The Vanishing Type, page 21
Hester was adorable as ever in a red vintage blouse, boyfriend jeans, and red sneakers. A pink scarf doubled as her headband. June wore dark jeans and a winter-white sweater with a red ombré heart in the middle.
“Let’s get a glass of wine before we hit the buffet,” Nora said. “If we hold out for a bit, we can eat with Estella.”
“You know she’ll be the last one to arrive. How else can she make an entrance?” joked June.
As they headed to the bar, Hester whispered, “Don’t let me drink too much. The idea of getting blackout drunk is pretty tempting right now.”
“I doubt you’ll be tempted once you try the wine, but I’ll keep an eye on you.” Nora slung an arm around Hester. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
They waited at the window of the ticket agent’s office, watching Luca pour wine into three glasses. He was about to pass them their drinks when he suddenly froze and murmured, “Wow.”
Nora knew without turning around that Estella had arrived. She was one of those rare and enviable women who truly took people’s breath away. She had an elusive quality that went beyond beauty—a magnetic presence that demanded attention.
At this moment, every eye was on her, though Estella pretended not to notice. When she saw her friends, however, her face lit up with such sincere happiness that the rest of the guests were awestruck all over again.
Estella’s black dress had a formfitting bodice and a flirty, tea-length skirt. Its only embellishment was the embroidered red rose on her left shoulder strap. Her hair fell in soft waves and she wore no jewelry. No accessory could compete with her radiant skin and shining eyes.
“Hello, lovely!” June cried, opening her arms for a hug.
Whenever she wore a full face of makeup, Estella preferred loose hugs. But tonight, she held her friends tightly and distributed exuberant kisses on their cheeks.
“Jack must be better. You’re walking on air,” Nora said.
Estella kicked up a heel. “He’s so much better that he threatened to bar me from his hospital room if I didn’t come here tonight. And I have to take pictures to show him tomorrow.” She looked at June. “Your son has excellent taste. Jasmine is just like you. She’s a natural when it comes to taking care of people. And she isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in either. She’s your Mini-Me.”
June held up a warning finger. “Don’t let Tyson hear you say that. No man wants to realize that the woman of his dreams is a younger version of his mama.”
Nora saw McCabe out of the corner of her eye, so she waved for her friends to head to the Children’s section. “Grab some food. I’ll see you in there.”
The area around the ticket agent’s booth was packed with people, and McCabe had yet to spot her. But when his gaze finally met hers, his eyes filled with tiny stars, each one shining just for her.
He paused to smile or say hello as he made his way over to her, and Nora was relieved to see that no one stiffened at the sight of him. In his merlot sweater and gray slacks, he fit right in.
When he made it to Nora’s side, McCabe slid an arm around her back and pulled her against him. Putting his lips to her ear, he whispered, “You’re the prettiest flower in the garden.”
The feel of his breath against her neck raised her body temperature by several degrees. Nora gave him a soft, sweet kiss on the cheek before easing away from him. She couldn’t stand that close to him and still think straight.
“Would you like some of that subpar wine I promised?”
“I’d rather have what’s in the fridge.”
Nora pointed at the kitchen. “That fridge?”
Lips curved in an inscrutable smile, McCabe watched Nora open the fridge and scan shelves stuffed with food for the party, a variety of milk, and cans of club soda. When she discovered the bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne in the produce drawer, she murmured, “Wow.”
“With my job, I’ve learned to celebrate the good things in life. This”—he motioned between Nora and himself—“is a good thing.”
“When did you hide this?”
McCabe started opening cabinets. “I had an accomplice. He was supposed to stash a pair of flutes in—ah, here they are. We don’t have enough to share, so I’ll try to open this quietly.”
Luca glanced at the bottle in McCabe’s hands. “Wanna know how to stop the pop in three steps?” He waited for McCabe’s nod before continuing, “One, dry the bottle with a towel. Two, cut the foil and loosen the cage. Three, hold the cork in place while you slowly twist the bottle. You’ll ease the cork out without making a sound.”
“Thanks, I appreciate the tip.” McCabe followed Luca’s advice to the letter. After filling two champagne flutes with pale pink bubbly, he poured some into a wineglass for Luca.
Luca beamed and raised his glass. “To men who drink pink. And to the fairest bookseller in the land.”
The champagne tasted like sun-ripened strawberries with a hint of blackberry and grapefruit. It was elegant and lively, and a lovely surprise.
Nora caught hold of McCabe’s hand. “Let’s wander over to the buffet. This might be our only chance to eat before Sheldon kicks off the game portion of the evening. Luca, are you hungry?”
“I’m all set. Prisha made me a plate.”
Estella, June, Hester, and Sheldon stood in a loose circle between the Cookbook and Gardening sections. They made room for Nora and McCabe and seamlessly incorporated them into their conversation.
Other than Bobbie, everyone I care about is right here, Nora thought.
She reveled in the food, the company, the music, and the laughter. She finished her meal moments before Sheldon called everyone to the Readers’ Circle.
Folding chairs had been arranged in the space previously occupied by the upholstered chairs, which were now in the stockroom.
“Squeeze in tight!” Sheldon directed gleefully. “We’re playing a party game called Entitled, and yes, I did invent it. Two teams will battle to be the first to reach a hundred points. Pick someone to be your team scribe. This person will write down as many legitimate book titles as you can think of in three minutes. When the timer goes off, you’ll read your titles out loud and every legit title gets you one point.”
“What happens if we think a title is bogus?” someone asked.
Sheldon pointed at a woman in the second row. “Good question, Sondra. If you challenge the opposing team and their title is incorrect, you’ll get five points. But if their title is correct, you lose five points. The losing team is in charge of snacks for our next book club meeting.”
Someone called out, “I don’t get it. How do we come up with the titles?”
“In this bag are a bunch of incredibly random nouns and a few adjectives just for kicks. Each team will pick two words from the bag. Both words must be a subject in a real work of fiction. My lovely assistant will help me demonstrate.”
Sheldon held out a paper bag. June drew the word boat and showed it to the crowd. Next she picked the word monkey.
“Pretend the clock is ticking! Who has a guess?” Sheldon cried.
Luca leaned over the bar and said, “How about Life of Pi?”
The woman named Sondra clapped. “Nice, Luca!”
“The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle!” someone else shouted.
A few more titles were put forth before Sheldon signaled for a timeout and said, “I think you’ve got it. Are you ready to play Entitled?”
Judging by the raucous applause, the participants couldn’t wait to start.
The first round went off without a hitch. Nora was impressed by the number of titles each team came up with. The game was a hit, and with every round, the noise level in the shop escalated.
Nora couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun or laughed so loud and so often. When she wasn’t laughing, she was talking to McCabe or her friends.
Eventually the game ended, and she made her way around the store, collecting empty wine cups and chatting. Every guest made a point of telling her how much they loved Miracle Books, the book club, or both. They raved about Sheldon, thanked her for turning Valentine’s Day into something to look forward to, and, of course, brought up their current read.
The desserts were nearly gone, and the wine was running dangerously low when Sheldon called everyone back to the Readers’ Circle for another game. This time, individual winners would choose a Blind Date book from the display near the checkout counter.
“You should play,” Nora told McCabe. “There are more than enough books.”
His smile was as soft as a caress. “I’m not here for the books. I’m here to see you in your element.”
Simultaneously pleased and embarrassed, Nora said, “You see me in my element all the time.”
“As Nora the Book Cupid. Book Party Nora is new. I like them both.”
Nora gave him a playful jab. “Exactly how much did you drink while I was gone?”
McCabe laughed and murmured something about Sheldon and tequila. Nora didn’t hear the precise words because her attention was diverted by a dark-haired young woman sitting in the fourth row.
It was Lea, and she was clearly having a ball. Nora was delighted. After what Lea had been through, she deserved to cut loose and enjoy herself.
Glancing around, Nora wondered who’d invited her. Whoever it was must have given her a ride too. Even if one of Lea’s arms wasn’t in a cast, Nora remembered her saying that she avoided driving at night.
Nora turned back to McCabe and saw that one of his officers, a middle-aged man attending the party with his wife, now had his ear. She gave the men their space and focused on the game. A few minutes later, she felt McCabe’s hand on her shoulder.
“I have to talk to you in private. Can we go to the front?”
Based on the gravity of his tone, she knew what he had to say had nothing to do with the party, and as she preceded him through the Fiction section, she wondered if Candace had finally made contact. Would her side of the story cast a shadow over the nimbus of light around Miles Comfort’s head? Or would she quell the rumors, once and for all?
McCabe had stashed his coat behind the checkout counter, and Nora wasn’t surprised to see him collect it. As soon as he said he needed to speak to her in private, she knew that he had to leave. She just didn’t know why.
“There’s a fender bender up the block,” he said as he put on his coat. “Officers are at the scene, but one of the drivers is inebriated and combative. He took a swing at the female officer and is shouting racist comments at the male officer. Davis volunteered to lend a hand, but he’s had three drinks to my one.”
Davis was the officer McCabe had been speaking with in the Readers’ Circle. Nora knew that he and his wife were also celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary.
Smoothing the front of McCabe’s coat, she said, “It’s a tough holiday. Not everyone’s lucky enough to have Clark Kent as their valentine.”
McCabe smiled. “More like Clark Kent’s father, but thanks for the compliment.”
The winner of the last round, a young woman named Meghan and a member of Sheldon’s book club, appeared from the back. Red-faced and giggling, she closed her eyes and picked a book from the Blind Book Date display.
“It’s supposed to be a blind date, right?” Meghan let out a snort. “I’ve been on one blind date and that was enough. What a disaster! I had coffee with a guy who thought The Grapes of Wrath was a brand of cereal.”
McCabe wrapped his fingers around Nora’s hand and held it against his chest. In his eyes, she saw all the words he’d say if they were alone.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
But he was already out the door, the sleigh bells jangling in his wake.
* * *
“Where’s your date?” asked Estella when Nora returned to the Readers’ Circle.
“Dealing with a drunk driver a block away. He’ll be tied up with that until way after the party’s over.”
Estella held up the paper-wrapped book she’d won. “Most of us have our books and there’s hardly any wine left, so I think people will start leaving soon. Normally, I’d stay until the very end, but I want to be at the hospital first thing tomorrow.”
Not long after Estella left, a guest who lived on the western edge of the county said that his roommate just called to warn him about the weather.
“Freezing rain is on the way!” he declared.
The announcement spurred the guests into action. With help from June and Hester, Nora cleared the buffet table and transferred coats from the stockroom to the table.
“Isn’t that yours?” Nora asked Hester when a young woman grabbed a yellow raincoat from the pile.
“Nope. Mine’s reversible. You can see the teal color inside the hood.”
June dropped a fresh pile of coats on the table. “There must be five black parkas here. I hope people can tell them apart.”
As soon as the last few guests were gone, Nora urged June, Hester, and Sheldon to head home before the roads iced over.
“Give me two minutes,” Sheldon implored June. “If I don’t clean the kitchen, I’ll have nightmares.”
June snorted. “Doesn’t seem to bother you at home.”
“The Board of Health doesn’t grade that kitchen. Come on, what’s that saying about many hands and light work?”
“It says you’d better hop to it the next time your housemate asks you to take out the garbage.”
Nora locked the front door and then she and Hester collected the tea-light candles.
“What a great party,” Hester said. “I haven’t laughed or eaten that much in forever! It was exactly what I needed.”
“Me too.”
Hester dropped the last candle into the bag hanging from Nora’s wrist. “Now I just need to find my umbrella.”
“I’ll check up front, but it’s probably in the stockroom.”
There were no umbrellas on the counter, so Nora turned off the lights and returned to the Readers’ Circle. Seeing that Sheldon and June were almost done cleaning, she switched off the lamps in the Children’s Corner and headed down the hall to the stockroom.
As she drew closer, she heard someone say, “I took the job with the Comforts because of you.”
Nora paused. Why is Lea still here? And what does Hester have to do with Lea’s nanny job?
Hester was obviously confused too, because she said, “I don’t understand.”
“Look at me. Look at my face.”
Lea’s tone was brusque and commanding. She didn’t sound like the young woman who brought Jefferson to storytime each week. Concerned, Nora edged up to the doorway.
Hester and Lea stood in front of the bookshelves, facing each other. Lea wasn’t wearing her glasses and her thick bangs had been swept off her forehead and held in place with a hair clip.
Nora felt like she was seeing Lea’s face for the first time. Without the oversized glasses and the curtain of bangs, she looked like a different person.
She looks like . . .
Across the room, the color leached from Hester’s face. She stood stock-still, staring at the other woman.
“You see it, don’t you?” Lea’s eyes flashed with defiance. “Seeing is believing, right? It’s true. I’m your daughter.”
Chapter 18
Everybody trusts a guy in a raincoat. I don’t know why. It’s just one of those mystery facts.
—Stephen King
The silence stretched like a rubber band.
Lea was the first to break it.
“I don’t want anything from you,” she said. “I just wanted you to know. In case you ever wondered about me, the way I wondered about you.”
When Hester still didn’t reply, Lea released her bangs from the hair clip and put her glasses on.
Nora didn’t want Lea to know that she’d witnessed such an intimate scene, so she slowly backpedaled. She made it to the restroom when she heard Hester call out, “Lea, wait! Please!”
A shadow darkened the stockroom’s doorway. Lea was inches away from coming out to the hall.
“Did the people who . . .” Hester stopped herself and tried again. “Growing up, were you okay?”
The pause that followed was so long that Nora was able to reach the other end of the hall. As she rounded the corner, she bumped into Sheldon. June was right behind him.
Nora put her fingers to her lips, pointed at the hall, and frantically shook her head.
At that moment, they heard one word. A resounding “No!”
Sheldon looked at Nora and mouthed, “Who is that?”
The slamming of the back door prevented her from answering.
June whispered, “What’s going on?”
There were no more noises, but even though it was quiet, Nora couldn’t reply.
Words circled in her mind, like sink water being sucked down a drain. The speed and velocity kept increasing, making her breathless.
Hester, Lea, Elijah, mother, daughter, father, Hester, Lea, Elijah.
Unable to speak, Nora grabbed the lapel of Sheldon’s coat and tugged. Understanding that he was meant to follow her, Sheldon gave Nora his hand to hold instead of his coat.
The three of them hurried to the stockroom, where they found Hester on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.
June rushed over and knelt at her side. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Baby,” Hester repeated in a wooden voice. She looked at June through dull eyes. “My. Baby. She . . . was here.”
June shot Nora a frightened glance.
Hester kept talking. “I didn’t think I had the right—to look for her. To know her story. I didn’t think I deserved to know her name.” She smiled to herself. “It’s a pretty name. She’s pretty. She has his eyes. I didn’t see them past her glasses. And I think she covered her freckles with makeup. She got those from me. Her hands too. But the rest of her is Elijah.”
“Your daughter? Is that who you’re talking about?” June asked.
Sheldon gasped, but it was too late to hide anything from him now.
