The Book of Candlelight

by Ellery Adams

  Before Nora could reply, she heard Sheriff McCabe’s voice. “Ms. Pennington?”

  Not Nora, she thought. I’m a citizen today. A case number. A victim.

  Nora was done with that role. Once, she’d been the victim of her ex-husband’s deceit. Before that, she’d been the victim of her own blindness. As she’d lain in bed in the burn ward, she vowed never to be a victim again. She would be in control of her life.

  A brick through her window was the opposite of control. It was chaos.

  The sheriff and a female deputy entered the shop through the back door. Nora led them to the front. The woman immediately started photographing the scene. McCabe silently waited until she was done. He then pulled on a pair of disposable gloves and reached for the brick.

  As he examined its underside, his face darkened. He shot a quick glance at Nora before dropping it in the evidence bag the deputy held open.

  “What does it say?” Nora asked.

  The deputy, whose badge identified her as Officer Wiggins, answered, “One word. The definition of a female dog.”

  The sheriff told Wiggins to take the bag to the car.

  While he continued to examine the damage, Nora tried to remember all the people she’d spoken to over the past few days. There hadn’t been any negative interactions. There’d been a few flat exchanges with customers. Some had ignored her altogether. But that was normal. Not every customer cheerfully responded to her greeting. Not every customer found what they needed in her store. Nora’s feelings weren’t hurt when this happened. That was life in retail.

  “I’m going to sound just like June, but I have no idea who did this,” Nora told the sheriff. “I haven’t argued with anyone. I don’t think I’ve offended anyone. And the last person I upset was Marie.”

  A glint of curiosity showed in McCabe’s eyes. “During the visit you told me about?”

  Nora nodded. “When I showed her the bird. The possibility that her husband might have been unfaithful came up. Naturally, she got upset. But she didn’t throw a brick through my window.”

  “No,” McCabe agreed. “I dropped by to see her after you and I met at Pearl’s. I wanted to learn more about Danny’s pottery. Turns out your hunch was right. His older pieces have skyrocketed in value. Marie said that traditionally crafted Cherokee goods are trendy right now. Interior designers have been buying them like crazy. All the pieces that had been gathering dust in his studio are now sold.”

  Momentarily forgetting about the window, Nora asked, “Did she mention selling pieces to the owners of the Inn of Mist and Roses?”

  “No.”

  Just then, Deputy Wiggins approached the sheriff. “I’d say, based on the thickness of the glass, that whoever threw that brick was really strong.”

  “Or really angry,” Nora muttered.

  Wiggins shook her head. “A senior citizen denied health insurance could throw that brick with all their might and they’d barely dent the glass. Whoever broke your window had a football or baseball player’s arm.”

  Nora gestured at the evidence bag. “Do you think the vandal is male?”

  “No,” said Wiggins. “Both genders use the word written on the brick. As a feminist, I’m offended by any woman calling another woman a bitch. As for men, they should never say it. I can tell you how many times a coworker made the mistake of using it on me.” She raised her index finger. “Once. I’m a sixth-degree black belt in karate and I gave that guy a very location-specific kick.”

  “Do you think a woman can throw as hard as a baseball or football player?” Nora asked.

  Wiggins said, “I do.” She looked at the sheriff. “I’d be glad to take this on, sir. Somebody vandalized this woman’s business. Yesterday, somebody vandalized a woman’s home. If it’s the same perp, and if there’s a chance he’s targeting women, I want to be the one to take him down. Or her,” she quickly added.

  “The case is yours,” McCabe said, and focused on Nora again. “Let’s start with your statement. We’ll question the neighboring merchants afterward. Some open an hour earlier than you, right?”

  Nora rattled off the hours of every business on her block. “Can we continue this in the back?” she asked. “Sheldon makes amazing coffee. We also have pastries.”

  “I love this place,” Wiggins said, her eyes moving hungrily over the books. “I can’t wait to come back the next time I’m off-duty. I moved here from Arizona three weeks ago, and I’m still dealing with paperwork from last week, aka the week of hell. I’ve never seen that much rain in my life.”

  When they reached the circle of chairs, Sheldon came out with three Cuban coffees. He introduced himself before returning to the ticket agent’s office to plate three book pockets.

  “I didn’t know you’d hired someone,” McCabe said to Nora.

  “I’m on trial,” Sheldon answered. “Not in a 12 Angry Men or To Kill a Mockingbird way. In a let’s-see-if-I-still-like-you-after-a-week way.”

  Nora raised a hand. “Stop. You know I like you, but I’d like you more if you could wave a wand and magically fix my window.”

  Sheldon flashed her a coy grin. “Actually, I have an amazing idea for that window. A lemons-into-lemonade idea.”

  Nora promised they’d talk later, and Sheldon asked the sheriff if he could sweep up the glass.

  McCabe gave his permission and even offered to help, but Sheldon insisted that he be allowed to do it alone. “This is my way of showing Nora that I care.”

  Nora smiled warmly at him and then excused herself to call her insurance company. During one of the many lengthy holds she was subjected to, she tried to figure out who might be angry with her. Angry enough to destroy her property.

  Is the vandalism somehow linked to Danny?

  Other than the bowl Nora had bought from him, there was nothing to connect her to Danny. But then she realized that there was another connection. She knew Lou and Patty.

  The pottery in their bedrooms. Lou’s lie. She pretended that she’d never heard of Danny.

  Nora wasn’t able to pursue this train of thought because an agent finally came on the line. “How about that hold music?” he joked.

  Nora wished she could put her hand through the phone and slap him. “Clients call you because something bad happened to them. Do you really think ‘Walking on Sunshine’ or ‘Good Vibrations’ is what we want to hear in the middle of a crisis?”

  The agent was instantly defensive. “According to the research of a famous neuroscientist, those songs make people feel happy. When you’re dealing with an unfortunate event, don’t you want something to make you feel better?”

  “The Beach Boys won’t make victims of a violent crime feel better. A little sensitivity and a lot less time on hold would be a good start.”

  After releasing a sigh rank with disapproval, the agent launched into a well-rehearsed speech on the forms Nora needed to complete, along with the police report, estimates from two glass companies, and photographs of the damage.

  When he was done, Nora asked, “Once you have everything, how long will it be before I get a check?”

  The agent cheerfully replied that her claim could take five to ten days to process.

  Nora bit back the harsh words that were locked and loaded on her tongue. Instead, she thanked the irritating agent and hung up. It would have been cathartic to throw her phone against the wall, but she couldn’t afford another expense.

  After vowing to cancel her policy after her window was replaced, Nora sent a group text to her friends. She told them about the window and warned Hester and Estella to be vigilant.

  Estella was the first to respond.

  I don’t get it? Why would someone come after us?

  Hester’s text came in seconds later. OMG, are you OK?

  Nora assured her that she was.

  June’s working and probably won’t see this until lunch, Hester wrote. Do you need anything? Are you worried about staying at your place tonight?

  Nora wrote that nothing would
stop her from sleeping in her own bed.

  Want to grab a drink? Estella asked.

  Impromptu SBSS meeting at my house? Hester suggested.

  YES! Estella wrote.

  I’m game for a girls’ night. Can I bring anything? Nora replied.

  No, Hester answered.

  Don’t forget to send Sheldon my way, Estella wrote.

  For a moment, Nora was annoyed with her friend. Last night, June had been the victim of a hate crime. Nora’s store had been vandalized. It seemed selfish for Estella to focus on her salon, considering what was going on.

  But Nora couldn’t be angry with her friend. The salon was everything to her, just as Miracle Books was Nora’s everything. Estella was fighting for the survival of her business and would go to any length to save it. Since Nora would behave the same way, she told Estella that Sheldon would drop by the end of the day.

  Returning to the front of the store, Nora saw that the glass was gone, and all the books had been removed from the window display. Sheldon was placing the last one in the Fiction section.

  When he was done, he handed Nora a piece of paper. “I want to surprise you with my idea, but I need you to buy a few things before I can get started. I made a list.”

  Nora scanned the items.

  Black duct tape, 3 rolls

  A piece of clear sheeting or acrylic (big enough to cover the hole)

  4 plastic table cloths. They must be orange.

  Chicken wire or barbed wire. Enough to stretch across the whole window.

  That magical baked good Hester promised me

  Knowing the bookstore was in good hands, Nora pocketed the list, grabbed her purse, and headed out. She sent Hester a text saying that Sheldon was expecting a treat today. No doubt, her friend would bake something amazing.

  Nora drove to the dollar store first to get the tape and tablecloths. The store was an explosion of pink, yellow, and green pastel. Everywhere Nora looked, she saw Easter baskets, hats, candy, decorations, crosses, and figurines.

  With all the recent craziness in her life, Nora had forgotten about Easter. She had a handful of Easter items for sale in her shop, but a few vintage bunnies and chicks hadn’t exactly transformed it into a springtime paradise for book lovers. Based on Sheldon’s list, he wasn’t designing an Easter scene. Though she didn’t think he was going to use the barbed wire to capture the Easter Bunny, she had no clue what he planned to do with it.

  Nora quickly found the tablecloths, but the duct tape wasn’t right. All the rolls had decorative patterns. She picked up a roll and stared at the smiley faces and hearts. “What do people do with this?”

  She hadn’t directed her question to anyone, but the woman standing next to her said, “My kids tape their binders with it. They don’t have lockers anymore. Because of all the school shootings, they have to carry everything in their big binders. The things are totally wrecked by Christmas break. Instead of buying new ones, the kids repair them with duct tape. It’s kind of creative.”

  “It is,” Nora agreed.

  She thought of Harry, the boy who came to her shop on a regular basis. He was in middle school this year and had a sister in elementary school. Nora didn’t want those sweet children to worry about school shootings. The worst violence any student should experience at school should be in a dodgeball game.

  Feeling glum, Nora bought the tablecloths and drove to the hardware store. Here, she found the duct tape, two acrylic panels that had been sitting in the stockroom for years, and a roll of chicken wire. When she asked the clerk if he had any barbed wire, he shook his head.

  “Gotta go to Tractor Supply for that. We keep the chicken wire because folks have chickens. I don’t know what they’d need barbed wire for, but people have a right to their privacy. It’s their God-given right.”

  Maybe they need protection, Nora thought, recalling the word painted on June’s house.

  “Want this added to your account?” the clerk asked.

  Nora said that she did and turned to leave. On her way out, she was inexplicably drawn to the paint swatch display.

  She remembered bumping into Lou when she’d come to buy Sheldon’s stool. Lou, who had a secret. Lou, who’d lied about knowing Danny. Even if she hadn’t met him, she must have heard of him. His pottery was displayed in her bedroom. In Patty’s bedroom. Those women knew something. But what?

  As her thoughts raced, only to loop back on the unanswered question, Nora stared at the labels of the red paint swatches. Bull’s Eye. Chili Pepper. Blood. Scarlet Fever. Lava. Dragon Fire. Red Hot Meltdown. Volcanic. Fire Brick.

  She’d never noticed how these names implied heat, energy, and violence. She found a swatch called Cardinal and held it for a long moment, thinking of the birds on Danny’s pottery and the red bird at Cherokee Rock. Turning the swatch over, she noticed the sentence, ALSO AVAILABLE IN RUST-PROOF SPRAY PAINT, GLOSS, 12 OUNCES.

  She glanced around for the shelf of spray paint and found a can of Cardinal Red. Carrying it to the checkout counter, she said, “Could you add this to my account?”

  The clerk took the can and scanned its bar code. “This red sure is popular.”

  Nora’s heart almost stopped.

  “Oh? Have you sold a bunch of Cardinal Red lately?”

  The clerk shrugged. “Two or three over the last week or so. But we don’t usually sell red this time of year. Maybe folks are refreshin’ the paint on their garden benches or yard gnomes.”

  Nora smiled mechanically, though her mind flitted between the red letters on June’s house and the red bird at Cherokee Rock.

  “Do you remember who bought the other cans?” she asked.

  A veil fell over the clerk’s face. He’d already made his opinion on privacy quite clear and here she was, asking him to divulge information about his customers.

  “Sorry. Forget I asked.” She quickly backpedaled. “Guess I’m still a little frazzled. Someone threw a brick through my store window last night.”

  The clerk’s mouth fell open. “No.” Recovering, he shook his head in disgust. “Never thought I’d see the day. Blatant vandalism in downtown Miracle Springs. Think it was kids? They dare each other to do dumb things. Like shopliftin’.”

  Nora had wanted to find out if the hardware store had security cameras, and the clerk had just given her the perfect opening to raise the subject.

  “Have kids stolen from you?” she asked, making the crime about the clerk, not the store.

  He folded his arms across his chest. “You know them multi-tools? The ones with the knife, pliers, bottle opener and such? Three kids pinched a multitool each. I saw them with my own eyes. I didn’t get the law involved. No, ma’am. I took them in the back room and called their folks. I got some free labor out of those hoodlums. The way I see it, I did them a favor. Not one of those boys knew how to do a decent day’s work before I showed them.”

  “You must be very observant,” said Nora. “I assumed you had some fancy security system.”

  The clerk guffawed. “Don’t need one. We all keep an eye on things. It’s cheaper than cameras. More effective too. We know when folks are up to no good and when they need our help. You gotta know how to read faces in our line.”

  Nora gave the clerk another forced smile and left.

  She returned to the shop, driving one-handed while hugging the roll of chicken wire against her chest with the other. When she passed the fire station, she realized that she hadn’t called Jed to tell him about her smashed window.

  With a prickle of guilt, she thought, He should have been the first person I thought of.

  But he hadn’t been. Nora had reached out to her friends first. With Sheriff McCabe handling the investigation, her friends helping to calm her frayed nerves, and Sheldon overseeing the cleanup, there wasn’t much for anyone else to offer.

  Perhaps she hadn’t called because she didn’t want Jed to assume the role of her protector. He’d want her to sleep at his place or insist on sleeping at hers, and Nora refused t
o make changes because she’d been vandalized. She didn’t want to give in to fear. She wanted to sleep alone to prove that she was stronger than the person who’d thrown that brick.

  Inside Miracle Books, Nora delivered the items to Sheldon. He inspected each one and then rubbed his hands with glee. “You were probably hoping for a window bursting with springtime books. Floral covers. Pretty pastels.” He shook his head. “I’m not doing that.”

  “I trust you,” Nora said.

  “Good. Now, go away. I want this to be a surprise. Stay behind the counter. Read something. You need to take a long mental health break. If someone wants coffee, I’ll handle it. You focus on relaxing and taking people’s money.”

  Nora sent up a silent prayer of thanks for Sheldon’s appearance in her life. She hoped he was as he seemed. Flawed and loveable. She didn’t think she could take it if it came out that he’d been hiding some terrible secret from her—something that would keep him from working at Miracle Books. She didn’t think this was the case, but then again, everyone had secrets.

  Again, Nora thought of Lou. What was she hiding? Was she ashamed of an event in her past, just like the members in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society? Was she protecting someone? She’d lied about Danny, and Danny was now dead. That had to mean something.

  Nora decided to type up the steps for removing candlewax from book pages as an excuse to pop by the inn after work. She was interrupted a few times by customers looking for recommendations or others who were ready to check out, but business was slow. The broken window had scared off lots of potential shoppers.

  At lunchtime, Hester appeared. She had a takeout bag from the vegetarian restaurant in one hand and a white bakery box in the other.

  “I hung my BACK IN 5 MINUTES sign, which means I have three minutes left to give you a hug, your surprise lunch, and Sheldon’s treat.”

  “Did I hear my name?” Sheldon called out from behind a bookshelf. He came around the corner and saw Nora and Hester embracing. “Is this a free hugs session? Because I love hugs.”

  Hester released Nora and opened her arms to Sheldon. He slowly curled his arms around her, humming as he squeezed her.