She’d just given a customer his receipt for a pile of books on baking bread, brewing beer, and canning fruits and vegetables when Estella breezed into the bookshop. In her calico dress, cowboy boots, and straw hat, she looked like the cover model for a romance novel about a farmer’s wife.
Though most of the customers in line openly admired her, Estella didn’t flash a single coy smile. She’d exchanged her coquettish behavior for the respect and patronage of the local women. Without their support, Estella’s business couldn’t survive.
Besides, she didn’t need to flirt anymore. She was in love with Jack Nakamura. And love looked good on Estella. She was as radiant as a new bride.
“I brought lunch,” she said, sashaying behind the checkout counter with a reusable shopping bag in hand.
After thanking her customer, Nora turned and beamed at Estella. “You’re an angel.”
Estella cackled. “Puh-lease. A halo would limit my hairstyles. Anyway, I have ninety minutes until my next appointment, so sit down and eat. You can tell me how to use the register in between bites. It’s a food festival, after all.”
“What about Sheldon?” Nora asked after greeting the next customer in line. She used the price gun to scan the barcode on the back of each book while Estella watched with interest.
“Hester’s taking care of Sheldon. She slipped in while you were making change for that hottie in the cowboy hat.”
Estella observed two more transactions before declaring that she was ready to take over.
Nora never ate in front of her customers, but she decided to break her own rule just this once. The shopping bag held a bottle of iced tea, a sandwich, and a container of fruit salad. The salad was a refreshing blend of apples, pears, grapes, and pecans tossed in a light yogurt dressing. The sandwich was a grilled ham and Brie on honey wheat.
“This looks incredible,” said Nora.
“It’s all from the same vendor. He uses food from local farms, and his wife’s the bread maker. If she and Hester hadn’t started talking about sourdough, we’d have been here sooner.”
Nora cleaned her hands with a wet wipe and bit into her sandwich. It was warm and delicious, and the caramelized onions and apple spread perfectly balanced the saltiness of the ham and cheese. She polished off both halves in the time it took Estella to complete five transactions.
Nora had just loaded her fork with fruit salad when the woman at the front of the line asked, “Do you ladies know why Soothe is closed? A couple from my hotel said that I could get CBD products there. My dad’s arthritis has gotten really bad, and I’d do anything to help him.”
Nora slid off her stool and leaned over the counter, encouraging the woman to lean over too.
“The owner just lost a family member, and I don’t expect her to reopen anytime soon,” Nora whispered. “And I’m not trying to talk you into buying more from me, but Sheldon, the handsome man in the back making the world’s best coffee, is a bit of an expert on arthritis. On chronic pain, in general. He might be able to give you a few ideas.”
The woman left her books at the counter and stepped out of line. Nora led her to the ticket agent’s office, and within minutes, she and Sheldon were sitting in the readers’ circle, lost in conversation. Nora took Sheldon’s place behind the espresso machine and told Hester to stop washing mugs.
“You already worked at the bakery this morning. You don’t need to work here too.”
Hester dried her hands on a dishrag. “I want to help. I’m worried about you. After everything that happened last night.” She shook her head, took a deep breath, and went on. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sheldon told me about the pumpkin. I thought those wolves were going to leave you alone. Guess I was wrong.”
Nora pulled a face. “I hope it’s the last message they send. When the news about Bren breaks, people should think twice about hounding their neighbors. Especially a neighbor who just lost her daughter.”
“That’s what decent people would do, yeah. But if Celeste reopens the store, she might still be a target. These women might focus on the CBD products and ignore the grieving mom bit.”
They stopped talking for a few minutes while Nora made a Jack London and Hester heated up two chocolate book pockets.
“Where’s Celeste? Do you know?” Nora asked when they were alone again.
“In her apartment. The social worker is with her. Nora, she really has no one. No family. No close friends. We’re lucky, you know?” Another head shake. “Jasper said that she was given a sedative last night and managed to get a little sleep. This morning, he stopped by to check on her. She was kind of groggy, but she grabbed his hand and whispered that they should have gotten out of the community sooner. Jasper tried to figure out what she meant by that, but he couldn’t get a clear answer.”