Read Online Once in a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge - Free Book Online Page B

people contentedly nibbling on his baked goods or sipping one of his cappuccinos or latte mocha supremes. It was hard to believe this was the same kid who, for a time back in high school, had fallen in with the wrong crowd. Nowadays the son who’d been such a worry to his parents was the only one of five siblings who’d remained home to look out for them in their advancing years.
    She patted his arm. “I’m not blaming you. I’m just disappointed is all.” She’d been counting on this event to bring in some much-needed revenue. She supposed the extra copies of Blood Money that she’d ordered—seventy-five in all, an astronomical number for a store this size—would sell eventually, but not in time to meet next week’s payroll.
    On a personal level, she’d been looking forward to meeting the author. Blood Money had hit the New York Times best-seller list hot off the press, and it had remained there, in the top five, for eight weeks and counting. It wasn’t just a lot of hype, either. Months before publication she’d picked up the ARC—advance reader copy—intending only to skim the first chapter, and had found it impossible to put down. Normally she wasn’t a fan of thrillers—she left those for Miss Honi—but this one, set on Wall Street, rang true as only someone who knew that milieu inside and out could have written it. It was smart and insightful, with prose that soared as often as it punched. Clearly she wasn’t alone in her opinion. The movie rights had been optioned by Dreamworks, and there was talk of Matt Damon playing the lead. Which left Lindsay wondering now if all that success had gone to Randall Craig’s head. Maybe the reason he’d canceled was because he’d been offered a better gig.
    “Anything I can do to help?” Ollie offered. “You know, like put up notices or something?”
    “Thanks, but I’ve got it covered,” she told him, already mentally composing the e-mail she would send to everyone on her mailing list. “There is one thing you could do, though . . .”
    He straightened, wearing an eager look. “Name it, boss.”
    “Save me a piece of that cake. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”
    Leaving Ollie, she headed to the stockroom to unpack a shipment of books that had arrived that morning. The rest of the afternoon she was kept busy tracking inventory and stocking shelves, waiting on customers, and taking phone calls with reps. Along the way, she stopped to chat with several of her customers: Marie Gilroy, who was looking for a book to bring to her mother in the hospital, and Ana Fuentes, one of the book-club ladies with whom Lindsay had become friendly. Ana loved swapping recipes with Ollie, and today she’d brought in her recipe for seedless-grape chiffon pie, neatly printed on a five-by-six index card. There was also diminutive, doe-eyed Fiona Kennedy from the shop next door, which sold a wide selection of New Age remedies. Fiona pressed a small, purplish crystal into Lindsay’s palm, saying, “It’s supposed to calm the nerves,” no doubt in reference to Lindsay’s David-and-Goliath battle against the Heywood Group. Lindsay thanked her and tucked the crystal into a front pocket of her jeans, thinking, Who knows? I might need it, if not to settle my nerves then as ammo for my slingshot.
    She was distracted just then by the sight of a woman pushing her way in through the door. Thirtyish, wearing tight black jeans, high-heeled boots, and a red bolero jacket over a midriff-baring T-shirt the same shade as the pink streaks in her hair. Her ears were pierced in so many places, it was a wonder there was any flesh left to hold the multitude of earrings. A rose tattoo snaked up one side of her neck, and she had on so much makeup, it almost obscured the fact that she was pretty enough not to need it. In spite of her tough-girl look, she seemed a bit lost.
    She paused just inside the doorway, glancing about uncertainly, prompting Lindsay to approach her and inquire,