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I wait a beat and consider his offer. ‘I’d hate to let down the welcoming committee after they’ve gone to so much trouble.’ Who knew I could flirt like this? Shouldn’t I be keeping a low profile …?
‘It would be cruel.’
We lock eyes again and I’m quite lost for words, which doesn’t happen to me very often. There’s a spark between us, and for just a moment I imagine what it could lead to, until I remember that beginning a relationship under false pretences wouldn’t be very clever. It’s not like I’m lying about who I am per se, it’s more that I’m glossing over the truth.Get a hold of yourself, Ellie, it’s only dinner!
He surveys me as if I’m a prize. I don’t know quite where to look or what to say. ‘I feel like we’ve met before,’ he says.
‘I bet you say that to all the librarians.’ I shouldn’t have said yes to dinner! My smile stiffens and I fight the urge to cover my nerves with inane chatter. If anyone is going to find me out, it’ll be a nosy reporter and I’m already letting my guard down like a fool. I’m hoping I can save the library andthentell my parents what I’ve managed to do, thus proving to them this new life is the right course for me.If I mess it up in the first week I’ll be red-faced and back at Astor with no chance of change on the horizon.
A red-headed girl lopes through the entrance, bag slung over her shoulder. ‘Elodie?’ she asks.
I breathe a sigh of relief that our exchange is interrupted so I don’t put my foot in my mouth. ‘You must be Maisie.’ My one and only employee at Willow Grove library. Staff numbers were cut over the last few years, leaving only a duo to run the place. Maisie looks younger than I imagined with a bright shiny complexion as if she’s fresh out of high school.
Finn clears his throat. ‘I’ll leave you two to get acquainted and I’ll see you Friday, Elodie.’ We shake hands and I feel a spark shoot through me. What is this? I’m used to meeting men, suave and sophisticated types that do absolutely zero for me, but Finn radiates a certain home-grown charm that is quite disarming. I have to tamp down the paranoia that I’m going to be found out or I’ll never get anything accomplished.
‘Friday it is,’ I say and turn back to Maisie, trying hard to remember what I’m here for. I can’t be distracted by the first guy who shoots a flirty smile my way, and yet …
‘Right,’ I say, giving my full attention to Maisie. ‘It’s so lovely to finally meet you. Let’s have a sit-down. You can fill me in on what I need to know and we can make a plan about how we’re to save these hallowed old halls.’ There’s still no sign of Harry but I keep an eye out so we can share the tea and biscuits I promised.
We head to the office. There are built-in Formica desks in Sixties brown and beige, with carpet to match. A fusty odour hangs in the air – nothing a good scented candle can’t eradicate for now.
‘It’s great we get to save this place together, Maisie.’ I take my notepad from my bag waiting for her reply, which doesn’t come. I glance up at her, but she’s staring at the door as if she’s lost in thought. ‘Tell me a little bit about the library. Why do you think memberships are dwindling?’
With her arms folded across her chest defensively, it almost appears as if I’ve inadvertently done something to upset her. We’ve been emailing back and forth since I got the position and while her emails have always been short and to the point, I figured that was because she was single-handedly running this place and too busy for small talk.
‘Maisie?’ I prompt.
She drags her eyes back to me. ‘It’s pretty obvious. There’s no new stock; there’s no money to buy new stock so why would anyone bother coming here?’
Her attitude comes across as defeatist, but it could be she’s lost her enthusiasm working in a library that’s flailing. I can understand how it feels. I need to do my best to inspire her.
‘OK, that’s good to know. Our first priority will be to sort the finances and see if there’s a surplus that we can use for some new stock.’ It strikes me that I could easily get stock from Astor returns without my mother knowing, but that would be cheating – I need to do this on my own and the library has to be able to stand on its own two feet. ‘We need exactly 507 new members to be eligible to apply for funding. Yes, it’s daunting, but we can do it if we have a solid plan to work towards.’
‘It may as well be five thousand.’
With a lift of my brow, I say, ‘Let’s be grateful it’s not.’ I consult my notes. ‘What about book clubs. Do we have collections to cover a group?’
‘We don’t have a book club.’ She surveys her nails and looks downright bored.
‘Let’s make one then. Use our socials to invite locals to join the library and the book club.’ If we can get a buzz happening early, surely people will be intrigued as to what’s to come for their community library?
‘Socials?’
Maisie is young, surely she knows what socials are? ‘Social media. Doesn’t Willow Grove library have social media pages to help spread the word about events and happenings?’
‘No,’ she guffaws. ‘It’s alibrarynot a social club.’
Talk about living in the Dark Ages. No wonder the place is floundering. ‘Well, that’s something we can easily remedy. To get enough memberships in time we’re going to need to offer all sorts of things to get people through the door. First up, I’d like you to start by making a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram page. You could try TikTok but I’m not too familiar with that one myself. There’s a subcommunity on there called BookTok …’ Maisie yawns. Maybe I’m overloading her? I’m used to long meetings at Astor going over key points efficiently in an effort to get everyone up to speed so they can continue the workday. ‘Anyway, we can work out our marketing plan once that’s all up and running. Are there any local authors whose books we stock? We can invite them for an author talk and make a real event of it to kick things off.’
‘Not that I know of.’ Maisie plucks at the hem of her skirt, a tired expression on her features.
I frown and make a note to research the local area and see what creatives lurk among us.
‘OK, how about kids’ reading time? Rhyme time? Do we have an allocated day?’
‘We don’t offer that.’
‘Let’s target that next. We’ll make a library schedule and timetable these. You can read to the children and we can also offer a rhyme time session for the littlies. Anything we can do that will help us get more members to join will be beneficial.’
