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“A job?”
“Yeah, I’m applying at the library.” I explained about Robert and Barry. “I need to fill that financial void.”
Daniel’s eyes shone like warm honey as the sun moved out from behind the puffy white clouds. My insides buzzed like I’d eaten a spoonful of it, and I was on the verge of a sugar rush. He reached out like he was going to touch me but shoved his hand in his jacket pocket instead. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
“I’ll need it more than you. You’ll be a shoo-in for the job.” This time he didn’t resist reaching out to touch my hair again. His fingers drifting over my curls made me quiver. “Bye, Peter.”
“Bye.” I watched him climb into Betty Blue and turn the engine over.
As I walked across the parking lot toward the Volvo, I could still feel his touch tingling on my scalp. Just as I was keying open the door, Daniel’s car slowed and stopped next to me.
“Hey, want to have dinner Friday night?”
More butterfly wings fluttered in my chest. “Sure. Where?”
“My place. It’s the only option right now.”
“I’d love to.” I almost squealed with joy as I got into my car and shut the door behind me.
Betty Blue and Daniel drove away as I backed out of the parking spot. I felt as weightless as a cloud. He’d just asked me over for dinner, and it probably wasn’t a date, but I still felt like it was more than I deserved.
If I was supposed to still have doubts or sadness about having left Adam, I didn’t. I’d take a friendship with Daniel over a relationship with Adam any day.
Clarity felt amazing. I wanted to hold on to it forever.
Chapter Seven
‡
The University ofTennessee library was cavernous but quiet. Applications were available to students during the first week of classes, and I grabbed one and filled it out on one of the low round tables set up for studying.
When I was finished, I walked it up to the circulation desk on the main floor and asked the employee manning it if Barry was around. I knew he was, because I could see him in the back through the big doors and windows, and before the girl even had a chance to fetch him, he saw me too.
“Puker,” he greeted me, emerging with his hand outstretched for the application. “Right on time.” He nodded at the blond, chubby girl at the counter and said, “April, this is Puker. Puker, April.”
The girl blinked at me and murmured, “Your name’sPuker?”
“It’s Peter. Puker’s a bad nickname,” I said. “One I hope won’t carry over if I get a job here?” I asked Barry pointedly.
“No promises,” he said. “All right. I’ll run this by Ellie, and when she approves it, which I think she will, I’ll call you to arrange for your first shift. Got any preferences?”
I shook my head. “Should I?”
“Mornings are the worst,” April volunteered. “You have to be here super-duper early, and there’s a ton of stuff to do before the library even opens. Afternoons are good, and night shifts aren’t bad either.”
“I’m open to whatever fits into my class schedule for now.”
Barry waved me off. “Get gone then.”
I smiled at April, and she waved as I walked away.
I still had over an hour before my meeting with Marta Neuheim, so I grabbed a cup of coffee from the library’s vending machine and headed outside into the warm, leafy-green morning with the intention of hunting the wild photograph. My Leica was in my backpack, and as soon as I was finished with the coffee, I’d get it out.
Just as the sun burst out from behind a tree, almost blinding me, I heard my name being called. “Hey, Peter, wait up.”
I blinked to see Millar Johansson from Kingsley jogging up the sidewalk. Wearing a blue sweatshirt and a pair of khakis, he was still reed thin and moving like he’d had five cups of coffee and a couple of No-Doz tablets. He stuck his hand out, and I shook it before he wrenched me forward into an unexpected hug. I had to hold my coffee out to the side to keep it from splashing us.
