Casey handed the woman her change. The sweet old lady in front of her picked up her bag of Regency romances and drifted out the door. Casey watched her, smiling gently, it was wonderful to see proof that one was never too old for romance. She closed the cash door and walked over to see how Michael was coming along with the new window display.
He and Gail were crouched over the display case, deep in conversation about whether or not Agatha Christie should have her own section or be mixed in as a part of the whole murder mystery theme. They didn’t hear Casey approach until she was nearly on top of them.
Looking up sharply, Gail exclaimed in her slightly nasal mid-western twang, “Ms. Adams, You startled me.” She sat back on the floor with a thump and grimaced as she landed on the corner of a book. “Ow.” She removed the book from under her posterior and handed it to Michael with an embarrassed smile.
Gail was…the answer to all their prayers. Even if her hair was blue.
Her family had recently moved from Idaho, her father having been relocated with his job to an even smaller town in Minnesota. Gail, old enough to be on her own but not yet sure what she wanted to be when she grew up, had decided to see the world. As she was also a Canadian citizen by way of her mother she had decided to try out her luck in Vancouver, a place as different from Idaho as she could ever have imagined. Casey admired the girl’s bravery, having done something similar herself when she originally moved out here six years ago.
Michael smiled down at the girl with obvious interest as he helped her to her feet.
Once more upright, Gail turned to Casey with a small frown. “I thought you weren’t coming in today? That’s why I’m here on a Sunday isn’t it?” She shot a questioning glance at Michael. “I didn’t think you needed me Sunday’s if the two of you were going to be here.” She referred to the schedule Casey had posted the previous day.
Casey had Sundays and Mondays off, Michael had Tuesday and Wednesday off, and Gail only worked Sunday to Wednesday during the busiest hours and Saturday along with Casey and Michael as it tended to be one of their craziest days. So far it looked like the schedule would work out quite well, Casey could patrol or mountain bike, depending on the season, and still have a day off to recover, do her laundry and grocery shopping, Michael would be able to get a break and they would always have two people working.
Casey smiled. “I’m not really here.” She joked. “No really.” She bent down to straighten a book that had been knocked over in the display. “I’m going to a garden party this afternoon,” She shrugged, “I was ready early and thought I’d to come in and make sure everything was going well for the mystery promo.” This was a bald faced lie but she didn’t want her employees to know she had intended to check up on them all along. She was feeling guilty about it as it was.
Michael flashed her a sardonic glance. “We are capable of handling it ourselves you know.” He bent down to pick up the next pile of books waiting to be placed in the window and started handing them one at a time to Gail, who had climbed into the display to get a better angle.
“I know.” She smiled sheepishly. “Just call me a control freak; I’m getting nervous about the whole idea. We’ve never done anything like this before and I just want it to go well.” Casey blew a stray strand of hair out of her eye. “Sorry.”
The concept was a completely new undertaking for The Reading Room. They were going to promote the following Friday as a special murder mystery theme day. They planned to have readings and prizes and a small murder mystery game. The purpose was to garner interest in the murder mystery genre and hopefully increase sales for a usually slow day as well. The plan for the next few days was to promote the day as much as possible and hopefully get enough people signed up for the game to make it a viable option.
If this Friday was a success Casey hoped to have a monthly theme day along the same lines, promoting different types of books each month. She was getting nervous just thinking about it.
“Mix Agatha in with the others.” She suggested, remembering the conversation she had originally interrupted.
Michael and Gail looked up at her questioningly.
“We don’t want people to think this is just an Agatha event.”
Michael nodded astutely in agreement. “Good point.” He took a quick look at his watch. “Shouldn’t you be heading out now?”
Casey glanced at the wall clock and squeaked in alarm. “I’m going to be late. Got to go. See you later guys, good luck. I’ll see you Tuesday morning.” She called over her shoulder to Gail as she ran out the door to her Escort parked behind the building. With Michael taking his first officially scheduled day off, she and Gail would be working together. She was looking forward to it. It would finally give her a chance to get to know her new assistant better.
Casey unlocked her car door and, gathering up her skirt, climbed into car. She threw her jacket and purse onto the passenger seat. They landed on top of a growing pile of books, empty Starbuck’s take-out cups and other assorted trash. Turning the ignition with crossed fingers she let out a sigh of relief when it started the first time. The old beater didn’t always start easily. She’d been lucky lately.
She patted the steering wheel fondly and turned the car in the direction of the Lion’s Gate Bridge and Point Grey.
As she pulled out into traffic she caught sight of an uncomfortably familiar face. Scott was standing on the sidewalk watching her drive away. With a panicky feeling in her gut, she glanced around again to where she’d seen him, but there was only a young mother pushing a baby stroller where he’d been standing a moment before. She wiped suddenly clammy hands on her leg, on hand at a time and cursed. What had Scott been doing outside her store? What the hell was he doing here at all? And just what the hell was she going to do about it?