Page 33 of Merry Murder Season
Catherine rolled her eyes. She handed her sister-in-law the cookies I’d packed up. “Here you go, Thresa. Thank the nice lady for the cookies she gave us.”
“People here are so sweet. Especially that Mary and Bill where we’re staying.” Thresa smiled at me. “Catherine has been dying to get inside this shop since we got here.”
Catherine grabbed her sister-in-law by the arm and headed toward the door.
“Bye, thanks for the cookies,” Thresa called over her shoulder.
As they left, Judith came inside. She had a key to the back door, but I noticed she always came in the front if we were open. She walked around the counter and washed her hands before putting on an apron. “Those two looklike trouble.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s going to be an interesting week for the two of them. First trip together.” As I thought about my most recent customers, I wondered if Beth would be up for a girl’s trip one of these days before they started having kids. I’d have to schedule it around her school year, but I’d always wanted to see Belize and the Mayan ruins. Beth might like that.
I’d call her, but she was at the library working this morning. I was going to miss her. We’d talked about doing at least one FaceTime coffee hour a week when she went back to Nebraska. We were going for an early dinner at Lille’s and the book club later tonight, so I’d bring up the subject then.
I finished up my end-of-shift tasks. Now that Evie was doing the general manager role, she was a stickler for checking the sheets. And she had no problem reminding me, the owner and her boss, that I was slacking. I loved her for it.
The morning shift had been busier than usual, and as I walked down the street toward home, I thought the afternoon might be even busier. I texted Judith and let her know if she needed help to reach out to me. I was meeting with Deek after book club tonight to talk about what time he needed off. Evie had sent me two names of people looking for part-time work. I told her to have them come into the store during my shifts this week. I might just hire both of them if I liked them. Having Beth take some of Toby’s shifts had helped, but we were still short. Especially on weeks like this when everyone and their dogswere shopping.
I did my usual daily routine when I got home. Run with Emma. Start laundry or fold what I washed and dried yesterday. But when all that was done, I still had time before we needed to leave for the book club. Beth still wasn’t home.
I made a shopping list for Christmas. I know, I was late. I needed to decide on what I was getting my out-of-town friends and family. And we hadn’t started Christmas cards yet. I went to the office and searched the closet until I found the cards I’d bought on sale last year. Then I opened my desktop and looked for the file with the addresses. I always said I was going to change this file over to a label-maker format. And today, I had time. I looked up a template and updated the list I’d added to last year. I had to search in my Google history for the business addresses of some friends whose home addressesI didn’t have.
The first listing in my search history was Zillow. I opened the folder and saw someone had been on the computer, looking up houses under $500,000 in the area. Was Greg looking for a new house for us? Or was Beth checking out her options? Both had been working in the office recently. I finished my label project. Now that the address file was set up, I just needed the actual labels. I’d run to Bakerstown tomorrow to the office supply store.
Then I went back to Zillow and looked at the houses. The ones highlighted were definitely Beth’s vibe, as they were near the college and mostly condos. Greg would rather sleep in a tent than movecloser to town.
“Hi, honey, I’m home,” Beth’s voice called out fromthe front door.
I jerked and closed the computer down. I hoped I’d saved my label file, but it was too late to check now. “I’m in the den. I’llbe right out.”
Beth came in and dropped her laptop bag on the shelf behind the desk. “What are you working on? Bookstore stuff?”
“Christmas card stuff. I haven’t even started.” I stood and walked out of the room, leaving the boxes of cards on the desk.
Beth picked up a box. It was a Christmas beach scene with a star shining over the water. “These are beautiful. Maybe I’ll buy next year’s cards beforeI leave town.”
“There’s a card shop in town but I could snag you some after Christmas that would be a lot cheaper.” I headed to the back door to lock it. “We better get going if we want to stop there beforethe book club.”
“Let me run up and change and I’ll be ready.” Beth placed the box of cards back on the desk and closed the den door. I kept my sofa pillows in there if I was going to be gone for a while and leave Emma home, so we always kept the door shut if we weren’t inthere working.
I let Emma outside and checked my backpack for my wallet, my planner, and the book we were talking about. I’d told Beth about my meeting after the club, and she said she’d wait and walk back with me. When she came downstairs, I let Emma in and locked the door behind her. Then I grabbed my bag. “Let’s go.I’m starving.”
At Diamond Lille’s, we were halfway through dinner when Dominic Reedy approached our table. “Are you two heading to the book club after this?”
“Yes, we are.” I glanced around to make sure Lille wasn’t watching.
“I’ll be there as soon as I eat. I got caught at work late.” He smiled but made noeffort to move.
I wasn’t going to ask him to join us. Lille would have a coronary. And ban me from the diner for life. I turned back to my dinner but Beth wasn’t so cautious.
“Where do you work?” she asked, adding a smile to her question.
Man, Lille and Jim were going to be mad if thiswent anywhere.
“I run my family’s bar down on the highway. We’ve been in business for over fifty years now. My grandpa started it when he moved here from Pennsylvania with my grandmother. Then my father ran it. Now, I’m trying to turn it into a bar and grill. It has a bit of a reputation as a biker bar from when my dad ran the place. Lille’s helping me.” He cocked his head. “I thought you’d be back on the plains by now. Nebraska, right?”
“I stayed over to do some final research on my book and Jill and Greg have been nice enough to let me crash at their house.” There was the smile again. “I’m surprisedyou remember.”
“You’re kidding, right? You’re one of the most interesting people I’ve met in a long time. I’ve always had an interest in cults. My sister joined one when I was still in high school. She died a few years later. They told her she needed to not eat to prove her love for their god. But she was diabetic. They said their god would heal her. He didn’t.” He raised a hand to wave at someone behind us.
