When noon came around the next day and they’d only had a dozen customers, that dread turned to terror. She sent Theresa and Janet both home and checked the sign to make sure it was turned to Open. Then she peeked out the front door for the third time. The town was overrun with shoppers, flowing in and out of galleries and boutiques. People were spending money—just not at the bookshop.
Francine Walsh (literary fiction) passed by on the sidewalk with a large shopping bag in one hand and her goldendoodle’s leash in the other.
Shelby beamed at the woman. “Hi, Francine! Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
The woman glanced her way. “Shelby.” She didn’t even offer a smile as she swept past.
Strange. Worry gnawed as Shelby went back inside. She found Gray in the office scanning titles into the system. He’d been shut up in here all day so he probably didn’t realize today was just as slow as yesterday. Which was even worse because today was the Saturday of the Stroll—there were only two more Saturdays before Christmas!
He looked up at her entry, and his warm smile wilted as he read her expression. “Still slow?”
“Worse than yesterday. We’ve only had a dozen customers all morning. We always keep three or four booksellers busy on the floor throughout December, and even more during the Stroll.”
Gray leaned back in his chair. “What do you think is going on?”
“I don’t know. This has never happened before. We have slow days like this in January or February, but not in December. And this is the second day in a row. I have a bad feeling about this, Gray.” Especially coming on the heels of that vandalism.
“Maybe it’s just a fluke. It’s been nice and sunny, unseasonably warm. People could be out enjoying the weather.”
“They’re out enjoying all the other stores! The town is swamped with shoppers.”
Frown lines crouched between his brows just as the bell over the door tinkled.
“Finally, a customer.” Shelby offered him a half-hearted smile, then turned to go sell some books. But it was Liddy who’d entered the store. Shelby stopped her before she went upstairs, noting her somber expression. “What’s wrong? Is Ollie okay?”
“He’s fine. Everyone’s fine. I just came from The Big Tease. Glenda Something was doing my hair...?”
“Glenda Ellsworth.”
“Right. Well, shortly before I came in she had RaeAnne Something in her chair, and in the chair next to her was... Imogene Mae?”
“Ida Mae. She and RaeAnne are in the Garden Club together.”
“Okay, well, they were talking, and Glenda overheard everything they said. Long story short—the Remingtons are hatching some plot to drive Gray out of town. They’ve been using all their influential friends to spread the word. They were careful about what they said, so she only got the gist of it, not the specifics.”
The news sank like an anchor in Shelby’s stomach. “Oh, I think I have the specifics. We were unusually slow around here yesterday, but today has been absolutely dead. They’ve talked all their friends into boycotting my store.”
“Surely not. Why would they want to hurt you?”
“Now that I’m with Gray, I’m consorting with the enemy, I guess. And they’re afraid Gray will move back to town.”
“Well, so what? It’s a free country.”
“You don’t understand these people. They hold a grudge against Gray’s family because of what his dad did. And then there was that cheating scandal in high school.”
“That was eons ago!”
“The Remingtons don’t want Gray around and are pretty used to having their way.” They’d done things like this before—manipulating and scheming. Nothing outside the law. But they knew how to use their money and influence to gain the upper hand.
“But you didn’t do anything wrong! This is not okay.”
“They think if they hit my bottom line I’ll bow to their pressure. But boy do they have another thing coming.” That was the anger talking. The more rational side of her sang a different tune. She needed sales now more than ever. She was on the verge of losing the store!
“Atta girl. You need to stand up to these bullies. Anyway, they can’t have the whole town in their back pocket.”
Maybe not quite all. Her family had their own set of friends. But, yes, the Remingtons were pretty influential. Recently they’d put up the cash for the new museum. “The patriarch of the family, Richard, is part of the chamber of commerce that has brought a lot of businesses to the area over the past twenty years. He’s been a big part of the town’s growth. His wife, Renee, serves on city council and has her own influential circle of friends.”
“They’re the parents of the man Gray’s dad killed?”
