“Then come with me,” he said, grabbing her upper arm between his fingers and making Charmaine cry out in pain.
Bradford rose from his seat and strode across the circle. The conversation drifted into silence as everyone turned to watch.
“Everything okay here?”
“It’s fine,” Sean snapped.
Evie’s heart raced. The last thing she wanted to do was cause conflict tonight, of all nights. But if she didn’t get Charmaine’s brother to leave, things were about to become heated. She could tell by the looks on the faces of both Sean and Bradford.
“Sean was just leaving,” Charmaine said, wrenching her arm free of his grasp.
Sean’s expression turned jovial. He raised both hands in surrender. “I’m leaving. I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss about nothing, little sister.”
He reached out, and before Evie could protest, he grabbed one of the candlesticks by the doorway and slipped outside. She gaped after him — what could he want with a half-used candle? Maybe it was his way of showing off his rebellion. But whatever it was, she was relieved he’d left. Perhaps now they could get back to discussing the book.
When she faced the group, they all quickly looked away and began whispering among themselves. Her cheeks must be bright red, but there wasn’t anything she could do about what’d happened. She didn’t know why Charmaine’s brother was there. And now she understood why Charmaine had been so reluctant to see him all that time. He was obviously the type of person accustomed to getting his way, and he seemed a little off-kilter. The way he’d grabbed Charmaine’s arm was disturbing.
“Are you all right, Chaz?” She slipped an arm around Charmaine’s waist and walked with her back to her seat.
“I’m fine. A little rattled—that’s all.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not now,” Charmaine replied as she sat down. Bradford sat with her, his countenance dark.
“Okay, well, whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen.”
“Thanks, Evie.”
Evie returned to her place and resumed overseeing the book club discussion, but her thoughts remained on the front door and an uneasy feeling that Sean wasn’t finished disrupting their event.
“Who thinks the protagonist could have grown a little faster?” she asked.
The group laughed, and several readers nodded.
“He was a slug,” Bea said with a shake of her head.
“Sloths learn faster,” Charmaine agreed. Her cheeks were still red. Evie was glad to see her joining in. She usually sat in silence, listening to the interactions. She tapped her pen lid against the notepad in her lap in a rapid-fire motion, and one leg jiggled in time to the beat.
Bradford’s expression was furious. His nostrils flared, and he glanced at the door as if sharing Evie’s worries over what Sean might do. Would he come back? Or maybe he’d wait outside the door until they were finished to accost his sister.
Evie had to focus. She had an entire group of book club readers in her shop. She’d already been completely distracted by the fact that the shop was a disaster area, with shelves pushed up against the walls and boxes stacked everywhere, not to mention the multicoloured floor that could trip one of her customers if they weren’t paying attention. Her stress levels were high. The last thing she needed was for Sean to cause trouble.
As the rest of the group continued answering the question she’d posed, she did her best to empty her thoughts of all her worries and fix her attention on the person speaking. Her pulse rate began returning to normal, and her smile became more genuine. She could do this — all she had to manage was to get through the evening and go to bed. Everything would look better in the morning—she was certain of it.
Just then, a strange scent drifted to her nostrils. She froze, squeezing the book between her hands until her knuckles grew white. She knew that smell. What was it?
She looked around frantically, hoping to find a clue to help her mind ascertain what she was missing. Panic crept up her spine. The smell made her freeze. It was familiar, and yet the word evaded her grasping consciousness.
“Fire!” she shouted suddenly.
The entire room fell silent as heads swivelled her direction in unison. Then there was pandemonium. People leapt from their seats and rushed for the front door.
Evie jumped onto her chair and raised both hands in the air. “Slow down! Make your way outside carefully and with consideration for the people around you.”
She wasn’t sure if anyone heard her, but the crowd seemed to comply. She climbed down from the chair and rushed into the café area, squeezing past the barricade. She couldn’t see where the fire was located, but smoke wafted high against the ceiling. The fire must be coming from outside. She hurried into the back storage room and collected the important papers she kept in the filing cabinet, then hurried to fill bags with her favourite photo albums, rolls of film, and other sentimental belongings.
David poked his head into the office, where she was scrambling frantically from one cupboard to the next, shoving things into the bags that hung from her forearms. “Can I help?”
