Chapter 23
ELYSE
When Holly finished helping Jenna at the bakery the next Saturday, she came into the bookstore.
"I can actually use your help with a few displays," I said as she stood staring at the mess I'd created getting myself organized.
"So summer is in full swing, and usually what I do is pick a summer-themed book and then find some things that would make good clues.
Customers come in and try to guess the book.
I showed her some pictures that I had on my phone of displays that I'd done in past years.
"I did these a few Christmases ago. See how for The Velveteen Rabbit I have a stuffed rabbit, a toy soldier, a wheelbarrow, a sprig of holly and some oranges?
And for The Night Before Christmas, I have a few things that have to do with The Night Before Christmas, like a stocking cap and a chimney that I built out of some cardboard bricks. "
"I love it! This sounds like fun," she said.
We pulled together some books and fun clues to put on each display table.
"These look great," I said.
The first table had a rolled up beach towel, a foam heart we’d found under the front counter, two pens and two notebooks: one with a crossed-out heart on the cover and one with a big red heart.
The second table had a wedding cake topper and a Barbie I’d borrow from Sarah’s daughter. The doll was lying at the bottom of a cliff we’d constructed using a large rock and some toothpaste spread out under plastic wrap.
The third table was going to be more of a challenge. A tennis racket, antique camera, tiny surfboard, and a microphone were staged around a pint-sized disco ball.
"Now all we need to do is put the jars and the slips of paper and pens somewhere on the table so people can make their guesses.
We'll separate all the correct answers out after summer ends, and one lucky winner per table will get a gift card to the store.
This gives them an opportunity to buy a book that's on their 'To be Read' list."
"This is a lot of fun, Aunt Elyse," she said. "You do this all the time?"
"I sure do. I started doing this during winter and it grew so popular, I started putting tables up throughout the year. We have people stopping in regularly to see if the they're up yet."
"Well, I'll be stopping in regularly to see how many answers are in the jar."
"You can help me separate them out at the end of the summer."
"Fun!" She looked over our work, her eyes settling on the last table which was always the hardest. "Do you ever see people reaching in to see if they could get the answer?"
"Never. It seems that people know that they're on their honor. We've yet to catch anyone in the act anyways."
"Well, that's good," she said with a chuckle.
"Now that we are done with this, I'm going to get a few things done in the office."
"Do I need to do anything if someone comes in?"
"You could say hi. But I have a display in the back that shows me people coming in and out the door. And there's the bell above the door but I very seldom hear it because I'm here every day, and it just kind of blends in with the rest of the noises that go on in a bookstore."
Holly stopped rearranging the bookmarks on the sales counter and looked at me.
"What kind of noises?" she said.
"Like, you know, odd noises. Like last week I was putting away books when I heard the bell ring, and when I looked over there, there was nobody in the store."
"Nobody?"
"No, but there was a man standing outside looking in the window."
"Well, that's creepy," she said.
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"Did you know who it was?"
"Not really. I thought he looked familiar, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure."
"Well, hopefully that doesn't happen today."
"No kidding. Well, go ahead and look around and tell me if there's anything you see that interests you. I'll be out in about thirty minutes."
"Sounds good."
I left her with a small project of putting away books that had come in that I had already put into the inventory. Before I headed to the back, I showed her how the stacks were organized and how to find where they went by looking in the computer.
Within a few minutes of sitting down at my desk, a message came through on Facebook.
Help needed, I saw in the preview window. I was intrigued.
Dear vigilante, I need your help, and I have heard that you're just the person for me.
I am fairly certain that my husband is seeing another woman.
He says he's going to the gym, but he's looked exactly the same for months, and while he does occasionally come home needing a shower, I doubt it's from lifting weights.
From what I hear, you've helped quite a few women in my situation, and I'm hoping you can help me.
Please message me back when you get this.
I set my phone face down on the desk. I didn't want to get distracted when I had so much work to do.
I went through my emails from local authors and began planning some events at the store, listing out some possible events.
I put an order in for some new books that were coming out on the next few publication days, and within thirty minutes, I was back out in the store.
And even though I knew that I needed to think about what Drew and the other ladies had said, I still was considering the message I'd read.