For Rye Gavin Gardiner (best book club books for discussion TXT) 📖

father’s old cataract glasses, Renata discerned innocent fragility beneath Sandie’s superficiality. There was a little girl under the make-up, wanting nothing more than to please her father. Renata knew because she’d once been the same little girl.

Sandie adjusted her own glasses – a fashion accessory more than anything, Renata suspected – then hugged her. ‘You wholly don’t deserve this, Renata,’ she spoke in her ear. ‘You poor thing. You and me are gonna stick together, okay?’

It had been so simple: she’d used the information on the business card the girl had slipped her to acquire her address. She’d received a reply to her letter within a week; the moth just couldn’t wait to fly back to the flame. Renata had only needed to express her desire to appease Quentin’s guilt at the harm caused by the truck explosion, wondering whether Sandie could think of anything they could do for him – perhaps together. Naturally, she’d also asked they keep their correspondence a secret. Unrestrained enthusiasm had gushed from the patterned pink paper of Sandie’s reply at the suggestion of collaborating to this end. Perhaps they could raise money for the victims?

This was the opening she’d needed. Sandie eventually tired of waiting for the written replies, taking once again to the telephone. Renata had eased from Sandie the archive of memorabilia she’d previously mentioned, stuff hoarded from his films he intended to someday auction for charity. They could raise money for those poor men, as well as spend time together – perhaps even discuss the casting of Sandie in any future movie adaptations of Renata’s books.

Sandie had said Daddy, for some reason, was having her stay with relatives in Phoenix, who’d left her alone in their city penthouse once they’d absconded to Vegas on a gambling trip. She could slip away to Millbury Peak unnoticed and surprise her father with this charitable gesture. Would he be angry at Sandie again? Possibly. Did she have to prove to him that she was her own woman, capable of her own enterprises and ambitions? Definitely.

Why he’d ditched her with some aunt and uncle that she barely knew, she could not say. She’d explained that her father had always been manic in his love for her, but that her scolding at the film set, then her banishment to Phoenix, were both, like, so out of character. But Renata knew exactly why Sandie had been sent away: he was hiding his precious daughter while he waited on his lab rat to unhinge. Nevertheless, the flame had been lit and the little moth had come a-fluttering back. And now, barely a month after her first letter, here stood Sandie Rye, hugging this poor, supposedly blind old woman.

So simple.

‘I was so happy when I got your first letter in the mail! Just as well the housekeeper forwarded it onto me from Daddy’s house. Nearly rumbled, huh?’ She giggled, scratching her nose. ‘I really enjoy…conversing with you, Renata. I’m just freaking out that we’ll get to spend more time together. We’re going to have so much fun.’

Renata forced a smile as she looked her up and down. As before, skimpy cut-offs clung tight around Sandie’s butt. This time they were pink, matching the strappy top which sat just high enough to shamelessly tease the contours of the teenager’s midriff. Her appearance was as calculated as Renata’s cane and dark glasses. There was still a pseudo-intellectual within the girl begging to be taken seriously, but it had no chance against the beautiful blonde bimbo.

Sandie’s industriousness was undeniable. She’d assembled a trusted crew – trusted enough to keep their project under wraps – who now busied themselves inside the town hall with preparations for the charity auction. Renata had emphasised the need to keep the event secret so Sandie would be able to surprise her father only after its success, therefore invitations had been restricted to contacts reliable enough to keep quiet.

‘What you got in there?’ asked Sandie, her manicured nails and tattooed finger reaching for the Millbury Hardware bag in Renata’s hand.

She stuffed the carrier into her duffle coat pocket, then adjusted the beige scarf around her neck. ‘Nothing. Let’s go inside.’

Sandie led Renata into the town hall, proudly carrying her Dostoevsky like a handbag. Leather couches lined the lobby, occupied by attendees awaiting the event’s commencement. Besides the couches, an illustrated map of Millbury Peak and a bank of telephones were the lobby’s only furnishings. Renata guessed the last event to be held here had been as long ago as her childhood, and even then she remembered nothing of the town hall. Life had now been injected into the place, with suited officials hurrying through the waiting area, seeing to last minute preparations as the time approached to open the main auditorium’s doors.

‘Miss Rye,’ said one such official, shoving past Renata to get to Sandie. ‘It’s a pleasure to have you here. I’ve been informed of the discretion you’ve requested regarding today’s proceedings, and I’d like to assure you that—’

‘Sir,’ Sandie interjected, ‘care to watch where you’re going? In case you hadn’t noticed, my friend is visually impaired and I wouldn’t like to see you knock her on her ass.’

The suited gentleman spotted Renata’s cane and dark glasses, then turned back to Sandie. ‘Miss, I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean to—’

‘When’s it starting?’ she asked, batting her eyelashes. ‘Wouldn’t keep us ladies waiting, would you?’

‘Please, Miss Rye,’ he gushed, ‘if you follow me I’ll show you to your seats before we open the doors.’

Renata was led by Sandie through the tall doors of the auditorium. She had to stop herself looking up at the great domed ceiling and decorated walls, instead maintaining her supposed lack of sight by focussing on the path her cane tapped out. They were shown to the front row and seated right below the podium. They heard another official announce to the lobby that the event was