I spent the short ride to my house trying to convince myself that I had just been imagining things, but by the time Dad pulled up to my house, I knew I needed to let Tuck in on what I’d seen.
After I waved goodbye to Mom and Dad at the door and before I went inside, I shot off a quick text to Tuck and then slid my phone into my back pocket. I didn’t need to be involved any further, and I wanted to give our special guest my full attention.
Inside, Mart, Symeon, and Laura were at the kitchen island with glasses of wine and a bowl of trail mix. I grinned. This was my kind of after party.
Taco and Mayhem greeted our visitor briefly and then took to their beds by the fireplace to sleep off their people hangover. I was glad because as gracious as Laura was with their sniffing, she didn’t seem the kind of person who really enjoyed dog kisses or cuddles in the kind of plentitude my pooches could give.
We stayed up late talking about books and good food, about Laura’s writing process and her plans for the next few years. She was inspiring as she looked at the years when many considered retiring as an opportunity to keep doing the work she loved and giving us readers, her fans, many more books to look forward to. I hoped I felt the same way about the bookstore in twenty years.
About midnight, though, the events of the week and the excitement of the night caught up to me, and fatigue plowed into my arms and legs so forcefully that I thought I might just curl up on the kitchen floor to sleep. When I yawned for the third time, Laura stood and said she was going to head to her room and hit the sack, and I was grateful for her courtesy and for the fact that she didn’t take my fatigue personally.
We hadn’t told her about the murder because we didn’t want to make the crime writer think we were asking for her sleuthing skills to be put to work and because we didn’t want to worry her, although I didn’t think she was the type to really worry about that kind of thing. She might hear something in the morning, but I expected she’d be too busy signing to do much chit-chat. That seemed like a good thing in all cases.
Despite the fact that Aslan took full advantage of the fact that the dogs were too tired to move from their living room beds and slept between my legs all night, I rested well, and when my alarm went off at eight, I woke without the desire to snooze even once. We had a big day ahead, my favorite kind of day, a book lovers’ day.
I showered and headed into the living room, glad to see everyone else was still resting, including the pups. I let the dogs out for their morning business and then filled the three food bowls, Aslan’s on top of the fridge where Taco’s greedy mouth couldn’t reach it, although he did try.
Then, I quietly poured myself a bowl of cereal and drank my coffee while I enjoyed the golden spring sun outside, wrote Symeon a thank you note for managing breakfast, and then wrote another to Laura and Mart to tell them I’d see them at the store. They knew our plan was to do the signing at ten-fifteen, and I’d suggested Laura either come about nine-thirty so she could get inside and settled comfortably in a quiet corner until the signing or that she come right after ten so she could go right to the signing table. She’d intimated that she wanted to come in early, so I looked forward to quiet time with her then.
Home business taken care of, I leashed up the dogs and made the walk into town. Along the way, my neighbors’ peonies were just beginning to open, and I admired the way Spring created a succession of show that kept the color going for weeks. I quickened my step as I remembered that Elle was going to bring a new batch of flowers for the store this morning. I loved new flower day almost as much as new book day. It was always a burst of colorful surprise, and I hoped this morning she might have some peony blossoms for us.
I had thought maybe I’d beat Marcus and Rocky in this morning, but of course I was wrong. The lights were on, and when I unlocked the door and walked in, I could smell the perfume of coffee wafting through the air. “You two get the prize for hardest workers!” I shouted into the shop.
From the kitchen of the café, Rocky said, “Well, we didn’t have a world-famous author at our houses.”
“And I live two minutes down the street,” Marcus added as he came from the back room with a stack of books. Marcus continued to rent an apartment over the mechanic’s garage in town, even though the mechanic had moved closer to Baltimore for a new job. It was a great deal for him, low rent and close to work, but I knew the owner, Daniel, also appreciated having someone in the building.
Because of the crowd we were expecting today, all of us wanted to have the store in great shape and to have as many things done early as possible. So we scurried around straightening and filling the shelves while Rocky filled an entire shelf of her pastry case with her mother’s cinnamon rolls. Her mom must have baked all week.
I was really hoping today would be banner sales day for all of us. Anything the bookstore made in income today was bonus because last night, just from the sales of Lippman’s books and special orders at the fundraiser, we had already made our sales goal for the weekend. But I was hoping to be able to donate a large (at least large for me) sum to the literacy program at the end of the weekend, so any sales today would help me be able to do that with gusto.
Just at nine, Elle came in with two five-gallon buckets full of flowers, and she set about filling all the vases in the café and then came to the register with a towel and created an amazing arrangement of peonies, irises, and fresh rosemary and basil. By the time she was done, the entire store smelled like a spring meadow and a great dinner all at one time, and somehow, even the undertones of coffee from the café mixed in well. I took a deep breath, looked at my friend and said, “Wow. You are really good at this.”
Elle laughed. “I hope so. It is my livelihood, after all.” She took a few extra vases from beneath the register and added a few springs of basil and a single flower to them before scattering them around the store. Then, she set a special arrangement of just the herbs on the signing table. “The floral scents give some people the sneezes or headaches, and if this bothers Lippman, just move it okay?” Elle said to me.
I nodded as the bell over the door rang and Laura and Mart came in. Mart turned and relocked the door behind her, and then she smiled. “It smells amazing in here,” she said.
Laura nodded. “Agreed,” she said as she turned to Elle who had her buckets with a few remaining stems in hand. “You’re responsible for this?”
Elle blushed. “I am. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Lippman. I was just telling Harvey that if anything bothers you, to just remove it.”
“Bothers me? Nope, not at all. But I appreciate the thoughtfulness.” She smiled again and then looked at the display of her books that Marcus was just finishing up. “That looks so good,” she said.
Marcus beamed. “Thank you.” He turned to her. “I hope we have enough copies of everything.”
“Me, too,” I said. “We’ve sold a lot of our stock in the past few days, and last night had big sales, too. Sorry we don’t have more copies.”
Laura looked at the stacks of books. “Are you serious, Harvey? You have dozens of my books, and you’ve already sold dozens. I’ve been to signings where the manager only got twenty copies, and we sold out in five minutes. This is great.”
I took a deep breath of relief and realized I had been more nervous than I thought about all of this. I was glad she was happy, and I was glad she’d come early so that she could enjoy the store before the crowd came in.
“Mind if I take a look around?” she said.
“Not at all. Would you like a tour, or would you prefer to just wander?” I asked.
“Let me just wander. That way, I can have the joy of discovery, and you can have a little time to catch your breath.” She meandered off into the fiction section, and I smiled. Laura Lippman was browsing in my bookstore.
As Elle headed out the door, Cate and Lucas came in, and I smiled as I glanced the small group of people who were already milling by the door. “We’ll be open in about twenty minutes,” I said before I locked the door again.
“We’re here to help,” Cate said. “Put us to work.”
I smiled. “Cate, would you mind being Laura’s assistant? Open the books to the title page and keep people moving if they get too chatty.”
“You got it.” She moved to the signing table.
“And me?” Lucas asked.
“Feel like being on line patrol?” I asked. “Check numbers to be sure we are, roughly, honoring the order we promised. Be sure people have paid for their books before they get them signed. Remind people that there’s a two-book maximum for signing. Keep people happy as they wait.”
“On it,” he said. “If you want to give me your keys, I’ll also staff the door, talk up the crowd outside, and be in charge of opening her up whenever you say go.”
I tossed him my keys. “Perfect.” I took a deep breath. Their help was going to mean that Marcus and I could staff the register and help customers in general.
As Lucas went out to work the growing crowd, Walter, Stephen, Henri and Bear slipped in. “Tell us what to do,” Stephen said.
I glanced around for a minute, at a loss for where I needed help but sure I did need it.
“I could use the men over here,” Rocky said, and immediately, Bear, Walter, and Stephen headed her way. I chuckled at the idea of those three middle-aged guys bussing tables and slinging lattes, but they were all smiling, eager to help. I really had the best friends.
“Why don’t I keep the back end of things going?” Henri said. “Refill your bag supply at the register. Check on the bathrooms. That kind of thing.”
“That would be amazing,” I said. “I hadn’t even thought of that, but yes, that would be a big help.”
“Great. Show me where you keep the supplies?” We headed to the back room, and I gave her a quick tour of where we kept things. I wanted to pull down another box of toilet paper, but I had to move a couple of boxes first. They were heavy, book heavy, and when I opened them up to see what had been tucked behind our break table, I found two boxes of Laura’s titles.
I jumped up and down a little, and Henri said, “Nice. I’ll help you carry them up.”
I pulled down the box of toilet paper so Henri could access it easily, and then she and I toted the books to Marcus who smiled when he saw them and quickly fleshed out the display.
Outside the door, the line was already beginning to stretch past the windows, and I could see Lucas chatting with people and checking their signing number as he shifted people into their assigned order. My heart skipped. It was going to be an amazing day.
And it was, for most of the morning. Laura signed and talked casually but not too long, thanks to Cate’s gentle nudging of the customers. I staffed the register and rang up books before allowing those customers to get into the back of the line to get Laura’s autograph if time allowed. Lucas had people laughing all the way down the queue, and Marcus kept the other customers and the store in general happy. Over in the café, Bear and Stephen were keeping tables clean and open as fast as they could, and Rocky had enlisted Walter to help serve pastries while she steamed milk. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
That is until I saw Lucy in the line. I was actually very glad to see her, but I felt anxiety tingle up my spine because of how exposed she was. If whoever it was who was controlling her was here, he was bound to see her. Last night, the media had been there, so I hadn’t been surprised she had been safe. But here, things were much more low-key. Tuck hadn’t even been in yet.
Still, there wasn’t much I could do except rip off a text to Tuck and hope he might be available to come by and keep an eye out.
He’d replied to my text about seeing someone at the library the night before with an efficient, “Thanks for letting me know,” which left me confused about whether I was bothering him with my observations or if he was just tired and concerned. I decided to think the latter because I didn’t want to worry that my friend was upset with me.
His reply to this morning’s notice about Lucy was super-quick. “Oh man. Thanks for letting me know, Harvey. We’ll be right over.”
I took this “Thanks” as sincere and decided the other message was, too. Still, I wasn’t about to take any chances and asked Mart if she could take over at the register while I went to check in with customers. She’d been helping Marcus keep the display of Laura’s books filled, but she readily took over for me when I tilted my head to where Lucy stood in line. “You let Tuck know?” she asked as she slid in beside me.
I nodded. “He’s on his way.” I walked casually down the line of customers, speaking to some folks I knew and welcoming those I didn’t, until I got to Lucy. I smiled at her and tried to keep my voice light as I said, “You a Lippman fan?”
Lucy’s eyes lit up, but she didn’t smile. “I am. A big one, and I know this is a risk, Harvey, but I couldn’t stay away. She’s my favorite author.”
I patted her on the shoulder and smiled, very aware of the close proximity of about a quadrillion people. I didn’t need to make a scene or get anyone worried. “I’m glad you came, and Tuck is coming too.”
Lucy swallowed. “That’s great. I didn’t think to tell him I was coming here when I saw him at breakfast. Probably should have, huh?”
I nodded and smiled as she kept her tone light. She clearly understood that I was speaking in generalities for a reason, and I was grateful she played along. “Good. You let me know if you need anything?”
“Will do,” she said and smiled again.
I moved on down the line behind her, for the sake of pretense, but I soon found myself caught up in the moment and the way the line for signatures was now snaking around into the café, even as more people came in, swept up Laura’s books, and headed to see Mart to make their purchase. The display was beginning to look thin, but I was grateful we’d found those other two boxes since it meant we still had something of hers to sell.
I was just making my way to the end of the line when I saw Tuck and Watson, both in plain clothes, walk in. They waved at some folks they knew and then separated to wander around the store. Tuck was always so good about honoring my business and the need to not alarm my customers, and today I was particularly grateful.
On my way back to the register, I knelt down by Laura to see how she was doing. “Any hand cramps, yet?”
She smiled. “Not yet. This is great, Harvey. Thanks.”
“No, thank you,” I said as I stood. “You let me know if you need a break or want me to call an end to this wonderful madness.”
“Will do,” she said as she went on to meet the next guest and take his book from Cate.
Before I could relieve Mart, Tuck intercepted me and asked if I had a copy of Odd Thomas in the back room because he didn’t see it on the shelves. Our sheriff was a big reader, but not of thrillers, especially not thrillers where the main character can see the dead, so I knew something was up and led him to the back room to “help me look.” I had just seen the book on the shelves this morning and hadn’t rung it up for anyone, so if I had any doubt that Tuck wanted to speak in private, that confirmed it.
As soon as the door closed behind us, Tuck turned to me and said, “We’re going to be here all day, Harvey. Lucy still hasn’t been willing to tell me who threatened her, but I imagine you know my suspect.”
“Reeves,” I said without hesitation.
“Exactly. You haven’t seen him here today, right?”
“Nope. Not a sign of him.”
“Could it have been him you saw last night at the library?”
I thought back at what I’d seen. Definitely a silhouette, and while I couldn’t be sure and didn’t want to presume, my brain had thought the person was a man. But beyond that, I couldn’t say more. “It could have been. I think it was a man, but I didn’t see any of his features and couldn’t even really tell you how tall he was or anything. He was in the tree line, so it was even darker around him than out where I was.”
Tuck nodded. “Okay. If it’s alright with you, I’ll let everyone we trust know that we’re on the look-out, and I’m going to suggest Lucy spend her day at the store. Alright?”
“Sounds good. I’ll let you know if I see him. Maybe we need to have a signal, a code word?” I smirked.
Tuck rolled his eyes. “I think, ‘He’s here’ will be sufficient.” I was glad to see him smiling when he headed out there, a copy of some random paperback under his arm just to keep his cover story intact.
I headed back to the register and updated Mart on the situation. She took it all in and said, “Some days I wish we had more police officers in this town.”
“If they were all like Tuck, I’d be down,” Marcus said as he walked up with a stack of magazines for Mart to reshelve.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “We’ve got some good ones here,” I said as I saw Watson open a copy of The Westing Game and settle into a chair that had a clear view of the door. I’d have to ask him if that choice was random or if he loved that book as much as I did.
It was already eleven-fifteen, and the line for Laura’s autograph, while no longer growing, was still trailing into the cafe. I decided to trust that, as a grown woman, she would let me know if she needed me and went back to ringing up purchases.
I was so busy that I almost missed Lucy’s turn at the signing table, but I was glad to catch the joy on her face as Laura greeted her. I saw Cate lean over to Laura and say what I assumed was a little bit more about Lucy because Laura stood up and shook her hand before signing not just two but four books for her. I’d have to ask Cate what she said to prompt that bonus from Laura, especially after a solid hour and a half of small talk and writing the same thing over and over.
When Lucy had gotten her signatures, I saw her stroll over and drop into the chair next to Watson before opening her copy of Wilde Lake and beginning to read. Somehow, I didn’t think a librarian would much mind being forced to read all day, especially when the book was by her favorite author.
By noon, the signing line was gone, almost every one of our copies of Lippman’s books had sold and left with her signature, and I was not only ready for lunch but ready to get off my feet for a few minutes. I offered to get Laura some food, to have something delivered for us to eat in the café, but she said she needed to get on home. I didn’t blame her. That much chatting would have been more than my share for a whole week.
She said a kind thank you to everyone who had helped and then headed, with Stephen as her escort, to her car which was in the parking lot next door. I waved as she drove back by the shop on her way out of town, and then I sank into a chair in the café and took a deep breath. We had done it.
I was just beginning to wonder if I should get pizza delivered for everyone when Lu came in with a tray of tamales and another of tacos. “I figured you’d need some food, and so I made a double batch today.”
I laughed with delight. “You are amazing, Lu. Let me get you some cash for these,” I said as I stood and headed toward the register.
“Don’t you dare, Harvey Beckett,” she said. “These are my gift to all of you for the work last night. THANK YOU. The vendors were ecstatic, and now I have lots of new contacts for my business. I’m headed to a festival in Annapolis next weekend, in fact.”
“That’s great news. Will Tia Juanita be joining you? I mean, it seems like you’d need another pair of hands,” I asked as I helped myself to two chicken tacos.
“She will, and my niece is coming, too. It’s going to be a family business, like I’ve always dreamed.” She said and beamed at her husband who had come up beside her.
“Thanks, love,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek. “I’m going to be here today. Any chance you fancy a game of gin rummy?”
Lu laughed. “Sounds perfect. Let me get through the lunch rush, and then I’ll close up for the day. Be back in an hour?”
“I’ll be waiting,” Tuck said as he headed toward the café with some tamales.
I wandered slowly through the store while Marcus staffed the register and invited everyone who had helped for the past two days to come get some food. Lu had brought all the paper products we needed, and so one by one by friends came by the signing table where the food was set up and filled a plate. When they all had their fill, I let the customers know they were welcome to sample Lu’s food if they liked. We had only a couple of tamales and a steak taco left, but a teenage boy and his dad scooped those up and then asked where they could find more. I pointed to Lu’s truck, which was parked just up the street, and they headed off with a couple more customers trailing behind.
I bought out Rocky’s supply of Italian sodas and handed them around to my friends before taking over the register for Marcus so that he could dig into the plate Rocky had fixed for him. I took a deep breath and listened to the murmur of my friends’ voices as they laughed and talked, and then I smiled at the customers who were still wandering the floor, especially the two or three who had stacks of books tucked under their arms. I was grateful for the sales, of course, but more than that I just loved seeing people who couldn’t resist the lure of books. They were my people almost as much as all those wonderful human beings eating lunch behind me.
As I tucked into my own tacos, I looked for Lucy and found her back in her chair, a tamale on a plate next to her, and Lippman’s book wide open. Lucy was my people, too, it seemed. I just wished she’d trust me, or better yet Tuck, with the name of the person she feared. I was learning, finally in my fifth decade, though, that you couldn’t make people do what they didn’t want to do. We just had to keep showing her that we cared and could be trusted, and she’d tell us when she was ready. At least I hoped so – and I hoped she’d talk before she got hurt.
About mid-afternoon, my parents stopped by. They’d offered to come in this morning to help, but I knew they both needed rest, more rest than they’d required when they were younger. I also knew they wouldn’t take it if I put it like that, so I suggested they stay home, tally the totals from the fundraiser, and come in later today to so that we could let Galen and Mrs. Dawson know. They’d spread the word, and maybe the good results would spur some larger, more long-term donations.
Now, here they were and given the smile on Mom’s face as she walked over to me, I knew the figures were good, very good by the looks of it. “So it was a success?”
“More than we hoped for,” she said and hanged me a slip of paper that said $12,853.
“Whoa, that’s huge, Mom.” I looked down at the paper again. “Wow, and that doesn’t include my donation yet.”
“You don’t have to do—”
I interrupted my mom. “I know I don’t have to, Mom. I want to, and it’s a good business move, too,” I said as I caught Dad’s eye. “You can start a corporate donor program with me as the founding donor.”
Dad laughed. “Now you’re thinking like a business woman, Harvey.” He glanced around at the store. “Actually, you are a business woman, a good one. I like how you’re thinking ahead, though.”
“If you guys have a few minutes, I can run my numbers from last night and this morning and get you a check right now.” I was eager to see our totals anyway, but I also liked that my store’s name would be in the initial announcement of the results.
“Sure,” Mom said. “I could use a little mid-afternoon treat anyway. Think Rocky has anymore cinnamon rolls?”
“I doubt it given the crowd this morning, but she does sometimes have a secret stash.” I stepped over to the register, scanned to be sure no customers were headed my way, and shifted the computer to reporting mode.
I had just printed out our totals, stifled a squeal of glee for the sake of good taste, and written out my check for two thousand dollars when Reeves walked into the shop.
Tuck had been sitting in the café reading, but now he was striding toward Reeves with Watson close behind him. I was closer, though, and for the sake of my other customers, I picked up my pace so I could greet the man first. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Reeves?”
He scowled at me and looked a bit puzzled. “I’m looking for the sheriff. The woman at the station said I could find him here.”
Tuck closed the last few steps and said, “What can I do for you, Reeves?” Tuck spread his feet wide and put his hands on his hips, and I was reminded of the advice hikers were given about black bears. “Make yourself look as big as possible.”
I took a deep breath, caught Watson’s eye, and when I saw his nod, I walked away as casually as I could all the while scanning the room for Lucy. I found her a moment later, now tucked into the quieter corner of the history section, her book close to her face as her eyes zoomed across the last few pages. She was a fast reader, and I loved that.
I hated to interrupt her, but she needed to know Reeves was here. “Lucy, I’m sorry,” I said as I put my hand on her knee.
She squeaked and squished back against the chair a bit before meeting my eyes and visibly relaxing. “Sorry, Harvey. You surprised me.”
“I get that way at the end of a book, too. I should have said something as I walked over. So sorry.” I got a bit closer and knelt by her chair. “Lucy, Reeves is here.”
A small line formed between her eyebrows. “Is that someone you want me to meet or something?”
I studied her face, and it was clear she had no idea who I was talking about. “You don’t know him?”
She shook her head. “No. Should I?”
“No, don’t worry about it. I just made a mistake and thought he was someone you knew. Go back to your work.”
She looked at me carefully for a minute as if she wanted to say something, but then she sighed and said, “Thanks” before scanning for her place on the page and dropping back into the story.
Clearly, Reeves was not the man who had threatened Lucy. Good book or no, no one who felt afraid could slide back into a book that easily, not even the most avid reader.
As I reached the counter again, I could see Tuck and Reeves with their heads bent low over the table between them. Tuck was frowning, but I didn’t see any anger or frustration in his expression. Instead, it looked like whatever Reeves was telling Tuck had him worried. I wondered what that was all about.
Watson was nearby, still with a book open in front of him, but I could tell he was paying close attention to his boss as well as keeping an eye on the store. Something was up, and it had both of these police officers concerned.
The rest of my friends had left after lunch, and so I needed to ask for Mom and Dad’s help. I made a show of walking over with the check from the store in my hands, and I spoke a little too loudly when I handed it to Mom. She gave me a puzzled look, and I just smiled brighter as I tilted my head toward the table where Tuck and Reeves sat.
Dad followed my hint and saw the men talking. “Harvey, could you recommend a new biography for me?” he asked as he stood up.
Mom looked from me to him but then played right along. “Your dad is plowing through books these days,” she said as she stood too. “Thank you for this, too, Harvey. I’ll get in touch with Galen and Mrs. Dawson now and let them know they can make the announcement.”
“And I’ll let Laura know. I think she’ll be thrilled,” I said as we walked toward the biography section at the back of the store. As soon as we were behind a tall shelf of spirituality books, I said, “Dad, there’s a situation. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but can you stay near that blonde woman reading over there?”
I casually glanced at Lucy, who had moved onto another book in her stack, before turning back to Dad. “She’s in danger, but I don’t know from whom yet.”
“Harvey, don’t you think the two police officers in the front have this covered?” Mom asked, her concern for Dad’s safety obvious in the tremor in her voice.
“I do, which is the only reason I feel comfortable asking Dad to stay near Lucy.” I sighed. “I want her to know someone is keeping an eye on her. She needs that reassurance. I’ll explain later.”
Dad hugged me to him quickly. “You’ve got it, Harvey. Now, I really do need something to read.”
I smiled and pulled a copy of The Hairstons by Henry Wiencek off the shelf. “Not a standard bio, but a great story about a family. I think you’ll like it.”
With a wave of the book, Dad dropped into a chair nearby and turned it slightly so he could keep Lucy in his line of sight. I passed by Lucy’s seat and casually pointed out that the man in the chair nearby was my dad before Mom and I walked back to the front. I set her up at a café table to contact Galen and Mrs. Dawson about her amazing fundraising total and so that she was close to the police officers if something went down.
After sending my own text to Laura and getting back her enthusiastic, “That’s great.” I decided I needed to put the escapades around Lucy out of my mind. Tuck and Reeves were still talking, and Watson was still keeping an eye on the store. With Lucy guarded by an attentive watcher, I knew I had done everything I could and decided to focus on my business for a bit.
Marcus was due to finish his shift in a half-hour, so before he left, we printed out next week’s return list and then went around the store to evaluate what we needed to order to fill our shelves and replace the titles we’d sold and those we were going to return to the distributor.
Between that focused work and the customers who kept steadily making purchases, the next thirty minutes flew by, and by the time Marcus headed out for the day, I felt like we were in good shape for the week, especially since the store was quiet and I could place our orders before we closed this evening.
A bit later, Rocky stopped over with a latte and asked if I thought it would disturb anyone if she started to clean up a little early. “I’m kind of dead on my feet, and I’d like to be able to leave as soon as we close.”
I smiled. “Of course. And I’ll do the same. We should be able to turn off the sign and walk out of here right at seven.”
“Perfect,” she said as she headed back to her corner of the store and I continued entering titles into the store’s wonderfully large order for next week.
About six, Mom came over and asked if I would mind if she contacted everyone to suggest a potluck at my house for seven-thirty, and I smiled. “That sounds perfect, Mom.”
I walked over to let Dad know the plan and when I saw Lucy, I decided to invite her, too. She was a very sweet woman, and since Tuck and Lu would be invited, I figured she might want to come along. Plus, I didn’t think it was wise for her to go anywhere, even Tuck and Lu’s house, alone. “Join us for dinner at my place?” I asked as I walked over.
She looked up at me, and I watched the fog of an engrossed reader lift from her eyes. “Um, sure, if that’s okay with you.”
“More than okay. A bunch of us are gathering. It would be nice to have you join us.” I looked at the young woman and thought of myself at that age, how I’d been sure I knew what I needed and how to get it and how I’d been so very wrong. “And if you’d like, you can stay with Mart and me until all this blows over.”
Lucy’s smile got a bit brighter.
I knew it would be a little bit of a busy night what with the need to change the sheets and spruce up the guest room from last night’s visitor, but I also knew that Mart would be fine with it.
“Are you sure?” Lucy asked as she slid a finger into the spine of the book to hold her place. “I mean I’m grateful to the Masons for having me, but it would be nice to hang out with girlfriends for a night.
“Absolutely.” Then, I decided to get bold. “I cannot promise food as good as Lu’s, but we have lavender soap in the bathroom.”
“How can I possibly pass that up?” she said with a laugh.
“Good. We close at seven, so you can walk home with me and whoever else wants to join us there.” I glanced over at Dad, who was doing his best to look like he was reading. But since his eyes weren’t moving, I knew he was listening. “You’re invited too, Dad.” I said.
Lucy waved at him tentatively, and Dad looked up and smiled before picking up his club chair and bringing it over to sit next to her. I smiled, and as I walked away, I heard my dad do what my dad does so well, make small talk. “So I hear you’re a children’s librarian. If you had to list the Top Ten children’s books of all time, what would you name?”
I chuckled. I hoped Lucy didn’t mind being grilled on recommendations, but from the sound of her laughter, it sounded like she didn’t mind a bit.