“Won’t your smoking hot boyfriend be jealous?”
“He left for the coast this morning. His mom is sick.”
Sheldon made a sympathetic noise. “Poor her. And poor him. That six-hour drive must wear on him. Why doesn’t he convince her to move to Miracle Springs?”
“When Jed took the job here, I don’t think he planned on staying for more than a couple of years.”
“And now?”
Nora fidgeted with the credit card receipts. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”
“Relationships are hard,” Sheldon said. “But burgers are easy, and since I’m feeling especially fabulous, we should go to the party. You need to be seen, mija. You need to smile and show those judgy women that their silly page-four article didn’t bother you one bit.” Leaning over the counter, he whispered, “If you ask me nicely, I might even wear a witch hat.”
“Stick with your fedora, okay?”
Sheldon laughed. “Okay.”
Feeling happy for the first time in days, Nora spent the next hour doing what she did best: matching books with readers. She’d just finished recommending Tad Williams to a Tolkien fan when Hester entered the shop. She wore a jean jacket over a floral dress and her curls were gathered into a messy bun. She looked ready for a night out. Until Nora noticed the anxious expression on her friend’s face.
“Have you talked to Celeste since that article came out?” Hester whispered when they were alone.
“Yeah. On Tuesday,” Nora said. “I dropped by Soothe with coffee. Bren was barely awake and didn’t say a word, but Celeste was totally fine. She told me that she expects people to be suspicious of her products and looks forward to educating them. I wish I could be as relaxed as she is about all of this. I envy her.”
Hester put her phone on the counter. “She’s probably not relaxed now. Look.”
Nora examined the image on the phone screen. It took her a moment to understand that she was looking at the angel in front of Celeste’s store. Someone—she assumed it wasn’t Celeste—had put a plastic devil mask over the angel’s face and taped a plastic pitchfork to her marble robe.
“Jasper’s at Soothe now, talking to Celeste,” Hester said. “I told him to meet me here when he’s done. Do you think one of those women did this?”
“Seems more like a kid’s prank.” Nora pointed at the photo. “This stuff is for sale at the dollar store. Anyone with a couple of bucks could have bought it.”
Hester passed a finger over her screen. “Tell me if you still think that after you see the Red Bird sign.”
The second photograph was a close-up shot of the cardinal on the gift shop’s sign, which had been carved and painted by a local Cherokee woodworker. A graffiti artist had given the bird a pair of black horns and a pointy beard.
“It’s permanent marker.” Hester’s voice was tight with anger. “Marie is really upset. I’m upset. First, the article. Now, they’re marking places with a devil. Wow. Just wow.”
Nora pushed the phone away. She didn’t want to look at the marred bird for another second.
“If the devils are a product of that stupid article, then I’ll be getting one too.”
Nora remembered the day she’d come to work to find that someone had thrown a brick through her display window. The jagged hole in the glass had felt like a gut punch.
Though the damage had been repaired, it had been harder for Nora to let go of the feeling that she’d been violated. Miracle Books meant everything to Nora Pennington, and an attack on her bookstore was an attack against her. It had physically hurt to see the shattered window and ruined books. And it looked like it might be happening again.
“I’ll kill anyone who screws with my shop,” Nora growled.
Hester touched Nora’s hand. “It won’t come to that. Deputy Fuentes scheduled patrols to drive by your store all weekend. He’s in charge until McCabe comes back.”
“That’s a start,” Nora said, laying a piece of copier paper on the counter. She uncapped a black marker and began writing. A minute later, she showed Hester the finished product.
SMILE! YOU’RE ON CAMERA!
Hester frowned. “But you don’t have a security system.”
“No one else needs to know that,” Nora hissed.
Deputy Andrews entered the shop. When he paused to hold the door for the cookbook enthusiast who carried a bagful of books in each hand, Nora asked Hester why she was in her party dress when her boyfriend was in uniform.