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“Isn’t it darling?” she says when I ask. “I made it myself.”
She hands me her business card.Back on My Book Shit, it reads, and I’ve never met a statement I wanted to wear more. I save her card for later.
“Dad’s convinced there’s an artist gene on his side of the family. My cousin paints houses, and apparently two of us is enough proof.”
I laugh along with her. “Does he also do fences?” Ours could use saving, and I’ve seen the way the sun-bleached paint snags Sebastian’s attention when he walks past.
“He might. I can ask him.”
This has always been my favorite part of my work. Getting to know people always results in unexpected gifts. Sometimes it’s a new friend; other times, a great story.
“Oh, I also have a stall at the monthly craft market. You should come by.”
I wasn’t even aware Elmsford had a craft market, but I’m definitely in. “Thanks, I think I will. How long have you been making pins?”
“Only a year now. I made charms before that, with miniature covers of classic novels, but I like the flexibility of these better.”
“Where did you study art?”
“I didn’t. I dabbled in high school, but nothing serious.Then my best friend and I went to one of those paint and sip classes for her birthday, and I caught the bug again. It took a lot of online tutorials and even more cries for help at the craft store, but I figured it out.”
Becca turns as another patron approaches the desk, returning my little wave as I start exploring the rest of the library.
Bee: I can’t believe how long it’s been since I was here. It’s the weirdest feeling. Like coming home, but also, I feel super old?
I shoot Morgan the message, and then, on a whim, send it to Sebastian as well. I want to make the effort to be friends, strange as it is to think of Sebastian and me that way. He’s always been a larger-than-life monument, and me a lowly tourist who occasionally basks in his glory. Admiring from afar.
Where do I even start on becoming friends with a monument?
Morgan replies first.
Morgan: Im so bored. So annoyed with people today FFS
Morgan: Why are you at the library lol
Bee: I’m forcing myself to focus today. If I’m going to get this done I need to not procrastinate. Sorry work sucks
Morgan: its fine i’ll just get drunk later
It’s official. I’m stuck.
I’ve been staring at the same sentence for the lasttwenty minutes, a missive from past me simply stating:more here.
Once again, I present myself as the absolute worst.
It’s also not the first time I’ve found this little nugget of joy in the draft.
I should call the bookAdding Stress: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Life. No one would read it, which is why I’m not allowed to title the books I write.
When inspiration still hasn’t struck after another fifteen minutes, I give up and open the brightly covered rom-com I’ve been eyeing since I plucked it off the shelf.
“Just a warning—there’s no spice in that. So proceed with caution.”
I look up to a bright green pixie cut in distressed overalls towering over me.
“Trust me, I’m saving you a world of disappointment,” she adds. “Try this one instead.” She plucks a book from the shelf and hands it to me. On the cover, a red candle drips wax onto a sword. She waggles her eyebrows at me, whispering, “Chapter twenty-five is particularly good.”
I stifle my laugh, because years of practicing silence in a library are difficult to undo. “Do you work here?”
