Chapter 5 #2
The tent was busy with customers when she got back, and Rarity fell into place after tying Killer up to the leg of the table next to his bed.
She didn’t have a chance to pull Darby aside to ask about the flowers until a few hours later.
The race had started to have winners announced as they came back from the trail ride.
The local radio station was live streaming the race, and she watched Darby smile as she listened to Marc talk about the different leaders.
When the tent emptied out, she pulled Darby aside. “What made you think Marc sent the flowers? Did he sign the card?”
Darby had just restocked the kids’ section and looked up at her from where she was kneeling on the ground, tucking the box back under the table.
“No, it was from what he said. He thanked me for watching out for him. It’s what he said when he first arrived and you told him I’d be helping.
Remember? He said that he needed someone to watch over him. ”
Rarity did remember now, but instead of it sounding romantic like it had on Wednesday, now it had an ominous tone. “You need to tell Drew. Marc didn’t send the flowers.”
Rarity called Drew.
“Seriously, you need to give me some time,” he groused as he answered the phone. “The autopsy ran late and I don’t have the report yet.”
“It’s not that. It’s about Darby. We think she got flowers from the stalker guy.” Rarity turned away from the front as a few customers walked inside. She walked over to the back table, pretending to move around books.
“You think?” Drew asked. “Isn’t it a yes or no question? Did she get flowers or not?”
“She got flowers with an unsigned card. She thought they were from Marc, but he just told me he didn’t send flowers. Is there any way you can come over and talk with her? She’s freaking out a bit.”
“I’ll be there in ten. I’m over at the winner’s circle watching the racers come in. Your new friend Marc is a very entertaining moderator.” He hung up the call and Rarity turned to the sales table, just as someone came up with several racing books, including Marc’s.
“I never thought I’d like watching bike racing, but this was a blast. We’re here for the film festival this week.
We were over at your bookstore last night.
What a creative way to get people to a signing.
Mason is a legend in the indie horror community.
I’m glad my new film isn’t in his category.
He can be vicious when he wants to win.” The woman, dressed in linen shorts and a silk tank, handed Rarity her credit card.
Her blond hair was cut in a straight bob and made her face even narrower.
“You should come to my showing tonight. It’s over at the Sedona Pix at six.
I’m telling everyone since I probably won’t get a lot of buzz from the festival organizers.
It’s all about the OGs like Mason at this festival, but I still wanted to come and see how the film’s received.
Here’s a card about it. It’s a love story. ”
Rarity handed her the credit card receipt and looked at the card. It listed the movie and the producer’s name matched the one on the credit card. Miranda Vail. “Mountain Valley Meet-Cute? It sounds fun, Miranda. Thanks for the invite. I’ll try to get over there.”
“I know, everyone’s busy. But you and your staff really should come. Especially after seeing Mason’s movie. Mine’s so much better than that one ever dreamed of being.”
Katie came up to the table with a pile of books for the next customer.
She picked up the card that Miranda had left and read the blurb as Rarity handled the purchase.
After the customer left, she held out the business card.
“I saw this woman at the movie last night. She put one of these on every seat before the movie started. She’s very smart with her marketing. ”
“She’s definitely focused on marketing. I thought the racers would be our competitive group this weekend, but it seems like the movie producers are that way too.
” Rarity looked at the flyer. “Maybe we should go to a few of the movies this week. It’s been a little crazy around here.
A movie might be fun. I’ll bring it up at book club.
This one will already be done, but I bet we could get some tickets for Wednesday or Thursday. ”
Katie was already on her phone. “There are three in the evening on Wednesday. We’d probably want the early slot, right? Should I just get ten tickets? That’s the max for one order.”
Rarity counted up the numbers of regulars plus Archer and Drew.
Then she had to add Terrance, if Shirley went.
She wondered how long Jonathon and Kathy would be in town.
“Right now, I have eleven on my mental list. But if Kathy goes, Terrance probably won’t, so ten should be enough.
If we have more, we’ll try for additional seats on Tuesday. Thanks for doing that.”
“No problem. I’m going to at least two movies a day from now until next Saturday night when they announce the winners. Jared’s studying movie production.” Katie’s face turned red.
“Jared? Who’s that?” Rarity hadn’t heard Katie talk about a guy, ever.
“Jared’s her boyfriend,” Darby said as she came up to the table. “I saw them kissing last night before the movie started.”
“We might need more tickets, then.” Rarity asked Katie to send her the link where she could order tickets. “I’m going to get another ten. If we decide we’re not going, I’ll give them away at the register Wednesday morning.”
“Jared and I will definitely go. He was so excited to meet Mason Pike last night. You would have thought he was a real celebrity.”
“Maybe in that world, he is.” Rarity watched as Drew and Malia came into the tent. Darby needed to talk to Drew, and Rarity was starving. At least they were at a good stopping point for lunch. Customers had dwindled off after Miranda left the tent. Probably heading somewhere for lunch.
And with a break, Rarity had time to think about what Miranda had said about Mason. Were the movie festival attendees as competitive as it appeared they were? She really needed Drew to tell her if Mason’s death was from natural causes.