“It’s that bad?” he asked. “Should I feed it to the pigeons during my lunch break?”
Nora shoved the bag into the trash can under the register. “I won’t be held responsible for the deaths of innocent animals.”
Sheldon picked up the single bookmark that had fallen off the spinner and handed it to Nora.
“Why do I feel like things are about to get interesting around here?”
A customer entered and he and Sheldon disappeared into the stacks.
Nora didn’t even notice them. She was too busy staring at a photograph of a stained-glass window. The figure in the center of the window was an angel.
As she held the bookmark, Nora’s uneasiness from that morning returned. Angels were supposed to be symbols of light and protection.
But there was another kind of angel. The fallen kind.
The ones who became devils.
Chapter 2
The poets have taught us how full of wonders is the night; and the night of blindness has its wonders too.
—Helen Keller
Over the next few days, Nora was too busy to give much thought to the Leopold women. Sheldon wasn’t feeling well on Thursday, which meant Nora had to run the children’s story hour. Though she was happy to read Ten Apples Up on Top! to a bunch of squirming toddlers, she couldn’t oversee the coordinating activity, serve coffee, and assist walk-in customers.
Luckily for her, the only walk-in customer who needed help was Sheriff Grant McCabe. The sheriff was a friend, and since he was off duty, he sat down and watched as Nora distributed printouts of apple trees to the children. She then gave them a sheet of red circle stickers.
“You’re going to put ten apples on top of your tree,” Nora told the kids. “Be careful not to use too many or your tree will get too heavy. Then, this might happen.” Using her left hand, she mimed a falling motion and let out a high-pitched “Plop!”
The children giggled.
“So how many apples do you need to put in your tree?”
“Ten!” the kids cried.
“Five?” Feigning confusion, Nora put her finger to her chin.
“TEN!” the kids happily screamed.
“Okay.” Nora smiled. “I also need a little counting help from the grown-ups. Since there’s only one of me, I’m only serving coffee or tea this morning. So may I have a show of hands? Who’d like regular coffee? Four of you. Tea? One. Decaf? Two. Okay, got it. I’ll get those ready while you and your kiddos work on your apple trees.”
The sheriff followed Nora into the ticket agent’s office. “I take it Sheldon’s having one of his bad days.”
“Yep,” Nora said without rancor. The benefits of having Sheldon Vega as an employee and friend far outweighed his occasional absences.
“Can I help?”
Nora pointed at the pegboard on the back wall. “Grab some mugs, will you? Seven in total. Make sure they’re rated PG.”
“So I shouldn’t hand you the one that says ‘I Don’t Want to Do Anything Today Except Jamie Fraser’？”
Nora crooked her fingers in a gimme gesture. “That’ll be fine. These kids can’t read yet. I was referring to the mug with the gun handle. Or the mug with the grim reaper that says ‘Give Me Coffee or Die.’ ”
The sheriff chuckled. “That’s one of my favorites.”
“Well, you get a free coffee for helping, so take your pick.” Nora poured him a coffee. “Did you come by to sit in on storytime, or are you in the market for a new book?”
“Both. I love Ten Apples Up on Top! and I’m going on vacation next week.” McCabe lined up the mugs on the window ledge next to the pitcher of half-and-half and packets of various sweeteners.
Nora called out, “Regular coffees are ready!” To the sheriff, she said, “You mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I forgot about it. Where are you going? Anywhere exotic?”
“Depends if you consider a Texas goat farm exotic.” When Nora shot him a questioning look, he said, “I’m visiting my sister, which means I need airplane reading for myself and a book for my sister. Something nice, since she’s feeding me and putting me up.”
As Nora filled three mugs with boiling water, she mulled over the sheriff’s request. “Have you heard of Nuking the Moon?”
“Nope, but I’m intrigued by the title.”
“It’s a book describing some seriously crazy plans that the US military and intelligence came up with and, for various reasons, abandoned. Using cats as listening devices, for example. It was put together by the curator of the International Spy Museum.”