Chapter 5
With the bike race getting ready to start near downtown, Rarity chose to walk to the bookstore first, then head over to the park to open the booth.
She needed to open the shop so Drew and Archer could take the rental chairs back.
When she arrived, someone was already inside the store, leaving the front door open for early shoppers.
Rarity looked around as she let Killer off his leash, but she didn’t see any of her staff.
She headed to the break room and almost ran into Shirley coming out of the room, a mop and bucket in her hands.
“Oh, I hope you don’t want coffee yet. I just scrubbed those floors.
I can’t believe all the trash emergency responders leave on-site after they do the transport.
I get it. They’re in a hurry to get to the hospital, but that wasn’t the case here.
They couldn’t have picked up after themselves?
” Shirley rolled her eyes and set her cleaning tools down.
“I was just about to clean the bathrooms. Might as well while the water’s hot.
Besides, we should get a lot of walk-in traffic here today. ”
“Thanks for stepping in, but you should have locked the door. I hate thinking of you here alone.” She glanced at her watch.
“I need to grab a couple of boxes of books to take with me. Jonathon brought over some yesterday afternoon, but I don’t think it will hold us and I don’t want him to have to leave you here alone. ”
“You worry too much. What could happen in Sedona? Okay, don’t answer that question.
Besides, the boys just left with the rental chairs.
Did you forget they were coming to help this morning?
” Shirley grabbed the mop bucket. “I better get the bathrooms cleaned. Is the crew meeting you here this morning?”
“I think so,” Rarity wondered aloud. She hadn’t mentioned a meeting on Saturday morning, but they’d had one on Friday morning. She guessed she’d see who could read her mind.
As the minutes passed, it seemed all the staff had read Rarity’s mind about a staff meeting. Now, with the floor clean and dry, Katie made coffee and brought out the plate of cookies that Shirley had baked last night. Or probably this morning, knowing her friend.
Rarity made the updates and the new assignments, and afterward, she pulled Darby aside. “I hope you’re okay with working the booth with me. I think Shirley and Jonathon should stay inside today. I worry about them.”
Darby met her gaze. “Me too. I’m glad you’re trying to keep them safe. My grandmother never ever thought about what might happen. She was too busy talking about all the good things coming her way. Definitively a positive force. Now that I’m home, I think I miss her even more.”
“You okay to work today?” Rarity noticed the dark lines under Darby’s eyes. She knew she had another set on her own face.
“I’m fine. Are we ready to go?” Darby clearly didn’t want to talk about what had happened.
“Sure. Grab those boxes and put them on the wagon. We need to resupply the tent.” Rarity got her tote and Killer’s leash.
She wondered if he would ride on top of the boxes in the wagon if the pavement was too hot for his feet.
Maybe on the way back. “Oh, and Marc Billings came by the tent yesterday to see you. Did he find you at the store?”
“I didn’t see him,” Darby said as she adjusted the boxes on the wagon. “But then again, Mason was hanging around most of the afternoon, so I had to keep watching for him. Thank goodness Jonathon was here. Whenever he came near, Jonathon would distract him.”
Jonathon smiled from where he sat at a table, working on his laptop. “All in a day’s work. Oh, and Shirley, Edith said to thank you for the call yesterday. She needed some girl time.”
“Actually, I think you put her up to calling. If I hadn’t stopped it, she would have been here waiting on me hand and foot at the hospital.” She stared at Jonathon. “I’ll tell you when I need hand-holding.”
“Yes, ma’am. No wonder you and Edith get along so well.
You’re both strong-willed women.” He stood and walked with Rarity, Katie, and Darby.
When they’d wrangled the wagon outside, he leaned next to Rarity.
“Edith was already in the car when Shirley told her to not come. Don’t tell Shirley that, though. ”
“I won’t. Although if things had gone a different way, having Edith here would have been a godsend.
Especially this weekend. So thank her for me.
” Rarity reached down and laid her hand on the part of the sidewalk that was in the sun.
“I think you can walk, Killer. Just let me know if you need to be picked up.”
Jonathon laughed as she started after the other women and the wagon. “Does he tell you everything he needs?”
“Of course he does. You just have to pay attention.” Rarity waved and hurried to catch up.
They’d need to open right after they got these books out.
Several town residents had asked about books that Rarity hadn’t had on hand yesterday, or had run out of, so she hoped they either had gone into the store or would come back today.
This weekend might just refill her emergency fund and leave money over for Rarity to be able to send some to her personal emergency fund too.
When she caught up, Darby was telling Katie about her run-ins with Mason Pike.
She looked up at Rarity as she talked. “Look, I know I should have said something sooner. Next time I will. I thought I could handle it. I don’t understand why Marc keeps showing up, though.
He sent me flowers, thanking me for handling him during the book signing.
He’s too nice for his own good. Some girls would take advantage of that goodwill. ”
Katie snorted and met Rarity’s gaze. “You need to tell her because she’s not getting it.”
“I’m just the boss. I probably shouldn’t even know about this.” Rarity smiled back at Katie. “Okay, if you’re too chicken, I’ll say it.”
She stopped walking and put her hands on Darby’s shoulders. “Dear, innocent Darby. Marc Billings sent you flowers, not only to thank you, but because he’s interested in dating you. Like for real.”
Rarity had to use that phrasing on the end since Darby loved saying it. Besides, it might get the point across.
“He likes me. Like, likes me?” Darby looked between Rarity and Katie. They stood at the corner, waiting for the light to change. People were piling up behind them and the chatter was loud.
When the other two nodded, Darby sighed. “Great, one more guy who I can’t be with wants my attention. Can I just tell the universe enough all ready? She keeps throwing all these guys at me, even though I want to find the one all on my own.”
“The answer will come, grasshopper, when you least expect it,” Rarity said in her best mystical voice. “Ohhh, maybe we should have Madame Zelda do a reading for you. Then you can pick logically between all the suitors.”
“Let’s not.” Darby nodded to the light since it had changed. As she stepped out onto the street, a black truck flew through the intersection and the red light.
Rarity saw the truck coming and grabbed Darby’s shirt, stopping her forward movement. Her heart pounded as she watched the truck go through the space where Darby would have been. She kept holding on and tried to slow her breathing.
People crowded past them, and Rarity unfroze enough to reach down to pick up Killer so he didn’t get mixed up in the crowd. When they were gone, she turned back to Darby, who looked like she was still in shock. “You all right?”
Darby shook her head. “Because you saved me. What is up with people today? And look, now we missed the walk light.”
“We can wait for another light. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Rarity looked up and saw the red-light camera on the light pole. She was going to call Drew and make sure the driver of the black truck had a really bad day. Someone needed to besides her and her staff.
At the tent, she let Katie and Darby set up the new books and used Killer as an excuse to leave the tent. As soon as she was outside of earshot, she called Drew.
“I told you ten. Not eight fifteen,” he said.
“I’m not calling about that.” She heard a dog barking in the background and knew he must be at home.
Jonathon and Edith had recently adopted the dog from the humane society where Jonathon had just started volunteering.
“I didn’t know Jonathon brought Romeo. He can bring him to the bookstore while he’s there, I must have told him that. ”
“My father has been a little distracted. Besides, he thought Mom was coming, but then Shirley shut her down. Why are you calling me then?”
Rarity told him about the speeding black truck that ran the red light.
“I know your crew is running thin this weekend, but that guy’s going to kill someone.
He would’ve killed Darby if I hadn’t stopped her from stepping off the curb.
He was way too close to the sidewalk too, now that I think about it. ”
Drew was silent for a moment, and she assumed he was writing what she’d told him down. “Rarity, you don’t think he was actually trying to hit her, do you?”
After the call, Rarity was still thinking about Drew’s last question when she ran into Marc Billings heading toward the start of the race. She waved at him. “I won’t keep you since they need you to start the race, but thanks for sending Darby flowers. It really made her feel appreciated.”
A frown came over his face. “I didn’t send her flowers, but I should have, right? She’s been so great helping me with this signing, I should have thought about that. Sorry, I need to run, but I’ll fix my error as soon as this race is done.”
Rarity watched him run off and then sighed. Killer looked up at her. “Let’s get back to the tent. I think there’s something going wonky around your friend, Darby. Now I’m freaking out.”