Chapter 19 #2
I stirred my coffee, still thinking about Matty and Josh. Had she asked him to help get the jewelry back from her robbery partner in crime? Just as I was about to say something, Evie came into the store, followed by Andrew and Zara.
“Hey, boss lady. I’m going to supervise as these two fly solo this afternoon.
Tell your sister-in-law we don’t need her tonight.
Deek and I have it covered. But if I don’t see her before she leaves, she needs to know she rocked it.
” Evie pointed the two new baristas to the counter.
“Go wash up and get ready to start your shift. Your bosses are watching your every move.”
Evie came and stood by Darla and me. “So what’s going on here? Solving the world’s problems using scented markers?”
“You’re kind of nosy. You know that, right?” Darla finished her coffee. “I need to go and try to write up something about the murder for next week’s edition. I was hoping you’d have information about that, not some insurance fraud.”
“Insurance fraud is a real thing,” Evie added to the conversation.
“In class last year, my professor went over tooth and nail on what was and wasn’t stealing from your employer.
He even had a timeline that listed the amount of insurance claims filed per year.
It’s no wonder our insurance rates keep going up. ”
“Thank you, Professor Evie,” Darla teased. “Maybe you should give a presentation at the next business meeting.”
“I was just—” Evie realized Darla was teasing her. “What? Too much information for this early in the morning?”
Darla was already walking out and didn’t even look back as she waved. I laughed as my phone beeped. Amy was at work and had the information I’d asked for. “Are you serious about not needing me for the rest of my shift?”
“I’m putting them both through a trial by fire. How else will we know if they can do a shift on their own?” Evie groaned when Beth came into the bookstore. “And I forgot to call you. Unless you need the money, we don’t need you to work today or tomorrow.”
“I was working to stay busy and help out, not for the money. Jill and I can do some Christmas shopping, or I could just work on my book,” Beth added as she looked over at me. My face must have been reacting to the idea of shopping. Not my favorite activity.
“I’m heading over to see Amy now, then we can shop here or go to Bakerstown or wherever.
I’m your personal tour guide until you take off on Monday.
” I was glad that we’d have a couple of days together.
Beth and I had been so busy the last few days that we hadn’t talked about what she was going to do when she went back to Nebraska.
I knew she was taking the job, but what about Jim?
“Okay, let me just grab a book for the flight and I’ll be ready.” Beth disappeared into the bookshelves as I took off my apron.
“Thanks for taking over the training, Evie.”
“No problem. I have a vested interest in seeing them succeed since I recommended them. I don’t want you to think I hang out with flakes.” She took the end-of-shift clipboard off the counter. “We’ll take care of this too.”
“I’m beginning to think I’m not needed here,” I teased. Kind of. First Deek was making me feel like he had it all under control. Now Evie was showing the same maturity with the job.
“That will never happen. None of us like working the early shift and you’ve developed a huge customer base who like their coffee at the crack of dawn.” She glanced over at Beth, who was deciding between two books. “She fits into the team. Too bad she lives in Nebraska.”
“Believe me, I’ve thought the same thing several times since I met her.” I took the book that Beth tried to hand to Evie to buy and gave it back to Beth. “Put that on my account. It’s my little thank-you for stepping in when we were swamped.”
“It wasn’t a problem at all,” Beth protested, but then she put the book in her tote. “Thank you.”
“Let’s go see what Amy has before she leaves for the day. She said she was only working until noon.” I made sure one more time that Evie was set and didn’t need me. Then we headed outside to the sunny day.
Beth stopped to admire the Christmas display in front of City Hall. “This is beautiful at night because of the lights, but during the day, it’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit when so many people are wearing shorts.”
“Not a winter wonderland.” I reached out and turned over the Santa Is In sign to its Santa Went Back to the North Pole side.
The man playing Santa only did weekend appearances until the last week before Christmas, and then he was here through New Year’s.
Except for Christmas Day. South Cove would be a ghost town that day, except for the beach, if it was nice. “Are you from Nebraska?”
“Oh, no. I grew up in Oregon. Probably why the New Hope cult drew me in as a study case. I went to college in Omaha and never left. Yet, that is.” She lifted her face to the sun.
“If Jim and I break up, I may just come here to work after I finish this degree. Of course, it’s all going to hinge on who’s willing to hire me. ”
“A professor with cult knowledge should be a slam dunk here in California. The whole country thinks we’re wacka-doodles here anyway.” I held open the door. “We’re filled with surfers and people who use alternative medicine instead of going to normal doctors.”
“Are you trying to sell South Cove to Beth or warn her away?” Amy stood and came around her desk to greet us.
“We’re also big on being outdoors and living healthy.
And we get more sunny days than Omaha. I can look it up if you want.
There’s a website that can compare the weather of two cities.
Hold on and I can tell you what the temperature is in Omaha. ”
“It’s a balmy thirty-two with snow expected this evening.” Beth held her phone up. “I have the weather app. I’m not thinking about moving. Yet.”
“But I keep tempting her,” I added. “So did you find Matty’s business application?”