Page 137 of Jackass
“I told you, Charlie and I are going to The Bookstore to work on the signing. There is just over a month left to get everything organized.”
“We still haven’t found Carrie.”
“I know. Think of it this way. The last time I went there, she showed up outside. Maybe we’ll get lucky again,” I said with a smirk.
“Not funny,” Jack replied.
“Jack, Mimic is coming with me. Ryder will be there, too. Then, I’m meeting Beck for lunch at The Diner. I will only be gone for a few hours.” I kissed him hard, and then went to get Charlie.
“Ryder, what do you think of this?” I asked, motioning for Ryder to come watch a video I put together for TikTok.
“I told you, Sam, you can do whatever you want. I trust you completely,” he said with a smile.
“You are so exasperating. This is your business, Ryder, you should be involved,” I told him.
He laughed at me and walked away.
Ugh!
Shaking my head at him, I got up and went to check on Charlie. Chrissy and Tabby were due to arrive soon with Avery. She was quietly sitting in a chair, looking at books. You would think this was a library with the way Ryder let her have free rein.
The bell of the door jingled, and I turned to look at who came in.
“Rayne! What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I just thought I would stop by and see how things were going? The book signing is getting close. I wanted to make sure you got the things I sent you,” she explained.
“I did. Thank you so much. Every business in town has signs in their windows,” I told her.
“Great. Is Ryder here?” she questioned, biting her lip.
“He is. He just went in the back to get something. He should be out in a minute,” I said, smiling to myself.
Rayne and I talked for a few minutes, waiting for Ryder to return to the front.
“Miss Perry. I am surprised to see you here,” Ryder said, walking around the counter to stand by the register. “Is there something you need?”
“Please, call me Rayne. I just wanted to pop in and make sure you received the shipment of books I sent?”
“Um, yea,” he said, looking down.
“Was there something wrong?” Rayne asked.
Ryder finally looked up at Rayne. Taking a deep breath, he letit out slowly.
“It was a rather large shipment,” he said.
“Do you not have room to store them?” she asked nervously.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it, Ryder? Spit it out,” I pressed.
Ryder turned to me and glared.
“I think you’re overestimating how many people will come to this. You sent a thousand signed copies of your new book, and hundreds of copies of your other five books. This is a small town. I cannot afford to purchase all those books from you, hoping they will sell.”
“I am not asking you to purchase anything.” Rayne smiled sweetly. “Anything that doesn’t sell the day of the signing, I will take back with me. We will sell the books at your price, and you will keep a portion of each book sold. Plus, you will have the sales from anything else in the store people buy.”