Sam said, “I’m sorry to bother you.I guess I’m just trying to process everything.”
Sofia slid her espresso in front of her, and Sam paid up.Sofia said, “I get it.How about if I take a seat with you after I get this order done?We can talk about it a little.It’s been pretty slow this morning, anyway.”
“I’ll sit at the bar then.That’ll be easier for you.”
Sam watched as Sofia swiftly and competently got the customer’s drink prepared, although her movements seemed almost mechanical, as if she was just going through the motions.After checking his order out, she stood back in front of Sam at the bar.“You were asking why I joined book club.”
Sam gave her a smile.“Sorry, I must sound really nosy.I was just thinking you were already snowed under with books you had to read for school.”
“True.But I wanted to meet people.I’m new to the area.”
Sofia looked away.It felt to Sam like she was concealing something, although she wasn’t sure why she’d react that way to such an innocuous question.
“Why didyoujoin?”asked Sofia, turning the tables.
“Actually, for the same reasons.I’m still new to Sunset Ridge, and I wanted to get more involved and meet people.Also, I wanted to show Charlotte some support.”
Sofia’s expression softened at this.“Yeah, Charlotte’s great.She’s been really nice to me.”
Sam nodded.“I’ve been in a kind of reading rut too.Just reading the same things.I thought joining the book club would be a good way for me to enjoy something totally different.Maybe I can find a new genre to read.”
Sofia gave her a rueful look.“You picked the wrong time to join, didn’t you?I guess the police have spoken with you, too?”She pushed a cleaning rag over the surface of the already-clean bar.She’d made the question sound casual, but Sam noticed the tightening of her muscles, as if she really wanted to know.
“Yes, I’ve spoken with them.Actually, Charlotte and I were the ones who discovered poor Margaret.So the police were talking with us right away.”
Sofia stiffened.“You were there when she was found?”
“That’s right.Charlotte had asked me to come by when she opened so we could work on her social media branding.It was quite a shock.Charlotte especially took it hard, because she’d known Margaret for a while.”
Sofia nodded at this.“Was she at the shop the whole night?”
“I’m afraid she was.At least, it sure looks that way.”
Sofia immediately said, “I went straight home after the meeting.I had a project I needed to work on.”
“I get the impression that maybe she died before anyone actually left the building.But that’s just a guess.”Sam paused.“What did you make of Margaret?”asked Sam carefully.
“She was intense.Really critical.I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but she was a hard person to like.I don’t think anyone in the group did.”Her voice softened a little.“Except Charlotte, maybe.But Charlotte is always really generous with everyone.”
Sam quietly sipped her espresso for a moment, thinking the pause might make Sofia continue.Which, eventually, it did.
“I wanted us to focus on some lighter reading,” said Sofia finally.“You know, something fun and engaging.But Margaret didn’t want that.She made me feel stupid for even suggesting it.Having Margaret around made everyone uncomfortable.It made us all second-guess our opinions about a book or offering up anything to begin with, since she was going to shoot them down.She was just really critical and harsh.It made us all pretty tense.”
“I’m sorry.It sounds like a really tough atmosphere for an honest exchange of ideas.It’s terrible what happened to Margaret, but it sounds like the book club meetings, in some ways, might grow for the better.”
Sofia bobbed her head.“That’s totally true.”She absentmindedly wiped down an area of the bar that she’d already cleaned.“Margaret had a bad effect on everybody.Dylan, especially.”
“He’s the poet, isn’t he?”
Sofia took a deep breath.“He wants to be.”
“Did he share any of his work with Margaret?”Sam winced inwardly at this.She hoped he hadn’t, in some ways.Margaret certainly wasn’t the most nurturing of reviewers.And the young man had seemed vulnerable to her in some ways.
“He knew better than to do that.He’d seen what happened when Claire talked about writing romance.But he had an open mic night.Right over there,” said Sofia, gesturing to a corner of the store where the shop would host performers.“I wasn’t working that night, but I heard about it.It was a real disaster.”
Another couple of customers came in, and Sofia spent the next ten minutes taking care of their orders.Sam thought about how discouraging Margaret had been to the nascent talent of the younger book club members.It wasn’t ever easy to have your dreams dashed like that.Was it enough to murder someone over, though?Maybe in the heat of the moment, but if Margaret had been poisoned?
After Sofia wrapped up the orders, she stood in front of Sam again.
