Ink and Shadows(Secret, Book, & Scone Society #4)(43)

“I don’t like the idea of using booze to coerce her.”

Sheldon looped his index finger through the handles of their empty coffee mugs and stood up. “You know what they say about extraordinary circumstances.”

“They call for extraordinary measures?”

Sheldon spread his hands. “Where I come from, that’s called tequila.”

*

Nora sent a group text to the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society detailing her plan to visit Celeste. She then asked what evening would work best. After a brief flurry of messages, the group settled on Thursday.

Nora was just penciling the event on her desk calendar when Hester sent another text.

We can’t show up with food and expect C to talk. It’s too much pressure. We need a distraction. It’s not a Pictionary or card game kind of night.

Nora thought about the various books she had on grieving. Some of the workbooks included activities like journaling, writing letters to loved ones, creating memory boards, or filling a box with special objects.

One of my books will have the answer, she replied. I’ll find something.

And then Estella typed. It’s gonna be awkward. Should we bring wine?

June and Hester sent thumbs-up emojis.

Nora refused to use emoticons, so she just typed, Yes.

She put her phone away and glanced out the window in time to see the trolley from the lodge pass by. The morning rush was about to begin.

Nora carried a broom outside and swept the sidewalk in front of the shop. The painted pumpkin from last week’s festival was still in the planter, but without the farm-to-table context, its food quote had lost its charm. Nora decided to replace it with a plain pumpkin.

After relocating the black pumpkin to the stockroom, she jogged up the street to the hardware store where she bought a tall pumpkin with a twisty stem, a flowering kale, and a creeping Jennie. She planted the kale and the creeping Jennie in the front half of her container and deposited the pumpkin in the back.

She was watering the plants when a couple approached the display window. Nora saw them out of the corner of her eye, but the woman spoke before she had the chance to turn and say hello.

“Didn’t our guide tell us to skip this store?”

“Yep,” answered the man.

“Well, I’m not going to listen to her. I like bookstores. Don’t you, Hank?”

“Yep.”

Nora stepped aside to give the couple a wide berth. She didn’t follow them into the shop. Instead, she glanced up and down the sidewalk, searching for other lodge visitors. They were easy to pick out of a crowd because every guest received a turquoise shopping tote with the lodge logo upon checkin.

Nora saw two women carrying the telltale totes pause in front of a clothing boutique. After briefly examining a piece of paper, they entered the shop. What was written on that piece of paper? A list of shops to visit? Or a list of shops to skip?

A vision of Connie’s face surfaced in Nora’s mind.

“I’ll kill her,” she muttered, and marched into the bookstore.

For once, she didn’t notice the rainbow-colored book spines or smell the sweet perfume of coffee, leather, and paper. She didn’t hear the companionable creak of pine boards under her feet or the delightful sigh of pages being turned. The only thing that got through the hornet’s nest of anger in her head was the hiss of the espresso machine’s steam wand.

Nora felt like the milk Sheldon was heating. She was a whirlpool of air bubbles on the brink of scalding, and only one thing could cool her down. She needed to pair the right book with the right reader. If she could make a bookish match, she could stop her world from tilting for a little while.

She found the man named Hank and the woman he’d come in with browsing new releases in the Mystery section. After introducing herself, Nora asked if they needed any help.

“I believe we do,” said the woman. She pointed at her chest. “I’m Gertie and this is my husband, Hank. We’re visiting Hank’s sister this Thanksgiving, and I’d like to take her a hostess gift. She loves to read but is very particular about her books. She can’t abide swearing, intense violence, or adult content, if you catch my drift.”

“I do,” said Nora. “Is she a fan of mysteries?”

“She’s wild about them. She has a huge collection of Agatha Christie novels, and she’s read most of them twice. I’d like to give her more mysteries like those. Classy and clean.”

“Should we stick to books set in England?”

Gertie considered this. “I think she’s ready for a new setting. In fact, I bet she’d love a Southern setting. She lives in a small town in Mississippi. She has two cats, a dog, and several horses. She volunteers at her local animal shelter and at the library. She’s a wonderful woman.”

Nora smiled. “Sure sounds like it. And you’d be wonderful sister-in-law for introducing her to a new series set in Mississippi. I know of two terrific candidates.” She pulled a book off the shelf and handed it to the woman. “I have a feeling that your sister-in-law would get a kick out of Carolyn Haines’s sleuth, Sarah Booth Delaney. She’s an unconventional Southern belle with a penchant for solving crimes, and Ms. Haines is an animal lover and advocate.”

“How fabulous. And I see that it’s a long-running series, so if my sister-in-law falls in love with the first book, we can buy her more for Christmas!” Gertie pocketed her phone and passed Them Bones to her husband. “Would you hold on to this, Hank?”