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I wasn’t opposed to having kids, but I tried not to think about it too hard since there was no one I wanted to have them with. No sense in getting any hopes up.
“Enough talk of babies.” Dad speared a meatball and held it aloft on his fork. “I added roasted garlic to these meatballs instead of fresh, and no one has said a word about it.”
I laughed quietly to myself as the conversation shifted and ignored Mom's pointed looks, eating my food while listening to the family chatter.
After dessert was finished, I escaped to the guest room to catch a couple of hours of sleep before my night shift while everyone poked through the plethora of board games my parents kept on hand for visits. I’d slept after my last shift, but I was still adjusting to my new schedule.
When I woke up, there was a heated discussion going on about the rules of Monopoly, so I turned right back around to steel myself for chaos. I loved my family, but they werea lotand I was peopled out for the moment even with a solid nap.
“Patatina?” Mom poked her head into the spare room.
I smiled at the nickname. Mom had been calling melittle potatofor as long as I could remember, and I’d shared that family tradition with the cat I’d adopted by naming him Spud.
“Oh, good, you’re awake. You’re not hiding in here, are you?”
“Nope. Just checking my emails,” I lied.
“Come, come. Your father wants to play teams and we need you to partner with Lulu.”
I didn’t really want to play, but Luca would get absolutely demolished without me. He was too much of a sweetheart and didn’t have that ruthless energy you needed to truly trounce loved ones in friendly competition.
Smoothing down the bedhead of my dark brown hair, the same colour I shared with the rest of my family, I added a couple swipes of mascara from my purse to make my equally dark brown eyes look more awake, and ventured out.
I indulged Mom until the clocks hit ten, upon which I promptly excused myself for work with hugs all around and the assurance that I’d be at the next family dinner.
The further away I drove, the more my shoulders relaxed. Family time would be so much better if Mom could filter herself, but alas.
The new community facility they’d built in my neighbourhood came into view about forty minutes after I’d left my parents and I slid into the reserved staff parking. There were three other vehicles parked there, but I hadn’t actually met everyone that worked the same hours that I did. There were a small handful of other vehicles scattered around the lot as well.
Nighttime had always been my favourite. The quiet of the late hours was often the only peace I’d been able to steal with two younger brothers and an opinionated mother. Now, at least, I didn’t have to suffer through school after staying up all night. I’d work until seven in the morning, take myself home for breakfast/dinner, and sleep away the morning.
It was the perfect schedule.
The building was quiet inside when I arrived and made my way to the second floor library where Miranda waited for me at the desk to pass over the keys at the end of her shift. I waved and crossed the short distance to the circulation desk, tossing my purse behind the counter.
“Quiet evening?”
“Mostly. There's a couple of people hanging out on the bean bags and a pile of college students in the study rooms. Wander over every so often to make sure they’re not having sex.” Miranda laughed at my scrunched nose.
“I’ll invest in a water gun to keep the public horniness to a minimum.”
Miranda grinned and handed the keys over. “As long as you don’t hit the books I’m all for it. Have a good night.”
“Night.” I waved Miranda off and took up my station in my own little castle.
The to-do list had me cataloguing a sizable donation from an estate sale that morning and reordering the romance section after finishing. I’d get set up for that first and then do a quick round to check on the patrons.
There were six massive boxes sitting along the back counter. Upon closer inspection, only one of the boxes seemed to have been gone through, with codes and plastic cover protectors added onto the hardcovers. It was kind of hard to reorganize the section if the books weren’t ready, but at least I could chill while preparing them and inputting them into the system. I hauled out an armful from the second box to get started on processing them.
A bright laugh from the back corner of the library drew my attention. I set aside my task in favour of doing a round. I checked on the students first and found them all blessedly clothed and studying. I introduced myself, then left them in peace to slip through the stacks, not seeing any other patrons on my way to the corner where bean bags and comfy chairs were set up in a reading nook.
I paused at the sound of another laugh. The sweet scents of coffee, caramel, and spices wafted toward me. Good god that smelleddelicious. It made my heart jump and my skin tingle as the sweetness invaded my nose. I wandered closer and caught sight of two people, an alpha and a beta by the scent of them. The beta had black and purple spiral curls spilling over their shoulders, pale skin, and black lipstick, with a massive coffee table book on renaissance art spread open on the table. The alpha had locs down to their mid back, warm dark brown skin, and bright red nail polish, with a laptop in front of them. They both turned at my approach.
Oh,damn.
They were both way too pretty for my own good. I gave myself a half second to mentally fan myself before forcing myself to speak.
“Hi there, sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be the librarian on duty until morning. My name's Nicky. If you need anything and I’m not at the circulation desk you can call it out.”
