“Stop teasing. I know he’s fine now, but how do I know he’s fine when I leave?” Rarity took Archer’s arm in hers and leaned closer. “He could cry the whole time.”
“You could get a nanny cam to watch him while you’re gone. Or a trail cam that snaps pictures when it sees movement. We’d have to install it at floor level since he’s so tiny.”
“Height challenged,” Rarity clarified. “He’s sensitive about his size.”
“Now you’re just messing with me.” Archer checked in with the hostess and pointed to a table near the edge of the outdoor section. “We’re over there.”
As they settled in and ordered, he sipped his beer. “Tell me about your new book club. This was the middle schoolers, right?”
She told him about the day, how well Caleb did with the kids, and the random act of kindness for Amy, the little girl whose mother had been working.
“I think that’s Joni’s kid. She usually has her at a table in Carole’s after school unless it’s busy. Then I suspect the kid hangs out in the office in the back. Joni’s a hard worker. Her husband died when she was pregnant with Amy, so it’s always been just the two of them. The town helps when she lets us. Two years ago, we did a fundraiser for a new roof on her house.”
“So the parents who donated probably knew the story about the family.”
Archer nodded. “More than likely. And Amy’s a smart kid. Keeping her involved in school means that she’ll probably go to college and invent something huge.”
“I should let her mom know that Amy can hang out at the bookstore while she works if she’d like.” Rarity bit into a French fry as she thought. “I wanted to be more active in the community. And the bookstore is closer than the town library out on the highway.”
“I bet she’d take you up on it. Let’s go to Carole’s soon for dinner, and I’ll introduce you to Joni.” He cut his steak and took a bite. “So work was good. Why are you down in the dumps? It can’t be Amy.”
“No, it’s Sam. She didn’t open her shop, and she’s not returning my calls. I haven’t talked to her since, what, Thursday? This isn’t like her.” She bit into a piece of the trout she’d ordered.
“She hasn’t been going through a time where her brother’s being accused of murder before.” Archer met her gaze, then set his fork down. “Wait, what aren’t you saying? Did Marcus kill someone before?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know is he was accused, and the woman was found at a quarry, just like Janey. I guess they’d been going out. He wasn’t charged, or wasn’t found guilty anyway. I don’t know all the facts. And Sam’s going to kill me because I told you.”
Archer took another bite and thought about the information. “I bet that’s why Sam’s so involved in trying to prove Marcus didn’t do it. She feels like if he was charged once, he could be again and not be as lucky.”
“What are we going to do?” Rarity set her fork down and took a sip of her beer.
“Did you tell her that the sleuthers’ club is getting together tomorrow?” Archer asked.
Rarity nodded. “I left her a message. I’m sure Shirley tried to call too. Maybe she got through.”
“Call Shirley, Malia, and Holly tonight and ask them all to call her. If nothing else, she’ll know that they’re calling about the club. Maybe one of you will get through to her.” Archer pointed to her dinner. “Eat. That cost me one hiker sign-up, and you’re not letting it go to waste. Starving children in China and all.”
“Are you sure there really are starving children in China? Maybe you should do some research before you make broad statements like that.” She picked the fork back up. No matter where kids were actually starving, she did owe it to Archer to eat the food she’d ordered. Otherwise, she could have refused the invitation. “Anyway, I just miss my friend.”
“Sam will come around, you know that. Sometimes it takes a bit for people to see the whole picture and not just their little corner.”
Rarity hoped Archer was right. Maybe she was just being too sensitive of Sam not calling her back or picking up her calls. Maybe it had nothing to do with her. She put her worry about Sam aside and tried to enjoy dinner out with Archer. “So how was your day?”
After dinner, when they got to the house, Archer started pulling out the ingredients for the chili. “Go swim. I’ll get this started. Mind if I turn on the television?”
“I’ll get the remote, and you can choose what you want. I need to clear my head.” She leaned down and gave Killer a head pat. “You make sure Archer doesn’t steal the family jewels.”
“You have family jewels? I was going to go after the silverware.” He took the remote from her and turned on a sports channel. “I’m behind on college football scores since I was swamped today.”
“You make my choice to swim so easy.” She gave him a kiss, then went to change. The pool was chilly, but she loved the feel of the water against her skin. She did her laps, then realized Archer was at the front door, talking to someone. She leaned back in the water, not wanting to deal with reality or anyone who needed something. Besides, it was probably a local kid looking to sell popcorn or cookies. She did one last cooldown lap, then grabbed her towel, climbed out of the pool, and dried off.
By the time she got in the house, Archer was back in the kitchen.
“That smells amazing.”
“I know. It’s an easy recipe too. I’ll show you sometime. I think your group will love it.” He nodded to the door. “Terrance is home. He came by to thank you for gathering his papers, so I gave him the box. He thinks it’s a new hat for one of his local clubs.”
“Well, I hope so. I guess if it was a bomb, it would have gone off in my house days ago.” She moved to the bedroom. “I’m going to change.”
The doorbell rang when she was in the bedroom. When she came out, Terrance was in her living room, looking shaken.
She looked between him and Archer, who had just hung up the phone. “What’s going on?”
“It wasn’t a hat. It was a finger. A human finger. And there was a note.” Archer held up the phone. “I’ve called Drew, and he’s on his way.”
“Oh no. Terrance, I’m so sorry. Do you know anyone who’s missing?”
Terrance looked up at her and took her hand, pulling her down to sit on the couch with him. “Darling girl, the note was addressed to you. They dropped the box off at the wrong house.”