Chapter 19
I think hell is something you carry around with you, not somewhere you go.
—Neil Gaiman
Nora didn’t invite Jed in. She was happy to see him—to know that he was back and that he’d come to see her—but she needed to be alone. The adrenaline that had kept her dancing on a knife’s edge for the past hour was gone. Her limbs were heavy. Her head hurt and her eyes stung.
After asking Jed to stop by in the morning, Nora went inside her tiny house, locked the door, and crawled into bed. She pulled the covers over her head and let the tears flow.
She cried in relief because tonight’s ordeal was over. She cried over the pointlessness of Celeste’s and Bren’s deaths. She cried because the realization that Wolf Beck had meant to kill her was just now sinking in. Even though she knew she was no longer in danger, the aftereffects of her terror left her shaking.
Thirty minutes later, she was physically and emotionally spent. She showered, hoping to wash away any traces of her interaction with Wolf Beck, put on flannel pajamas, and wrapped Dominique’s blanket around her shoulders.
In the kitchen, she made herself a snack of tea and toast. The homemade strawberry jam she spread over the buttered toast tasted like summer, and the ginger cinnamon chamomile tea warmed her to the core.
Curling up on the sofa, she thought of Grant McCabe appearing behind Beck, foiling his plans to cover Nora’s mouth with what she assumed was a chloroform-soaked cloth. She thought of how the sheriff had put an arm around her afterward. And of how he’d done the same thing the night Celeste had died. McCabe cared for Nora, and she cared for him. Their friendship had deepened since McCabe’s return from Texas, and Nora was glad of it.
Then there was Jed. It had been such a balm to see his face tonight. On the way to her place, their steps had been perfectly timed, and Nora couldn’t remember which one of them had reached for the other’s hand first. Their hands just naturally found each other, as if they’d never been apart.
Jed was home. At last. And tomorrow, they would get together. They would talk. The silence between them would come to an end.
Nora finished her tea and went back to her bedroom to read.
Per usual, a stack of books waited on her nightstand. Good books with engaging characters, complex plots, stimulating dialogue, and lyrical description. They all had vibrant covers and clever titles. But none of them could hold Nora’s attention tonight.
The same was true for the books on her living room shelves, the books lined up on top of her refrigerator, or the row of books on her bedroom windowsill.
What she needed was a book that she knew so well that reading its first lines would take her back in time. That kind of book is a security blanket and a teddy bear and a mother’s goodnight kiss. A book like that is a magic carpet ride to a place where bad memories are forgotten and all dreams are possible.
Nora crossed the room to her chest of drawers. Standing between a pair of mermaid bookends was a small collection of used books. Nora pulled out a hardback with a forest green cover and carried it to bed.
As much as she loved maps, she didn’t want to look at elven runes tonight. The symbols would only remind her of Beck, so she turned to the title page. One glance at the font and she began to relax.
Hello, old friend.
She knew the familiar words would wash over her like sunlight. No matter how many times she read it, this story never let her down. It would carry her into another world until she was ready to sleep.
Turning to the first page, Nora sank a little deeper into the bed, her face serene and content, as she whispered, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
* * *
The next morning, Jed came bearing apple cider donuts and a bouquet of brassy yellow spider mums.
“Where are yours?” Nora joked when he handed her the donuts.
“If you eat all twelve, then I’ll eat your flowers.”
Nora moved the flowers out of his reach. “I’ve seen one plant-related death this week, and I don’t ever want to see another.”
Jed responded with a horrified look.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to start with that. Let’s start with coffee and donuts,” she said, taking his hand and leading him toward the table. “Everything will be easier after caffeine and sugar.”
While she poured the coffee, Nora heated six donuts in the microwave.
“They always taste better warm,” she said, plucking a donut off the plate and immediately dropping it again. “And I always burn my fingertips because I can’t wait for them to cool down.”
Jed smiled at her. “Do I have to get my medical kit out of the truck?”
“How about a kiss to make it better?”
Taking her hand, he planted a loud smack on her finger. “Easiest medical emergency I’ve ever responded to. Seriously? You’re going to pick it up again? I can see steam.”
“I can’t help it!” Nora cried, waving the hot donut in the air. “It smells amazing and I’m hungry. Besides, my left hand is tougher.”
She bit into the donut and groaned. “Totally worth minor injuries to the fingers and mouth.”
Jed polished off his first donut in three bites. He drank some coffee and ate his second donut with more control. Nora had already finished hers.
Seeing that he was grinning at her, Nora said, “Before I devour number three with no regrets, would you tell me how you’re doing? And how your mom’s doing?”
“She’s much better. I am too.” Jed studied his palms as he spoke. “The whole thing was a nightmare. Mom went downhill so fast, and there was nothing I could do to help. I hated standing around, hoping and waiting. I was useless. That made me angry. And I felt guilty too.” He looked at Nora. “I knew you couldn’t drop everything and leave, but that didn’t stop me from asking. I guess I was desperate to control something. Anything or anyone.”
“That makes sense.”
Jed leaned over the table. “The nurses on my mom’s floor wanted to kill me. I pissed off all of them acting like I knew their job better than they did. Instead of showing them respect and supporting their decisions, I questioned and harassed them. I was such a jackass.”
Nora stayed quiet and waited for Jed to let it all out.
“I was even worse with the doctors. I accused them of being patronizing snobs or of being too focused on their golf handicaps to give my mom the best care.” Jed glanced at the ceiling. “There aren’t enough gift baskets in the world to make up for how I acted.”
Nora said, “You could send them a truckload of donuts. They can’t get these on the coast. No apple orchards.”
Jed tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. “Mom’s all I’ve got, Nora. She’s my family, and I thought she was going to die. I was so terrified of losing her that I lost it. Things I thought I’d dealt with years ago came bubbling to the surface, making me act in a way that I’m not proud of.”
Nora reached across the table and squeezed Jed’s hand, inadvertently leaving a deposit of cinnamon sugar on his skin.
He glanced from the sugar crystals sparkling on Nora’s nails to her lovely face. Because she wore no makeup, the surgical scars near her hairline and the puckered burn scars on her neck were more noticeable. To Jed, the scars added character, as did the laugh lines radiating from the corners of her luminescent eyes.
“I have some work to do so that this doesn’t happen again. I’ve also got to make amends to the people I treated like crap.” Jed took a firmer hold of Nora’s hand. “Starting with the most important person. I’m sorry, Nora. I shouldn’t have asked you to do the impossible, and I shouldn’t have given you the silent treatment afterward. I was a jerk, and I will bring you donuts every day until you forgive me.”
Nora smiled. “You’re forgiven. And I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there to support you. I’m sorry that you were scared and that your mom was so sick in the first place. I’m thrilled that she’s better, and I’m thrilled that you’re home.” Her smile faded. “When you showed up last night, I was still in shock. You’ll understand when I explain everything, but I wasn’t able to tell you how happy I am that you’re back. I missed you.”
Jed stood up and pulled Nora to her feet. “I know you have things to tell me, and I definitely want to hear every word, but there’s something I’m dying to say to you right now.”
Unable to resist the playful gleam in his eyes, Nora said, “Go for it.”
Jed ran a finger through the dusting of cinnamon sugar on Nora’s plate and then traced Nora’s lips with his sugar-coated fingertip.
Wrapping his arms around her, Jed murmured, “Gimme some sugar.”
Nora laughed. At that moment, with Jed holding her and the sunshine streaming in through the windows, Nora felt like she’d regained her balance. Everything was going to be okay. A killer would be brought to justice. Miracle Books would no longer be the target of a smear campaign. And she and Jed would pick up where they’d left off.
With the sugar crystals on her lips twinkling like stars, Nora closed her eyes and kissed her man.
* * *
“When I turned around, Beck was standing in the doorway,” Nora told June, Estella, and Hester later that night. She took a quick sip of water before finishing her story. She’d talked without pausing for the past thirty minutes or more, and her mouth was dry. “He was holding a piece of cloth and he had this look in his eyes that made me feel, well, like he was a wolf and I was a lemming.”
Per Sheldon’s request, the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society had gathered at June’s house instead of the bookshop. Sheldon was in the kitchen, preparing a celebratory dinner. He’d told the women to stay in the living room under penalty of death.
“Good Lord, I would have run out of there like my hair was on fire!” June cried.
Estella put a hand to her head. “Please don’t use ‘hair’ and ‘fire’ in the same sentence. Mrs. Carver fell asleep under my dryer yesterday, and by the time I noticed, she smelled like something you’d scrape off the bottom of Hester’s oven.”
“Are you implying that my oven smells like burnt hair?” Hester asked, wrinkling her nose in revulsion. “Um, not only do I always receive an A grade from the health department, but I was also told by the inspector that I have the cleanest nooks and crannies in the county!”
While Estella tried to hide her mirth behind her wineglass, June shot Hester a cheeky grin and said, “Settle down, Miss English Muffin. If we want to eat before midnight, we need to let Nora finish.”
“I’d rather listen to your banter, but that was pretty much the end of the story,” said Nora. “The sheriff came up behind Beck, forced him to drop the cloth, and read him his rights. Then Jed showed up and walked me home. And since I already told you about our donut date, you’re now officially caught up.”
Estella pointed at Hester. “You’re at bat next. Step up to the plate, girlfriend.”
“If we’re using baseball metaphors, then this is the seventh inning stretch.” Hester jerked her thumb toward the kitchen. “I promised Sheldon that I wouldn’t say a word until we were all at the table together. He said it’s the least I can do after keeping him in the dark about your meeting with Beck.”
“But you were all in the dark,” Nora protested. “The only person he should be mad at is me.”
A crash came from the kitchen. It sounded like an avalanche of pots and pans hitting the floor, and the women exchanged nervous glances.
“See? He’s mad at everyone,” Hester whispered.
Estella saluted Nora with her glass. “But especially you.”
June swatted Estella with a pillow, deliberately mussing her hair, which was immaculately arranged in a high chignon.
“Hey, now! I’m going to Jack’s after this, and I want to look like Queen Elizabeth, not Ms. Frizzle.”
Sheldon poked his head into the room. “Estella, corazón, I haven’t opened a Magic School Bus book in years, but I still have a crush on Ms. Frizzle. Come in here and give me a hand. The rest of you should sit down and get ready for the parade of Cuban dishes!”
Sheldon pressed a button on his smartphone and salsa music danced out of the portable speakers in June’s dining room.
“We begin with mojitos and fried plantains!” he announced.
Estella carried a heavy pitcher garnished with mint leaves into the room. Sheldon was right behind her, balancing a tray of empty glasses in one hand and a platter of sweet fried plantains in the other.
Sheldon pulled out a chair for Estella and said, “No more work for you, Fancy Nancy. I’ve got it from here.”
He hustled back into the kitchen and reappeared with a bowl of avocado salad and a basket of Cuban bread. On his third trip to retrieve food, he danced a salsa, whistling as he swung his hips from side to side.
Nora smiled in relief. If Sheldon was cooking, whistling, and dancing, then he wasn’t that angry.
“Our star attractions for tonight are Arroz con Pollo—that’s rice and chicken for you non-Spanish speakers—and Lechon Asado, the food of the gods. Or, in simple terms, Mojo Marinated Pork.”
“Everything looks and smells beautiful, Sheldon,” Hester said. “This must have taken you all day.”
June gazed at her roommate with pride. “He was already at it when I left for church, and I went to the early service. I invited Dominique to come with me, and she brought her whole family. And her family can sing! Lord, but we had fun. Anyway, when I got back home, the front porch was full of cats. I’ve never heard such yowling and carrying on.”
“They’re my backup singers,” Sheldon explained. “My papa always said that if you sing while you cook, your food will taste like music in people’s mouths.”
Nora picked up her mojito glass. “To our chef, for creating this amazing meal. Not only does he give the best bear hugs and channel Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in his sweater vests, but he also makes life better for everyone who walks into Miracle Books. Including me. To Sheldon!”
The rest of the women toasted Sheldon. He stood up, put one hand on his belly, and bowed. After returning to his seat, he told everyone to start passing dishes.
He scooped fried plantains onto Nora’s plate before serving himself. “Heroes do better with a partner.” He offered the platter to June but kept his eyes on Nora. “Holmes didn’t need help solving cases. He needed Watson’s friendship. Poirot needed Hastings. Monk needed Natalie. You need me. I’m your Robin, so you should tell me when you’re transforming into Batman. I could get the wrinkles out of your cape. Shine your boots. Warm up the Batmobile.”
“Batman kept things from Robin all the time. For his own safety.” Nora handed Sheldon the avocado salad.
Sheldon scowled. “I have chronic pain, but I’m not made of glass.”
“Are you going to sulk through the whole meal?” June asked, holding the breadbasket aloft. “Because if you are, I’ll take my plate of gorgeous food into the kitchen where I can eat in peace.”
“You can’t go anywhere. I want to hear what Hester has to say almost as much as I want to shovel this Arroz con Pollo into my mouth.” Estella looked at Sheldon. “What makes the rice yellow?”
“Cumin and saffron. It’s the ultimate comfort food. My abuela made it whenever she came to visit. All in one pot.” Sheldon’s face softened at the memory. “She would have loved everyone at this table.”
June picked up her glass. “To Abuela!”
After the toast, everyone began to eat. As his friends tried every dish, Sheldon received round upon round of praise. When he’d finally heard enough, he asked Hester to tell them about the investigation.
Hester raised a finger. “Before I get to Beck, I want you all to know that Lazarus Harper has been helping me at the bakery.”
Forks hung in the air. Everyone stopped chewing.
“It’s only temporary,” Hester went on. “After he pays his legal fees and covers the cost of the mirrors he knocked off of those two parked cars, he’ll head back to Pine Hollow. His civil case has finally been rescheduled, and now that Beck’s admitted to selling untested CBD products to Mr. Harper and lots of other people, I believe Lazarus is feeling like a new man.”
Sheldon groaned. “Please tell me that wasn’t a risen-from-the-dead reference.”
Hester laughed. “It was bad, wasn’t it? Okay, on to the serious stuff, starting with the contents of Beck’s pockets. The biggest shocker was the flask of homemade chloroform. He soaked a bandana with it in the front of the bookstore and walked back to the ticket agent’s office. That’s when Sheriff McCabe came up behind him and put the kibosh on his Knockout Nora plan.”
Sheldon raised a brow. “Homemade chloroform? That’s a thing?”
Before Hester could answer, Estella said, “It’s basically chilled bleach combined with acetone. Next to history, chemistry was my favorite subject in school.”
“And you’re an artist by trade,” said Nora.
Estella beamed. “You just earned a free conditioning treatment the next time you come in for a color and cut.”
“What else did Beck have in his pockets?” June asked Hester.
“A murder weapon.” Hester paused for dramatic effect. “After drugging Nora, Beck was going to inject her with liquified wolfsbane. He had a syringe loaded with the stuff. It’s probably the same syringe he used on Celeste. The ME must have missed the injection site.”
Nora remembered the bruises on Celeste’s cheeks and found that she was no longer hungry. “He didn’t miss it. Beck must have forced Celeste’s mouth open and shot the wolfsbane down her throat. He offered her the mustard powder because she swallowed wolfsbane. There was no obvious injection site or evidence that she’d had anything to eat or drink.”
A hush fell over the table, and Nora apologized for ruining the mood.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Sheldon told her. “None of you do. Unless you don’t finish what’s on your plates. That would be unforgivable. Keep going, Hester. We need to get to the end of this story. We need to know that the good guys win.”
There was a murmur of agreement from everyone else, and Hester promised to continue after another bite of pork. She then tore a piece of bread in two and stacked the pieces on top of each other. “Imagine this was Bren’s burger from the night of the festival. A bean patty in a bun. If it looked different, Bren would have noticed. If the texture was off, Bren would have noticed. But what wouldn’t have made her suspicious was a sprinkling of what looked like salt on both her burger and fries.”
“What looks like salt? Superfine sugar?” Estella guessed. “No, that wouldn’t trigger Bren’s allergy.”
“It had to be some kind of red meat. Like beef bouillon granules,” said Nora.
June shook her head. “Ketchup, mustard, relish—I don’t think they could mask the flavor of beef broth. Not enough, anyway.”
“Which is why Beck had to find a tasteless supplement made of freeze-dried organ meats,” said Hester. “He ground up some pills and sprinkled them on Bren’s food. Jasper found the pill bottle in a bag in the trunk of Beck’s rental car. The bottle cost him thirty bucks, which is why he didn’t throw it out. He’s actually been taking the rest of the supplements.”
Sheldon rolled his eyes. “Waste not, want not.”
Hester was still looking at June. “That Friday night you and Nora saw Bren being sick? That was the result of Beck testing out the effectiveness of the pills. He knew which foods Bren liked, so when he left a gift basket full of snacks at Soothe’s back door with a note that said ‘Watson Realty welcomes you to Miracle Springs. Call us for all of your housing needs,’ neither Bren nor Celeste batted an eye. Bren ate the oversized pretzel, just like Beck knew she would, and five hours later, she was sick.”
“That’s seriously twisted.” Nora met June’s eyes. She knew that her friend remembered their interaction with Bren as if it had happened yesterday.
“That’s why she was so upset,” June said. “It had nothing to do with us. Bren’s warning bells were telling her that Wolf Beck had tracked them to Miracle Springs. He must have showed up at her place later on, asking for Juliana’s book. If only she’d told her mama, they might both be alive.”
“Why didn’t she just give the maniac the book?” Estella cried.
Hester shook her head. “She told Beck that her mother hid it before they moved. She had no idea it was inside the mushroom table, and she was furious at Celeste for keeping the hiding place secret. At least, that’s what Beck says.”
He lies.
Celeste’s voice was a faint whisper in Nora’s mind. It seemed fitting that she was present at this table. If only in memory.
There was a stretch of silence before June asked, “Any other sinister stuff in Beck’s pockets?”
Hester speared a plantain with her fork. “His envelope of cash was full of counterfeit bills. The murder case might be complicated, but the penalty for passing counterfeit money is very straightforward. He swears this is the first and only time he’s committed this particular crime, but once is enough. Beck is screwed.”
“Wolf Beck, Maestro of Forgery.” Nora’s tone was acerbic. “Grimoires, money, CBD oil. What else? Paintings by the Old Masters?” Picking up Sheldon’s glass, she gulped down the rest of his mojito.
Estella nudged Hester. “Fast-forward to the happy ending, would ya? Tell us the bastard made a full confession or, better yet, his fake spells worked, and a bunch of demons dragged him straight to Hell.”
“He’ll have a long pit stop in prison first.” Hester’s eyes were on Nora. “Sheriff McCabe is looking at Beck’s financial records, and Jasper’s reviewing his online history. Fuentes and Wiggins went over every inch of his rental car. They have bags of incriminating evidence. I don’t know every detail, but I know they’ve found the organ meat supplements, a jar of mustard powder, and some dried wolfsbane leaves. They also found a pair of hiking boots in the back seat. The crevices in the out-soles are jam-packed with trace bits of food, soil, and glass from Celeste’s apartment.”
“So the good guys are going to win?” Sheldon asked.
Hester’s smile lit up the room. “The good guys are going to win.”
Though tears pricked Nora’s eyes, she really, really didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want to spoil Sheldon’s beautiful meal, so she grabbed his hand. She then reached for June’s hand, and suddenly, everyone at the table was holding hands.
The five of them sat like that, holding hands and fighting back tears, to the accompaniment of an extremely upbeat salsa song.
The scene was so ridiculous that Nora started to laugh. Her friends, encouraged by mojitos and the news that justice would prevail, joined in. The outburst didn’t last long, but the laughter lingered in the air like a bouquet of birthday balloons.
Glancing around at her friends, Nora said, “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
Sheldon threw out his arms in exasperation. “You can’t say that! You haven’t even seen what I made for dessert.”
“We should clean up our dinner plates first,” Hester suggested. “Make some room on the table. And in our bellies.”
Estella loaded her arms with bowls and platters. “I hope our dessert is Cuban too.”
“I don’t have Hester’s touch when it comes to sugary treats, but I make a mean guava cheesecake.”
Estella and June moaned in unison, eliciting another round of laughter.
“There’s something else we need to do tonight,” Nora said as she followed her friends into the kitchen.
They all turned to face her.
“No need to look so serious,” she said. “We just need to vote on our next book pick.”
Sheldon waved her off. “You can do that without me.”
“Actually, we can’t,” Nora argued. “It’ll be the first read of a brand-new book club. And you’re leading it.”
“Me?” Sheldon put his hand over his heart. “Really?”
Nora smiled at her friend. “The Blind Date Book Club will be a night out for book lovers looking to connect with other book lovers on a platonic level. I thought we’d close early the first Thursday of each month. That evening would be reserved for your book club.”
“My book club,” Sheldon repeated in a reverent whisper.
“Is that a yes?” Nora asked.
Sheldon glowed like a star. “I’ve been waiting for a proposal like this my whole life. Yes, Nora Pennington, I will lead this book club.”
The women cheered and Sheldon gave them all fervent kisses on both cheeks. He then opened a drawer and grabbed a handful of forks. “Come on, lovelies. Let’s dig into this cheesecake and talk about fun stuff. Food and friends and . . .” He gestured at Nora, inviting her to finish his thought.
She did so with pleasure. “Books.”