Ahead, the streetlights of the main road shone through the trees. Charlotte took a deep breath, almost ready to return to civilisation. The earlier panic was gone. Or at least at bay. Time to make a cup of tea and settle for the night. She smiled at the thought and turned right.
Straight into Sid Morris, who stood, feet planted apart, arms crossed.
Barely stopping before ploughing into him, Charlotte copied his stance, right down to the crossed arms. She didn’t speak, merely looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Her heartrate was through the roof.
Not tonight.
“Explain your reason for lurking in the bushes.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s about time you took this seriously, missy. Since you arrived in town there’s been trouble. And now I find you hanging around a reserve at almost midnight.”
Was I there so long?
“I’m getting to know my new town. And I’m quite certain there was trouble happening before I moved here. Now, I’m going home.” Charlotte went to step around Sid, but his arm shot out like a barrier and he leaned in toward her.
“You need to be careful.” He hissed at her, his breath fowl. “Don’t think being with Rose will somehow protect you if you take a wrong step. Her and her son have no jurisdiction here and I’m the one who makes the rules.”
It took all of Charlotte’s self-control to prevent hysterical laughter exploding into his face. He really believed he was straight out of a western movie. Why bring Rosie and Trev into this? She sobered as she remembered she was out late at night on a deserted street with a man who hated her. One with a gun.
“I’m going to leave now.” She used her best therapist voice. “There’s no reason for you to suspect me of any wrongdoing. I’m just settling into a new job and not looking for any problems.”
“Then stay off the streets at night. No more wandering around when you hear things.”
“Great advice. Goodnight, Sid.” Fingers metaphorically crossed, she waited and the moment his arm dropped, rushed past. Charlotte didn’t look back or slow down until she reached the bookshop.
Chapter Sixteen
Charlotte did something she hadn’t since leaving Queensland months ago. She took a sleeping tablet. Since the events of the previous year, she always kept some.
Insomnia had taken over for a while during the worst of the board inquiry in Brisbane, and before she’d completely fallen apart, her doctor prescribed some. Two nights sleep and she’d been back in control and able to explain her decision about revealing confidential information.
Sid’s threatening demeanour and apparent mission to catch her doing something wrong was the final straw on an already difficult evening.
She woke groggy and wanted to go back to sleep. But the tapping of rain on the window got her attention and with a moan, Charlotte slid her feet out. The sky was grey and the clouds heavy. Great when the weather matched the mood. Even a long shower followed by strong coffee barely made inroads on her disinterest in starting the day.
Second coffee in hand, she opened Facebook. Her cup stopped halfway to her mouth as she read the new bookshop page. More than fifty people had liked it. She had to double check. But yes, it was her page, for Rosie’s shop. There were several reviews, all five star and suddenly, she was smiling. If a half-done page with next to no images got such an immediate response, what could they look forward to?
In minutes she was downstairs with all the lights on, taking photographs and uploading them to the page as she went, adding a description here, a sale price there. She searched a few local businesses, like Esther’s shop and the Indian restaurant and liked their pages. Hopefully, word would get around as more people saw the new page.
After setting the store up for the day, she still had an hour before opening, so printed out the signs she’d made and placed them in high visibility areas. Now to find a big box. There was nothing she could use in the storeroom, so Charlotte headed for the garage. In the wall behind her car was a door to another room, but she didn’t have a key. She found a wooden carton on a shelf. This would do for the moment.
Charlotte lined its inside with Christmas paper and mounted a sign on its side. She popped it onto a small table a few feet in from the door, where customers would see it as they entered. As a finishing touch she wound tinsel around the table. A few photos later, she’d announced the initiative on Facebook.
You should be proud of yourself.
She was. And a bounce in her steps replaced the dragging of her legs from earlier in the morning. This was better. A whole lot better.
“That is the third book in half an hour!” Rosie wheeled around the counter to deposit a gift-wrapped book into the wooden carton. “Customers are loving the idea!”
“It really is win-win.” Charlotte was restocking shelves. “The customers feel good, the recipients will be delighted, and Kingfisher Falls Bookshop becomes a conduit. I loved your idea of putting five dollars from each donation sale into a cash fund as a little extra help. You are so generous.”
“And you, my clever friend, are a genius. This concept is a keeper, that’s for sure. But this little carton won’t cope if this continues.”
Charlotte finished and joined Rosie. “No, it won’t. Do you know if there is anything in the room behind the garage?”
“Oh. I’d forgotten about that. Maybe. My husband packed up what was left behind by the last owners. They left under rather…well, odd circumstances. They said to throw anything away, but Graeme couldn’t bring himself to do so. He always hoped someone from the family would come back and collect everything.”
“How long ago was this?”
“A long time. Way too long. Go take a peek and see if there’s something we can use. I think the key is the
