“It was good catching up,” Fiona said to Leslie after they’d talked for a while. “But we have to get over to the bookstore and open it. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Take care of yourself, and Holly, I’ll look for you a little after 2:00 this afternoon” Leslie said brightly before turning and walking towards her car.
“You’re in the home stretch, kiddo,” Fiona said as she bumped her arm into Holly’s.
Holly nodded. “And thank goodness,” she said with a sigh. The thought that it was all almost over was such a relief. She knew it was going to be a difficult conversation to have and one that might not be readily accepted, but it was still something she felt she had to do. Even if she was asked to leave because they didn’t believe her, it would have to make them think about what they were doing.
CHAPTER 17
Fiona unlocked the front door of Read It Again for Holly and pushed it open. “Are you sure you don’t want my help?” she asked again.
“I’m sure,” Holly said confidently. “I can take care of it. You go home and take a nap or whatever you need to do. It’ll be another hour or so before anyone shows up. You know how Sundays go.” She stepped into the darkened bookstore and began to flip on the lights. The bookstore seemed to come to life as one by one the lights above turned on.
“Okay, well if you’re sure,” Fiona mumbled. “If you change your mind, just let me know.”
“I don’t think I will, but if I do, I’ll call you,” Holly reassured her. She gave Fiona a hug and then shooed her out the door and back to her car. Once she’d pulled away, Holly entered the store again and turned over the open sign.
Everything looked clean and in its place, but she still walked through the bookstore to make sure. It was more of a habit than anything else. She never wanted the store to look less than its best when she was in charge of it. Clicking on the store’s small radio, she turned on her favorite background music and began to settle in.
When she was satisfied with the way the books and displays looked, she got the fabric refreshing spray they used for dusting and began to wipe everything down. Fiona felt strongly about making sure the store always smelled amazing, and she also wanted to make sure nothing was dusty.
Holly sprayed the rag and started wiping down shelves, books and anything else that looked like it might need it. Looking at the time, she took a quick break to start a pot of coffee before picking up the rag and spraying again.
The bell over the door chimed, letting her know she had her first customer of the day. “Welcome to Read It Again,” she called out before she peeked around the bookshelf. “Can I help you with something?”
“Holly?” she heard a familiar voice say, before the person came into view. It was Levi.
“Oh, hey Levi,” she said with a smile. He looked happy to see her, as if he was worried she wouldn’t be here.
“I checked online to see when you guys open. I’m not too early, am I?” he asked.
“No, you’re fine,” she reassured him. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know that I don’t think I need your help anymore,” he said as he stopped behind one of the big armchairs. His finger traced the pattern on the fabric as he spoke. “I went online and found some videos to help me. Not that you weren’t doing a great job!” he said quickly. “But I felt terrible for taking up so much of your time.”
“Really, Levi, it wasn’t a problem, but I’m glad you figured it out on your own. Did you get everything taken care of that was on Mrs. Lohman’s list?” she asked.
He nodded. “I think so. I’ll find out for sure tomorrow when I go in to see her. But I’m pretty sure I’ve at least got the main points down. It should be enough that I don’t have to go back to pre-algebra.”
“Congratulations,” Holly said happily. “That was a lot to cover. I’m glad you found a way to help yourself. You’d be surprised how many people I tutor don’t.”
He looked up as if he were surprised. “Really? I’d feel horrible knowing I was taking up someone else’s time, and then not following through with what I was supposed to do.”
“Well, not everyone is as considerate as you are,” she said as she returned to the checkout counter. “I really appreciate it.”
“Do you have a sci-fi section?” Levi asked. “I read lots of different genres, but I have this one series in sci-fi I really love. I’m like three books behind on it,” he admitted.
“Sure do. It’s right over here,” Holly said as she led him to the sci-fi section. “It’s not as big as some of the others, but there are a few people who seem to really like it and help us keep the books in rotation,” she explained.
Levi began scanning through the titles before finally crying out, “Aha! You do have them! Oh man, that’s awesome.” He quickly tugged them off the shelf and flipped them over. “I’m so glad I brought some money.”
“How do you like Cottonwood Springs so far?” Holly asked. “Are you starting to feel a little more at home here?”
“I don’t know,” he said softly. “I’m not really sure I fit in here.” His eyes were wide and full of concern.
“Why’s that?” she asked as she sat down in a dark red armchair near the window. Levi followed her to the green one that was near it.
“I don’t think I’m like most of the people here,” he said softly. “Where I grew up everyone was just themselves. You could dress crazy or dye your hair strange colors, and nobody thought much about it. I mean, you could express yourself in any way you felt like.”
“I don’t see why you can’t do that here,” Holly shrugged. “You probably won’t have a crowd of rainbow-haired people to hang out with, but that doesn’t mean people won’t like you because you do.”
“Well, there are other things,” he said as his eyes flicked over towards the window. Outside, an older woman walked by with her little dog, completely oblivious of the teenagers on the other side of the glass.
“Like what?” Holly said. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry. I know it’s none of my business, but I think you’d be surprised at how open-minded a lot of people here are. They may look as though they’re more conservative, but I don’t think that’s the case. Most of us are just trying to figure out where we belong, too.”
“You think so?” Levi asked hopefully. “I have this secret nobody here knows yet, but I think some people are starting to figure it out. It might change the way people look at me.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much. You’d be surprised at how fast people can get used to something. When I was younger, my mom wasn’t the greatest at taking care of me. I went to school in clothes that were practically rags before Missy from the church started helping me out. Even then, I got teased because I was wearing old clothes. They were new to me, but they were other people’s hand-me-downs and everyone knew it. Even the people who didn’t tease me still looked at me differently. And then my mom was murdered.”
“Oh my gosh, Holly. I had no idea. I’m so sorry,” Levi said as he leaned forward, intent on what she was saying.
“It’s okay. It’s been a little while now. But my point is, first I was the poor kid. Then I was the girl whose mom was murdered. But now? Now I’m just Holly. I tutor people when I’m not working here. I get asked for book recommendations. Now everything is so much different. And I used to think there was no way anyone would ever see me differently than the way they’d always known me. But they did.
“What I’m saying is that I’m sure that whatever your secret is, I’m willing to bet it will all be okay. Depending on what it is, people may be shocked at first, but after they get used to it, everything will be okay. You just have to hang on until that happens,” Holly advised. She knew from her time with Levi that he was a good person, even if he was a little hard on himself. When it got right down to it, though, Holly realized pretty much everyone had that in common.
“What I hear you saying is to rip off the bandage and let everything happen however it’s going to hap
pen,” he said with a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, pretty much,” she said nodding. She noticed that the coffee pot had stopped percolating, so she stood up and walked over to it. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, please,” he said as he followed her.
She took a couple of mugs down from where they were hanging on hooks on the wall and poured them each a cup. “There’s milk and stuff in the mini fridge if you’d like something in it,” she said as she opened the door and took out her favorite creamer which she hid in the far back, hoping no one would notice it.
“No thanks,” he said shaking his head. “I like my coffee to match my soul. Black,” he said with a chuckle. Holly shook her head at his joke as she stirred her coffee. He took a slow sip before saying, “Wow, this is good.” He stood up and paced back and forth for a minute or so before he finally stopped and looked at her. “Okay, here goes. My big secret is that I’m gay,” he said as fast as he could get the words out.
“Okay,” Holly said, waiting for the big bombshell. When he didn’t keep talking, she said, “Is that it?”
“Um, yeah,” he said looking down into his cup.
“That’s not a big deal, Levi,” she finally said. “I mean, it might be scary for you to admit it out loud, and I can respect that. But this isn’t the Dark Ages, you know.”
“I know,” he said looking away. “But this is a pretty small town.”
“Yeah, and there are plenty of gay people here. If that’s your big secret, I think you can rest easy. Nobody I know will care one way or the other,” she said with a shrug.
Levi visibly relaxed before collapsing into a nearby chair. “Ohmygosh,” he said quickly. “I feel so much better now. You have no idea.”
Holly laughed. “Good, although I don’t know why you would have been scared that someone would find out. This may be a small town, but we aren’t that behind times.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s just that everyone looks at me funny, and that’s why I’ve been eating lunch outside by myself.”
“Are you serious?” Holly asked, shocked. “What are you going to do when it turns cold?”
Levi shrugged. “I haven’t gotten that far yet,” he admitted.
“Okay, starting tomorrow you come and sit at our table,” Holly insisted. “I know my friends won’t turn you away.”
“Are you sure?” Levi asked. “I don’t want to cause any trouble for you.”
“There will be zero trouble. That I can promise you,” Holly vowed. “I’ll send everyone a message letting them know that you’ll be joining us from now on. Just be yourself. You don’t have to explain anything to anyone. If you feel like sharing, that’s cool. If not, it’s none of their business,” she explained.
“Thank you, Holly,” he said with a huge grin. “You have no idea how much better I feel.”
“Anytime,” Holly said. “Now, what other kinds of books do you like?”
CHAPTER 18
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you over there?” Brigid asked when she called the bookstore to see how Holly was doing.
“No thanks. I know you and Linc had all kinds of things planned for today, and I’m fine riding my bike over there. I’m glad I left it here the other day. I just wanted to let you know that I was going to be a little later than usual,” Holly said.
“Okay, then,” Brigid said. “I won’t complain. Linc and I can both use some down time, but if you want a ride home, just call. We can pick you and your bike up in Linc’s truck.”
“Will do,” Holly said. “You guys have a nice and relaxing rest of the day. I’ll be home soon.” She ended the call and a few minutes later Fiona came into the store to take over for the last couple of hours.
It was a nice day, and she was looking forward to the leisurely bike ride over to Leslie’s house. Even so, she couldn’t help but be a little nervous about the meeting. What if whoever had left the pills in the coat pocket denied they’d done it or even got angry at her?
She willed herself to push those thoughts away. There was no need to get stressed over something that might not even happen. She remembered Brigid’s favorite saying, “Don’t put the cart in front of the horse,” her own version of the old popular saying. Holly thought it was pretty appropriate for how she was feeling.
As she was riding through town, Holly realized just how many people she’d befriended in the last few years. It seemed like in every block she rode through there was someone waving or calling out to her. She thought how lucky she was to live in such a nice town with so many great people. She knew there were some people in Cottonwood Springs who weren’t all that great, and there were always going to be some bad ones around, but the good and honest people of Cottonwood Springs more than made up for them.
She rounded a corner and found Bridge street, slowing down so she could read the house numbers. She had a vague idea where the house was, and she finally spotted the tall white older two-story home. It looked well taken care of. The hedges along the front of the porch were neatly trimmed, and the sidewalk didn’t have any weeds growing up between the cracks. It certainly didn’t look like the home of someone who had a drug problem.
She dropped the kickstand on her bike, left it on the sidewalk near the bottom of the steps leading up to the house, and walked up to the front door. She noticed a porch swing at the far end that was swaying slightly in the breeze. As she pushed the doorbell, she took a deep breath to try and help her stay relaxed.
“Coming,” a female voice called from somewhere in the house. Holly ran her hands down the sides of her shirt, hoping to straighten her appearance before she came to the door.
The sound of an old lock being turned made her look up as the door swung open. Standing in the doorway was someone she was definitely not expecting to see. Amber Lockwood. The girl’s face went from kind and peaceful to watchful and suspicious.
“What are you doing here?” Amber sneered as she crossed her arms.
“I must have the wrong house,” Holly said as she took a step back and looked at the house number again. “I’m looking for Leslie Cole.”
“Then you’ve got the right place,” Amber said as she eyed her. “But what business do you have with my future stepmother? Are you trying to ruin my life some more?”
“Look Amber, I wasn’t trying to ruin your life. If anything, I was trying to help someone else. I had no way of knowing you were the one who had drawn that hurtful cartoon about one of the teachers. I didn’t make you do that.”
Holly was sick and tired of taking the brunt of Amber’s anger when she hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t like she’d made Amber draw the ugly cartoon and post it on the school bulletin board. Amber had done that all on her own.
“But you had no problem ratting me out, now did you?” she replied. “You could have just stayed out of it.”
“That’s true,” Holly nodded. “But I was also asked to find out who did it. At that point, it wasn’t like I was going to lie for you. I had no reason to, not that I would, anyway. What you did was wrong.”
Amber looked at Holly a little closer. “So why are you here?” she asked.
“It’s kind of a long story. The short version is that Leslie asked me to come by after work,” Holly explained. Suddenly it struck her. Maybe the pills were Amber’s. When she’d researched the pills, she’d found that people their age and a little older were the main ones who would abuse that particular type of drug.
Maybe they’d been Amber’s all along. If they were, this conversation was going to get really bad. Holly decided it was probably best if she didn’t let Amber know the real reason she was there. Not yet, anyway. If she did tell her, it was entirely possible Amber would slam the door in her face and refuse to let her in.
“How do you know Leslie?” Amber persisted.
“Look, Amber. I know you don’t like me, and you don’t trust me,” Holly began. “But I swear, I’m here with good intentions. Whatever I do, it’s always with g
ood intentions. I don’t mean for anything negative to happen, but sometimes there are consequences. I can’t help that. This time, I’m trying to help your family.”
Holly paused, unsure just how much she should say at this point. But the look on Amber’s face said she was listening. Using that to strengthen her resolve, she continued. “I was helping Missy over at the church with the coat drive. I found something in a coat that I didn’t think was supposed to be in there. I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to track down the person who donated the coat, so I could get in contact with them.”
“And Leslie donated the coat?” Amber asked as she followed along with what Holly was saying.
“Exactly. I’m just trying to do the right thing here. I didn’t even know you and Leslie had anything to do with each other,” Holly confessed.
Amber nodded.
“Amber, who is it?” Holly heard Leslie ask from somewhere inside the house. A moment later she peeked around the door and smiled. “Oh, it’s Holly. Please come in,” she said cheerfully. She pushed the screen door open politely. “I just made some homemade lemonade if you’d like a glass. We also made some chocolate chip cookies earlier.”
“That sounds great. Thank you,” Holly said as she stepped inside. The old house was beautiful. The hardwood floors gleamed, and a sparkling chandelier hung above them. Amber had stepped out of the way when Holly entered, but she still seemed suspicious.
Holly couldn’t really blame her. The girl seemed to think Holly was responsible for all her misfortunes. She probably figured something bad would come from Holly getting involved in her life again. Considering why she was here, there was a good chance Amber was right.
After all, if it wasn’t Leslie or Amber’s dad’s pills, which was highly unlikely, they were probably Amber’s. Did she start taking them after Holly had supposedly ruined her life? The internet had said sometimes people took them because they claimed it would make them feel better.
Holly Lewis Mystery series Box Set Page 23
