Part 15 (1/2)
LEAANN La.r.s.eN'S FANS KNEW EXACTLY WHAT they were missing. And that was LeaAnn La.r.s.en.
When Claire arrived at six forty-five a line of La.r.s.en's fans already stretched out the front door and snaked around the block. They eyed her impatiently as she walked by them with her poster for Highland h.e.l.lion b.u.mping against one knee and her tote bag stocked with bookmarks, ”autographed by the author” stickers, pens, and a ”please join my mailing list” sheet stuffed inside. The looks got angry when she entered the store and walked past the fans who'd shown up early enough to be at the head of the line.
A woman detached herself from the information desk and hurried over to Claire. ”I'm Dee, the customer relations manager.” She looked briefly over Claire's shoulder and her lips trembled. ”Thank G.o.d you're here.”
”Hasn't anyone told them she isn't coming?” Claire asked through dry lips.
”Um, no. We drew straws and did rock/paper/scissors, but none of us could agree on who would tell them.”
The jostling of the crowd grew more p.r.o.nounced.
”Where is she?” one of them called out. ”Where's LeaAnn?”
”And where's Blade?” another yelled, referring to one of La.r.s.en's most popular former SEAL heroes. ”I heard she always brings a hero with her.”
Jesus. Claire was afraid to turn around. If there'd been another author within hailing distance, she would have been in a heated round of rock/paper/scissors herself right now.
”Come on,” Dee said reaching for Claire's poster. ”Let me get you set up.” She snuck another look over Claire's shoulder and a shudder ran through her.
”What?” Claire asked.
”Nothing.” The CRM swallowed and averted her eyes. She took Claire's arm and began to lead her toward the signing table. ”Would you like something to drink?”
The crowd began to murmur and not in a friendly/happy way. Claire felt like a Christian about to be fed to the lions. ”Only if it's alcoholic and fast working.”
”Sorry.” The CRM did, indeed, look sorry. In fact, she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. Claire knew the feeling.
They reached the table but neither of them turned to face the now-muttering crowd.
”Hey, where's LeaAnn?” a voice cried out.
”Who's that?” another yelled.
”Are you ready?” Dee asked quietly.
Claire shook her head gently. ”Not really,” she said. She'd had signings where the only people who approached her table were looking for directions to the bathroom or the information desk. When you weren't a big name book signings were a total c.r.a.pshoot-sometimes a respectable number of actual readers came and sometimes even your immediate family didn't show up. But she'd never before been afraid for her safety. Maybe if she just turned and left now, no one, especially her, would get hurt.
Dee ignored her comment. Still holding Claire's arm, she led Claire to the chair behind the signing table. The CRM might be young and thin, but she had a grip like a vise. Still, you might lead a frightened author to a signing table but that didn't mean she had to sit. Claire hovered behind the chair studying the crowd, who had now pushed past the stanchions and were studying her back.
With shaking hands Dee set the poster on the table and opened the back flaps so it could stand on its own. There was silence as the fans at the front of the line took in the book's cover and read the t.i.tle and the author's name. Some of their mouths moved with the effort, but that might have been because they were battling their disbelief. Another store employee wheeled over a cart stacked with books. He propped a copy of Highland h.e.l.lion and one of Claire's first book, Highland Kiss, in front of one of the stacks so that their covers could be seen.
”What kind of bulls.h.i.+t is this?” a girl in a Georgia Tech T-s.h.i.+rt cried. ”I cut my Lit cla.s.s to come here.”
”This is bogus,” someone else shouted. ”I didn't stand in line for an hour to see somebody I never even heard of!”
There was chaos as the front of the line broke ranks. Claire braced for a frontal a.s.sault but the majority of the surge was backward toward the exit.
”Where are the frickin' Navy SEALs?” a woman who found herself unexpectedly at the front asked. ”I promised my daughter I'd get a picture with one of the Navy SEALs!” She held up her camera. The flash accidentally went off.
Once the pus.h.i.+ng started the crowd surged and retreated, looking much like a cell attempting to divide as people at the front tried to leave and people at the back, who couldn't see what was going on, pressed forward. Each new batch that landed at the front read the poster, glared at Claire, and shouted out either their disappointment or anger before clawing their way back toward the entrance.
”Gosh, maybe we should have canceled,” Dee said. ”We voted on it a bunch of times but it was always a tie.”
”What, you didn't rock/paper/scissors it?” Claire deadpanned. Her heart was racing in her chest, and her mouth was horribly dry, but the fear was receding. So far she'd received a lot of angry looks and a good bit of disdain, but no one had seriously threatened bodily harm. Yet.
An older woman was thrust forward by the surging and receding crowd-like a seash.e.l.l deposited onto the beach by the ocean's tide. She teetered precariously for a moment, her gla.s.ses askew, her fluffy white hair puffed out around her head. Slowly she regained her balance, steadying herself with her cane.
Claire stepped around the table and the cart of books when she recognized the woman. ”Mrs. Davenport? What are you doing here?”
”My word!” The older woman brushed off her silk blouse and straightened her pearls. ”I got a phone call about your book signing and I must say you've got quite a crowd.” She looked around, her forehead creasing in confusion. ”But I don't understand where they were putting the seals. Is there a tank somewhere in the store?”
There was another tidal strength surge and Sadie Hopewell and Myra Mackelbaum landed near Mimi Davenport.
”Goodness,” Myra said, running a hand over her hair. ”I had no idea we'd have to fight our way inside.”
Sadie blinked several times, taking it all in. ”Did they really say there were seals here?” She turned to Claire. ”Are you a nature writer, dear?” she asked.
”No,” Claire said, far closer to laughing than she would have thought possible just ten minutes ago. ”I write historical romance. Set in the Scottish Highlands.”
”You've gotta love a man who can wear a kilt,” Samantha Davis said as she stepped through what remained of the original crowd. As usual, every hair was in place. Her jeans, white T-s.h.i.+rt, and blazer looked completely unruffled and casually elegant. ”I hope you're planning to sign some books,” Samantha said. ”Because I'm looking forward to reading your work and both my sister and my mother-in-law asked me to pick up autographed copies for them.”
The CRM straightened beside Claire, flas.h.i.+ng what could only be called a relieved smile. ”Well then, I guess we have ourselves a signing.” She bustled around the cart and table and pulled out the chair. ”Ms. Walker?”
The crowd had diffused now so that it was possible to see individuals. Claire felt a rea.s.suring glow as Brooke Mackenzie stepped up behind Samantha, giving Claire a friendly wave and a warm smile. Edward Parker, James, and Isabella, who was not sporting her upstairs-maid attire but seemed to have brought her attempts at a British accent with her, moved through the milling group to stand behind Brooke in what was beginning to look like an actual line. ”'Ello, 'ow ya doin', guhv'nor!” she proclaimed to a bookstore employee.
An unhappy LeaAnn La.r.s.en fan clutching a book with a Navy SEAL on the cover walked up to the concierge. Claire couldn't hear what the woman said, but she heard Edward Parker's reply. ”I understand, madam,” he said in his crisp, elegant accent. ”But I highly recommend this author.” He leaned down to hear her response. ”No, I don't believe there are any seals in her stories.”
Isabella bobbed her head and offered the woman a curtsy. A few others who'd come for LeaAnn La.r.s.en shrugged and joined the line as Claire took the proffered seat and quickly unpacked her bookmarks and autograph stickers. Dee and her coworkers moved copies of Highland Kiss and Highland h.e.l.lion off the cart and onto the signing table. Claire looked up and spotted the Ritchie twins and their mother. Melinda Greene and her partner Diana were right behind them.
Claire wasn't sure if it was Brooke or Samantha or both who had put out the word, but practically the whole Sunday-night Downton Abbey group seemed to be here. Claire felt a smile stretch across her face.
”Well then,” Dee said, ushering Mimi Davenport up to the table. ”I think it's time for the signing to begin.”
EDWARD LED EVERYONE BACK TO THE ALEXANDER clubroom for champagne and chocolates after the signing. He was gratified by how many of the Sunday-night group had made it to the bookstore. Many of them had brought friends and acquaintances. Claire Walker's ”fans” had proved less . . . vocal . . . than the originally scheduled author's readers, but they'd numbered close to thirty and Edward had noticed that almost everyone, including himself, had bought multiple copies.
Even Mimi Davenport, who'd almost ”accidentally” walked out of the store without paying had bought several copies for her daughters and daughters-in-law.
”To the Alexander's full-time and soon-to-be-famous author!” Samantha raised her gla.s.s of champagne in toast.
”Hear! Hear!”
”Woo-hoo!” Logan and Callan Ritchie hooted.