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“Stay here,” she whispered. “I’ll be right back.”
He met her gaze for a moment, hesitating, then nodded and angled for the farthest shelves from the checkout counter. Del grabbed a few books to make it look like she’d been busy reshelving them and made her way toward the front of the store. Mild panic set in when she spied both Mia and Brooklyn lingering at the checkout counter.
Alone, Mia wouldn’t have been a problem; she’d never seen Isaac before and wouldn’t know him from a stranger. Brooklyn, however, had. Del walked past them, drawing their attention toward her and away from her lone customer.
“Hit you up for some fall coupons,” she said with a wink. “And what are you doing here on your night off? I thought you guys had some band thing going on.”
Brooklyn hitched a thumb toward the front windows. “In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s kinda pouring outside.”
“So? You can’t march in the rain?”
Brooklyn rolled her eyes.
“Rain, yes. Downpour? Not so much, so they let the kids go early.” Mia shrugged. “They got no complaints from either of us.”
Del laughed. “I can see that. So, what, you came in here to relieve me so I can go home early?”
“No way,” Brooklyn cried. “I already have to work tomorrow, so you guys can have another one of your planning meetings.”
Del stuck her tongue out at Brooklyn, who did the same in return as she headed for the YA section. A quick glance confirmed that Isaac was still “shopping” in the back corner of the store. How long would he linger before giving up and sneaking out?
“That’s actually why we stopped by,” Mia said, stepping forward to extract a notebook from her oversized purse. “I had an idea for the talent show that I wanted to run by you before the meeting. With there being prize money involved, I thought that instead of us choosing a winner, we should do something a little different.”
“Like?”
“What if we let the crowd decide the winner? Let everyone vote and then have someone tally it up. Brooklyn said there’s a kid in her class who knows how to make phone apps. If he could make one for us, it’d be even more like those TV talent shows, and might draw a bigger crowd.”
Del caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Brooklyn was moving away from the door, Isaac moving closer to it. Maybe it was best to keep Mia talking so he could slip out; she could always stop by his place later. “But not everyone is techie like you guys.”
“Ugh, AuntDel…”
“What? I’m not the only one who can’t figure stuff like that out.Gofigure.”
Mia gave her a weird look, but the message had been received; Isaac crept closer to the door. Brooklyn had picked up the latest book in a series she followed, keeping her back to him.
“Well,” Mia said, tapping her pen to the notepad. “What if we had volunteers in the crowd who can collect votes for the less capable?”
“That might work, maybe even have them dressed in neon colors so they’re easy to find.” Del moved over a few steps to keep her sister facing away from the door. Isaac had reached the last section of shelving. If he kept his head down, they might not even notice him slip out. She willed him to hurry up and make his move.
That’s when she got the start of a tickle in her nose.
“Of course, if we don’t get enough people to sign up for the event, this is all a moot point,” Mia said with a sigh, still oblivious to the chess match going on in the store. “But I think the town would be that much more engaged if we included them in the decision process, don’t you?”
“Instead of have it be a surprise?” Del pushed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, fighting the oncoming sneeze. “Yeah, I guess it could—achoo!”
“Bless you,” responded three voices.
Del held her breath. Mia didn’t react, her attention still focused on the notepad. A subtle glance out across the store found Isaac reaching for his umbrella…but now Brooklyn was MIA.
Where the heck had her niece wandered off to?
As Isaac’s umbrella’s fabric slid against the brick’s rough surface, Del spied her niece coming around the other side of the mystery section.Don’t look up, please, don’t look—
“Oh,” Brooklyn said from across the room. “Hey, Isaac.”
Up.
Isaac lowered his umbrella, a sheepish grin on his face. “Heya, Brooklyn. Ladies.”
