Clouds rolled in from the east early Wednesday, hiding the dawn from Leafmore. The town seemed tired, as if it needed to rest a little longer than normal, like it was sleeping in from being out late the night before.

Arthur’s house was peacefully quiet in the mornings. Hearing his wood floor lightly creak when he walked and the drip of coffee was his ideal way to wake up. Wednesday morning’s quiet was interrupted by the engine of a garbage truck and its annoyingly rhythmic beeps. He kept his phone on the table beside his bed; it doubled as his alarm clock. His neighbor and longtime family friend Tom was the only person he ever talked to on the phone. I should get rid of my phone and get a normal alarm clock, he thought more than once, but Tom liked to randomly text him throughout the day. He turned off the phone alarm before it could sound, thanks to the garbage truck.

The anticipation of the book delivery that never arrived the day before energized him just enough to power through his morning routine. If it was going to show today, Arthur assumed it would be early since that’s when it normally came. Breakfast would usually have been strawberry jelly on toast, but the extra early start had him out of sorts and he left without eating breakfast, only a lidded cup of coffee in hand.

Everything had its place once he stepped into his Honda Civic. Without thought, fastening the seatbelt was the first thing he always did when entering any vehicle. A habit ingrained into him by his father at a young age; he told Arthur that the car wouldn’t move until his seatbelt was buckled. The car wasn’t much to look at on the outside, some of the silver paint flaking away and a few dents and scratches from normal wear, but that didn’t bother Arthur. He trusted it, as much as anyone can trust machinery.

There were three or four parking spaces in the front of the buildings, but the main parking lots for the businesses on the court square were situated around the back of each building. Arthur drove past the front of The Last Chapter, just as he had thousands of times before. Even growing up he couldn’t help himself but to see what cars were parked in the front spaces or try and peek inside to see if there was anything eventful happening. Once he became the owner, he could still feel his heart full when he drove by the front knowing that it was all his now.

He pulled into the one space closest to the backdoor of the store that was meant for the owners or employees of each business. Sometimes the truck would be there to deliver the books when he arrived, but there was no such luck again today. I’ll have to call them if it doesn’t show up in a couple of hours, he groaned. The worst part about calling the delivery company was the wait. It would be at least a half hour wait.

Inside, he gave the aisles and shelves a quick once-over and made his way to the front counter. After verifying that everything was where it was supposed to be, he took off his jacket and put it behind the counter, seeing The Secret of Secrets once again. He opened to the dog eared page and reread:

Arthur, thank you for recommending The End of Eternity and Never Let Me Go. They are such wonderful and relevant reads. HG

Arthur wondered if they were book club reads. Holly was undeniably linked to the inner circle of Leafmore, and the Tuesday night book club paraded some of the town’s more prominent members. Had the titles been assigned for reading by the book club?

He swallowed the last bit of coffee right on schedule as he watched some of the court square worker bees pass by. It was time to open, so he once again put the book behind the counter, unlocked the door, and flipped the sign to OPEN. He hoped Holly would be the first one in again today. Getting to ask her about the book and what she wanted to talk to him about the day before were weighing on him.

Shortly after opening, the bell over the door rang. The delivery driver put a box on the counter.

“Finally,” Arthur said, relieved and excited at the same time.

“Hey Arthur, sorry about yesterday. The truck broke down and I sat on the highway for two hours before anyone came,” the driver explained. “Be right back, I’ve got two more.”

Arthur was glad the books arrived, it would keep him busy for a while. It wasn’t a large haul, but it was enough to make him rearrange the shelves several times in order to get them just right. The bell rang again as he was situating another title on a shelf near the back of the building.

“Be right with you,” he yelled to the front. There were high hopes it was Holly, ready with an explanation about yesterday’s events. He peeked down the aisle only to have those hopes dashed when he saw Mindy Reed, the queen of gossip in Leafmore. If a dog was run over, Mindy knew. If a couple had marital problems, Mindy knew. If the owner of the town bookstore’s father had health issues, Mindy knew.

Arthur went to the counter to see if he could help Mindy with anything, but he figured that she was here for the tea. She stopped in The Last Chapter two or three times every week, Ron’s coffee in hand, ready to gossip until she dropped. She was always overanimated, which Arthur thought you have to try hard to do, but perhaps that it was habitual for her now. The wild hand movements, quick facial changes, and eyes that widened enough for the eyeballs to roll out onto the floor were just a few of the over-exaggerations Mindy had perfected.

“Hey Mindy, new books came today, interested?” Arthur knew the answer already.

“Have you seen Caroline’s new car? It must have cost a fortune. Must be nice to have a rich husband leave you everything,” she tried to goad Arthur into her world. That world was where she was hailed as a great Roman emperor in charge of the Colosseum, pitting warriors against each other for her own amusement.

Arthur knew how to play her game, and learned it best to distance himself from her trap as far away as possible, but also not to agitate the queen. “Can’t say I have, but I bet it’s nice. Caroline works hard, I’m sure she deserves it.” Her husband was a real estate mogul that owned half of Leafmore, along with a few other surrounding towns. He died abruptly a few years back, and left everything to her.

Mindy chuckled softly and rolled her eyes. Arthur was relieved. Minimum animation from her affirmed that he hadn’t given her any ammunition. She took a drink of her coffee. “How’s Tom? I haven’t seen him around lately.”

Tom had become her new backup plan in conversation with Arthur over the past few weeks. If she didn’t get a bite with her first cast, he knew she would try another bait and throw it out again. Tom had come up more often recently, though, and Arthur thought that maybe she was sweet on him. He loved Tom, but couldn’t fathom any woman being interested in the old man. “Tom is good when I can get him out of his recliner.”

The bell rang and a couple of customers came in. Arthur looked to see if it may be Holly, and thought to ask, “Hey Mindy, what are you guys reading in the book club right now?”

“We’re actually reading Catcher In The Rye. A lot of us haven’t read it and we felt like it was one that we should be familiar with.”

Well that doesn’t explain the note, he thought. Mindy might know more about Holly, but Arthur wanted to hear from her, himself. “Yeah that’s a classic. It should definitely be on all book club lists,” he replied, ready to get back to straightening shelves, “well I’m going to go get back to work. Let me know if you need anything.”

Mindy sat at a table for a while and looked for more people to chat with as they came in. She hung around for a while until she found an ear to bend to leave with and left around lunch.

Arthur’s phone buzzed.

Tom: Lunch?

Arthur: Sure. PB&J?

Tom: There in 10

Arthur: Wear pants

Arthur was happy to hear from Tom. He didn’t get out as much anymore and Arthur missed his company at The Last Chapter. After all, Tom was the one that gave him the bookstore.

Arthur watched from the windows as Tom rolled his front truck tires onto the top of the concrete parking blocks in one of the front spaces. Upon realizing what he’d done, Tom quickly reversed and the truck bounced, scraping the front bumper on the concrete block. Arthur couldn’t help but laugh. Tom came into the store holding a brown paper bag and looking a bit flustered.

“Sheesh, old man. Who taught you to drive?”

“Your mom.” Tom let out an over-exaggerated laugh at Arthur.

“Crazy old fool. Those sandwiches better still be whole,” he said, pointing at the brown paper bag.

They sat together at the counter and ate lunch. Arthur teased Tom about Mindy and then brought up Holly in the conversation.

“The weirdest thing happened yesterday. Holly was in and acting a little strange. She even dog eared a page in a book. I couldn’t believe she would ever do something like that.”

“Oh no, not dog eared!” Tom laid it on thick.

“I’m being serious. She was trying to tell me something before James interrupted and they left. She left the book she bought and it had a note left in it for me.” Arthur opened the copy of The Secret of Secrets and showed Tom.

“Those are good recommendations.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t remember recommending those to her.”

Tom’s eyebrow raised. “Maybe she overheard you talking to someone else.”

“That’s what I thought, too.”

“Just ask her, Art.”

“I would, but she hasn’t been in yet today.”

The faint cry of police sirens came closer and closer, until they saw a couple of police cars streak by in front of the store.

“Yikes, that’s not good. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the cops. Wonder what that’s about?” Tom said, concerned.

“Last time I saw them out, Ron had hit one of Bill’s cows that got out. I was driving by when it happened, it just about made me sick to my stomach. It was the most blood I’ve ever seen.” It disgusted Arthur to remember the scene.

Arthur and Tom finished eating. Tom stayed around a while and browsed through all of the books. He looks at home here, Arthur thought. Tom left a little before it was time to close the store, leaving Arthur to deal with the last few customers of the day. He was just about to flip the sign to CLOSED when the bell over the door rang out. It was Mindy, again.

“Arthur! Did you hear? It’s crazy!” she said, arms flailing and eyes wide. Arthur couldn’t remember seeing her this animated before.

“I don’t guess. What’s up?”

“They found a body by the old dock at the lake! It was Holly Gates! Jane found her when she was looking for a new fishing spot.”

Arthur’s heart beat faster. “Holly? Are you sure?” his voice cracked as he asked back.

“Jane said she found her on the rocks. She felt for a pulse but there wasn’t one. I knew something was wrong when she didn’t show up for the book club Tuesday night. She never misses book club.”

There was a pit in Arthur’s stomach. He remembered The Secret of Secrets and the note. I was wrong, he thought. So wrong.