday and start all over againthe next week.
If the clubs took off, she’d need to replace Janey. Or ask Shirley to take the elementary group. Shirley had done well with the Mommy and Me group, but Rarity wasn’t sure if she wanted more hours. The woman did a lot with the community and still saw George every night after dinner for a few hours. He had good days and bad days as far as remembering her and their life together, but his health was good, and he’d be around a long time. Rarity didn’t want Shirley to wear herself out or not spend the time she wanted to with her husband. But on the other hand, it really wasn’t Rarity’s decision to make. She put a pin in it, as her mom used to say.
The door opened, and Archer came in. Again, Killer hurried over to greet him. Her dog loved a lot of people. If he didn’t do the same when Rarity entered a room, she’d worry that he loved other people more than her. But he just had a lot oflove to share.
“Hey, are you here to walk me home? I’m beginning to feel like I’m a kid who stayed too long at the library.” She smiled as he picked Killer up and walked toward her.
“I know you can find your way home. Drew just wanted a friendly face to talk to yesterday, I think. He’d called me to see if I could have dinner, but I had that group. So I offered you up as a replacement.” He leaned on the counter and gaveRarity a kiss.
“Now I really feel wanted.” She closed the register and got her tote. “I heard that Sam had dinner with her brother.”
“Have you talked to her today?” Archer put his arm around her as they walked out of the store.
“No. And it’s not unusual, but we typically talk on the phone when we don’t see each other. I’m beginning to think she’s isolating herself.” Rarity locked the shop door and looked over at Sam’s already dark crystal shop. “I know he’s family, but she can’t shut the rest of us out of her life.”
“Maybe she’s afraid we’ll think he’s guilty.”
Rarity looked at Archer in the gathering twilight. “I’m not sure he’s not. Maybe it was an accident, but the hiker who found her didn’t kill her. Drew told me that much last night. And it wasn’t a suicide. I don’t want to be on the other side from Sam, but she has to be questioning Marcus’s innocence.”
“I don’t think she does or is. I think Sam’s just supporting her brother. Good or bad, she’s going to be there for him. He’s family.” Archer pulled her closer. “I know you don’t like to go out on Thursday night, but I’m thinking we order in. You can swim while I finish up some work. Then we get dinner and watch something that meets both of our entertainment needs.”
“So no zombies.” Rarity squeezed his hand.
“Yep. And no made-for-television romances.” He countered with his own Do Not Watch list item.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter 8
Rarity kept watching the clock, afraid she’d get busy with something and miss her closing time. She’d left Killer at home and driven her Mini Cooper to work. She’d had a sign up for the last few days, warning customers that she’d be open for just a few hours today and would return to normal hours Saturday. Which was probably why her shop was dead this morning. She probably should have just closed the shop for the day. She went back to reviewing the list of romance books Janey had made for her to order. She’d forgotten to order them this week, with everything going on. She was getting them into the system now, before she forgot again.
She smiled as she came across one of the books Janey had suggested. She’d read it a few years ago with the rest of the series.A Discovery of Witcheswas one of those books you weren’t quite sure where to shelve as a bookstore. Romance, time travel, paranormal, historical. The series covered several genres. Rarity flipped through the pages until she found Janey’s notes on how to set up the romance section. She’d done a lot of work there. She’d listed a ton of subgenres. Rarity wasn’t sure if she’d divide the section into all these different subsections, but maybe she’d combine a few. She turned to the last page and found a to-do list Janey must have left with the work notes by accident.
Rarity read it, smiling at parts like “do dishes” and “schedule Whiskey’s annual vet check.” We all had normal life seep into our must-dos. But then there was “dinner with Marcus” with two little hearts. And “show him the quarry.” Rarity started to put away the page, wondering if she should give it to Drew or not, when she realized she recognized another name on it. “Coffee with Caleb. Lethim down easy.”
Had Caleb and Janey been dating? Cara had said Janey hadn’t wanted to do coffee with Caleb. Yet Rarity had seen the way he’d looked at Janey when he thought no one was looking. And he’d taken her death hard. She tucked the paper into her purse to give to Drew at the funeral. She was pretty sure he’d attend, if only to see whoelse showed up.
Rarity finished ordering the missing romance books and then ordered the books for next week’s book club. She didn’t want to over-order, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to make a kid wait a week for the book either. She checked the sign-up list and ordered twenty more than that. Fingers crossed, it would be enough but not too many. Maybe after running this for a few months, she’d figure out what they needed. Rarity pulled out Shirley’s list of upcoming books for the Mommy and Me class and ordered two weeks’ worth of those as well. Her book bill this month would be crazy, but hopefully the books would sell, and she’d havea great month.
Hope, guess, maybe. She used those words a lot. The only time she knew how many of a book she’d sell was when a customer came in and ordered it. She guessed a lot in her job. Even just replacing the books that had sold wasn’t a guarantee that the replacement book would sell anytime soon.
Working in marketing, she made up campaigns. She set up open houses and parties. Sometimes those were estimates of who would show up, but mostly, she produced a product. It worked or didn’t. She went on. The bookstore business was more fluid than that. If two tour buses hit town in the same week, she might have a great week. Or with same number of buses, she might not sell anything. It was all a crap shoot.
The bell rang over the doorway, and Shirley walked inside. She wore a black linen skirted suit. No hose and black flats. She had on a black hat with a small flat brim to finish the look. “Good morning. I didn’t know if you wanted a ride to the funeral.”
“I brought my car, but if you’re wanting company, I’d love to ride with you.” Rarity closed the laptop, put it into her tote, and stuffed it under the counter. “I’ll just need to be dropped off here when we get back.”
