Book Fair and Foul (Ashton Corners Book Club) Read Free Page A

that will work out perfectly,” Molly enthused. “Do you foresee any problems, Bob? You are our logistics person, after all.”
    He took a while to answer, looking like he was enjoying his food. “Nope. I think it’ll be an easy setup, which is good since it’s only Jacob and me doing the heavyweight stuff.” He grinned. “The chairs will take the longest but I’m sure we can get it all done if we get there, say, an hour before the doors open.” He looked over at Jacob, who nodded.
    “Good.”
    “Will all those heavy book boxes be here at the store for pickup?”
    Molly shook her head. “No, I had them delivered to my home. They’re in the garage. That worked out well for Teensy Coldicutt’s launch, except for the initial glitch.” She smiled ruefully. “The back room here is so crowded already, as you can see.”
    This was Molly’s first big event as new owner of the only independent bookstore in town. Molly had spent the last few months doing some rejiggering of the floor plan and redecorating the store while the book club members had been delighted with their various new roles. Bob Miller handled the bookkeeping end of it; Stephanie Lowe took on the role of manager and worked in the store most weekdays; seventeen-year-old Andrea Mason worked part-time, mainly on weekends and a couple of days after school; Jacob kept his eyes on all things legal; and Lizzie handled the promotional end of things and enjoyed doing the occasional shift selling books.
    The Ashton Corners reading community had embraced the store in all its newness, especially the fact that Molly was the new owner. And now, she was venturing a bit further afield with her first major daylong event.
    Sally-Jo was anxious to continue when it looked like they’d finished processing those details. “Now, remember I said there’s a kitchen at one end of the room? The luncheon will be held in that area. That makes it easier to set up the food that will be offered buffet style. We can leave the tables at the ready all day and it won’t interfere with the author events. How does that sound to y’all?”
    Andie finished off her can of root beer and set it down on the floor. “I can’t believe it’s almost here. One more week,” she beat a pair of invisible drumsticks in the air, “and we’re holding our very first mystery conference.”
    Lizzie nodded. “It’s not really a conference, more like a festival, but since the authors are coming directly from the Readers and Riters Festival in Atlanta, we’ve decided to call it a fair.”
    Andie waved her hand. “Conference, festival, fair . . . doesn’t matter. I can hardly wait. Aren’t ya just bursting?”
    Lizzie grinned, happy that Andie seemed ready to dive into another new project. The book club had been Lizzie’s method of turning her former tutoree onto reading. And although the club presented a variety of reading tastes and opinions, it seemed like they had also bonded as a fairly effective gang of sleuths, too. She just hoped this latest venture wouldn’t end up with another dead body count.
    “I once again have to thank y’all for embracing yet another of my pet projects,” Molly said, helping herself to some more green salad. “When I took over the store I had no idea how much work it would be but it is because of you that I can try out something as ambitious as a daylong mystery fair. I’m also truly amazed that we have gotten such a good response from the authors.”
    “Well, why in tarnation wouldn’t we?” Bob Miller asked, huffing up as he spoke. “We’re a legitimate mystery book club and you own a very popular bookstore.”
    Molly gave him a warm smile. “You really do put the best spin on everything, Bob. Especially things to do with the store. Of course, we’re not paying them, but have put together a nice little package for them as a thank-you.”
    “Such as?” Bob asked.
    “Well, we’ve booked them at the Quilt Patch for an extra couple of nights after