Page 71 of Falling for Keeps

One lone eyebrow rises. “I can manage appointments and brag about the updates to the office, Dr. Price. You take an hour and get that girl out of here.”

“Okay, I will. Thanks.” The prospect of seeing Emma isn’t even my chief motivation, because it could be anyone running story time. I pop into the office and ask Penny if she wants to go. She doesn’t even let me finish the sentence before she’s out the door.

“Can I get a library card now?” she asks while we walk down the center of Main Street.

“I think we’re only going to hear stories today, Pen.”

“Please! Emma told me she has books for me when I’m ready.”

Guilt prickles. She’s had those books set aside for ages. But what part of my life is going according to plan? Nothing. I need to stop holding myself to any sort of standard.

Sheesh, I’m a real catch.

“Emma!” Penny shouts, running across the street toward the library. There’s a chair set up on the sidewalk in front of rows of folding chairs and a rug for kids to sit really close.

“Hi!” Emma lets Penny hug her, then steps back and picks up a stack of picture books. Her smile is bright while she pushes her glasses up her nose, the long sleeves of her sweater looking warm and cozy. “I’m so glad you came. We’re about to get started.”

Penny glances back at me, pointing to the rug, and I give her a thumbs up. She plops down beside a girl who looks around her age, and I take a seat at the end of a row. Emma catches my eye and smiles, genuinely pleased to see me. She has no self-consciousness whatsoever about her role here. I can’t help comparing her to Jen since I just got off the phone with my ex, but they could not be more different.

I have yet to spend time with Emma where she was not doing something for someone else. None of those actions were because she would benefit in some way. She is a selfless woman who thinks of others’ needs—including mine, and I was pretty much a stranger when we met in the bar that night. Yeah, she knew who I was, but she didn’t know me.

This has nothing on how wonderful she is with my daughter.

“Good morning, everyone! Or is it afternoon yet? I don’t know.” Emma laughs, looking at her watch, and shrugs. “Who enjoyed pancakes with the mayor?”

A smattering of hands go up.

“Yummy, am I right?” She sits forward in her chair, her attention sweeping over the kids on the rug and traveling to the ones still sitting in their parents’ laps in the chairs. No one is left out. “We’re going to begin today with an old favorite of mine. Who has visited the pumpkin patch?”

A little boy’s hand shoots up in the air. He starts telling Emma about the pumpkin he chose that’s now on his front porch and the fun slide and how he was lost in the straw maze. She nods along, giving him her full attention until he’s nearly wrapped up.

“Well, I have a story for you today about a big pumpkin, and it’s called Big Pumpkin. Let’s begin.” Emma reads the picture book, turning it around to show the children. She does different voices for the witch, ghost, vampire, and each of the characters, making the kids laugh at all the right moments.

Against my better judgment, I find myself falling for her over the course of that story time.

These are dangerous waters.

“Dad!” Penny runs up to me once story time is over. Emma read at least six books, some with puppets, one with an actual witch’s broom that she loaded children onto as she read, giving them costumes to turn them into a witch, cat, dog, and all the other characters from the book. She was engaging and delightful. Even as I stand here in a crowd of kids and their parents, I crave more of her. I drag my attention away from Emma where she’s cleaning up and put it back on Penny, who is barely containing her excitement. “Dad! Dad!”

“What, Nickel?”

“Can we go get a library card now? Emma said she could help us and Molly already has one and she’s going right now to pick out books!”

“Who’s Molly?”

“She’s my friend from school. We’re in the same class.” Penny bounces on her toes. “Please, Dad?”

So much for putting distance between myself and the incredible librarian. “Yeah, sure. Let’s do it. But later I need to hear more about this Molly kid.”

Penny squeals, then runs for the girl she was sitting with, and together they head into the library. Molly’s mom is swaying, one hand pressed to the baby strapped to her chest in one of those wrap things. She lifts a hand to acknowledge me, so I head her way. “Hi, I’m Carson.”

“Katie,” she says, shaking my hand. “I’ve heard a lot about Penny, so I’m glad we ran into each other. You moved here recently?”

“We moved back,” I tell her. “I bought Vance Dental and I’m trying to give it a reboot.”

She nods knowingly and starts toward the library doors. Emma has already gathered her things and headed inside, so we follow. “We had checkups in August, but we should be on the schedule in February. I’m pretty happy a nice dad has come in and taken over. Molly was terrified of the last guy.”

My body pulses with joy, and I hold the door open. “I look forward to seeing you guys, and I’ll make sure the experience is the exact opposite.”