She shrugged. “You liked it, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
He looked toward the driveway, then turned back to her and said, “Could I see you sometime? Maybe for dinner?”
“Sure. You know where to find me.”
“I do.”
“So, thanks again, Jim. Really. I’m grateful, and I know Grace will be, too.”
“I’ll be in touch.” He crossed the lawn to the driveway instead of taking the path, his habit all the years he’d lived here. “Liddy, if you need anything—anything at all—I hope you’ll call me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Jim.” She stood on the front porch until he got into his car and backed away, then went into the house and closed the door.
Tuck drove her to the shop at nine thirty, parked out front, and followed her inside to pick up JoJo’s book. Liddy waved to Marion, who was at the back of the shop straightening books in the children’s section, then stepped behind the counter for the bag she’d set aside for Tuck the night before.
“Thanks for holding this for me.” Tuck flipped through the first few pages and held up the page where Grace had written a note to JoJo. “There’s no way I’d have been able to take home a different copy.” He held up the book so Liddy could read the inscription.
To my sweet friend JoJo. I love having you come to story hour on Saturday mornings! I hope you come back next week. I’ll keep your seat warm! Love, Miss Grace
“That’s nice of Gracie. I know she’s fond of JoJo,” Liddy said.
“I think we both know what Jo thinks of Grace.”
There was much Liddy could say on the subject, but she merely nodded.
“Well, I better get going. I need to get the boat back for Linc, and he’ll need me to watch the kids. He wanted to check something at that house of yours.”
Liddy walked him to the door. “Thanks for stopping over this morning. It was nice having a few minutes to sit and relax over a cup of coffee with you.”
“I don’t think Jim appreciated me being there. I hope my being there didn’t disrupt any plans you may have had with him.”
“No plans with Jim. He was just dropping off some paperwork for me.” Liddy opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight. “It’s really none of his business who I entertain. Oh, looks like I need to water these flowers again.”
“You take care of them, then. I’ll see you.” He drove off in the direction of Beach Plum Road, where he owned a building that housed his trucks and his equipment and where he had built a dock so he could tie up his boat.
Liddy watered the planters out front, then puttered here and there throughout the shop. Sales on Sundays were slow and customers few and far between until later in the afternoon, when the foot traffic in town picked up a bit.
“Liddy, what a lovely shop you have.”
Liddy looked up from the publishers catalog she’d been thumbing through.
“Neva Kreger, how’ve you been?” Liddy was genuinely pleased to see one of Jessie’s favorite teachers on the other side of the counter.
“I’ve been well, Liddy. I’ve heard so much about your shop I had to come see for myself.” Neva glanced around the room as if trying to take it all in. “My goodness, such an improvement over the last time I was here.”
“Not to disparage Fred . . .”
“Oh, of course not. But things had fallen behind. It’s lovely now.” Neva’s kind face, framed with the wire-rimmed glasses she’d worn for all the years Liddy had known her, lit up when she smiled. A woman of roughly Liddy’s age, she’d been voted the high school’s favorite teacher many times for her warmth and her obvious love for her job and her students.
“Thank you, Neva. It’s been my saving grace. I look forward to coming in here every day and talking to my customers.”
“There’s nothing like a new love to put a spark in your step. And when that new love is a book, oh my goodness. Books truly are the gifts that keep on giving. I envy you, being surrounded by all this every day. Aren’t you tempted to read everything?”
Liddy laughed. “It’s all I can do to keep up with the new releases, which I feel I must do, so when customers ask me about them, I can discuss the books and recommend them.”
“An enviable job.” Neva reached across the counter and gave Liddy’s hand a squeeze. “Perhaps when I retire in a few years there will be an opening for me. I’d love to work here.”
“There will always be a place for you, should you ever want one.” Liddy stepped around the counter. “Now, what can I interest you in today? Or are you just browsing?”
“I wanted to talk to you about possibly ordering books for my senior AP English class.” Neva took a list from her well-worn leather bag and showed it to Liddy. “I have several titles I want them to read this year.”
“How many students?”
“There are eleven.”
Liddy was looking over the list and nodding—she already had a few of the titles in stock but not eleven of any one of them. “When would you like to pick them up?”
“Would two weeks give you enough time?”
“More than enough. I’ll have the orders go in first thing tomorrow, and I’ll give you a call when to expect them. And, of course, I’ll give you the friends-and-family discount.”
“Thank you, Liddy. I’m sure the students will appreciate that.”
“They’ll be buying the books themselves?”
Neva nodded. “Some of the kids can well afford them, but for a few of them, finding money for books would be a stretch.”
“Maybe we can come up with something to help out. Let me think about it.”
“That would be great. The kids will welcome any help.” She glanced at the new-release table. “Maybe I should pick up something for myself. Something that can help keep me focused next week.”
“What’s happening next week?”
“I’m having my deposition taken in the Bowers case on Wednesday, and I’m a nervous wreck about it. I don’t know what they’re going to ask me, so I can’t prepare myself. I didn’t know what that horrible man was doing.” Neva looked as if she’d burst into tears at any moment. “And to think it was going on literally under my nose, and I never suspected. I feel so guilty. Most of those girls were my students at one time or another. I feel I should have known somehow something wasn’t right. All those years he was getting away with it, and I never suspected.”
“Why do you think you should have suspected something? Did one of the girls say something to you?”
Neva shook her head. “No, of course not. If anyone had said anything that even alluded to what he was doing, I would have gone right to the principal, and we would have called the police. But I guess when something like this happens, it’s natural to look back and scrutinize everything and look for something you think should have been a warning. But honestly, I can’t say there was.”
“I know it’s easy for me to say, but don’t beat yourself up over this. If you didn’t know, you didn’t know. There’s nothing you can testify to.”