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She harrumphed, her face pinching even tighter, something I hadn’t thought possible. Then, just to show she wasn’t only judgmental, but also as immature as the so-called children she was worried about, she swiped the books off the counter, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the library.
A headache started to pulse behind my eyeballs as I heaved out a sigh, rounded the front desk, and crouched down to pick up the books.
One of my volunteers, Rebecca, came over to help me. “I saw what just went down. You all right?”
I knew my smile probably looked as exhausted as it felt. “Yeah, I’m okay,” I answered. “People like that are part of this job. For every two happy people in the world, there’s always one who’s so miserable they feel they have to bring everyone else down so they don’t have to suffer alone.”
She blew out a raspberry and twisted her head to look at the door the woman had just stormed through. “Yeah, well, that describes Janine Gates perfectly.”
“So she’s a ray of sunshine like that with everybody?”
Rebecca giggled as we both stood, placing the books back on the counter. “Oh yeah. If that woman can’t find something to be unhappy about, she’ll create it. I heard she once tried to get the Girl Scouts removed from outside the local market because she claimed they were harassing people trying to go inside.”
My jaw fell open. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “Wish I was.”
“Those poor little Girl Scouts. She didn’t succeed, did she?”
“Fortunately, no. But failure never stops her. She simply finds someone new to go after.”
Well, that sure as hell wasn’t reassuring. “What you’re really saying is this woman has officially become a problem for me.”
Rebecca winced. “Sorry.”
I heaved out a breath and dropped my head. “That’s just great.”
“Hey.” Rebecca reached across the counter and placed her hand on top of mine. “Hey, maybe you’ll get lucky and she’ll move on. You didn’t give that horrible woman an inch. It was a thing of beauty to witness. Not many people stand up to her like that. They see her coming and run in the other direction.”
I gave her a flat look. “You might have convinced me if you sounded even a little like you believed that yourself.”
“Yeah, sorry. You’re kind of screwed. Once she gets her teeth in something, she won’t let go. But the good news is, the next open forum with town council is a ways off. You’re good until then.”
“Thanks,” I grumbled, not feeling any better. We might have had a while until the next meeting, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain in the ass myself in the meantime.
She squeezed my hand. “But hey, you’re going to win. You don’t have to worry about that. You’re the best librarian we’ve ever had. You’re doing such a great job.”
I flipped my hand over so we were palm to palm and returned her hand squeeze. “Thanks, babe. I really appreciate that. I couldn’t do any of this without you guys, you know that, right?”
She smiled, her cheeks pinking with happiness. She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Hey, we do it because we love it, and you make it awesome.” She stacked the books that awful woman had pulled and tucked them against her chest. “I’m going to reshelve these for you.”
I wasn’t sure I could appreciate the sweet woman any more than I already did. “Thanks, Rebecca.”
The rest of the afternoon was blessedly uneventful. I buried myself in the tons of work I had left to do, and when the time finally came to close, I was the kind of exhausted you felt down in your bones. The kind where you just knew you could pass out wherever you sat and sleep like the dead for hours.
I dismissed all my volunteers and shut everything down for the evening. I was locking the doors when I felt that niggling sense of being watched, the same feeling I’d gotten during the fair the week before.
Due to the time of year, the days were much shorter, so the sky was an inky black by the time I closed the library every night, and the darkness made the eerie prickling sensation even creepier.
My breathing became shallow as I slowly turned and looked out at the parking lot. There were lights every few yards, but in between were shadows anyone could hide in. I didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there somewhere.
Keeping my keys clutched tightly in my fist, the jagged, pointy end sticking out to do some damage—you know, just in case—I darted down the steps of the library to my car. I beeped the locks once I was close enough then yanked the door open and threw myself inside, slamming it shut behind me and hitting the button to relock everything.
My heart was racing so fast, I felt like I’d just sprinted a mile. Clutching the steering wheel, I tried to calm my breathing before the organ beat right out of my chest as I scanned the parking lot. There was nothing there. Closing my eyes, I let out a self-deprecating laugh and shook my head. “Jeez, Lyric. Way to freak yourself out over nothing.”
I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, ready to say goodbye to this day. Figuring I’d earned the calories, I stopped at my favorite fast food drive-thru on the way home and ordered a greasy burger dripping with melted cheese and large fries. I was going to enjoy every single bite of my artery-clogging meal, then I was going to enjoy a much-deserved glass of Lagavulin before I crawled into bed and passed out.
My car was filled with the smell of perfectly crispy, salted French fries that made my mouth water. I could have uncrinkled the top of the bag and dived straight in right then, but I had this weird tic of dragging out the anticipation by not allowing myself to eat my fast food until I got home. It made that first bite even better. Plus, if I opened the bag now and started eating them in the car, they wouldn’t be warm once I got home. So I kept my hands clutched at ten and two while my stomach grumbled. It would be worth it in the end.
