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When Dora mentions the future of the library program, I get sick to my stomach again. The budget meetings every year always make me nervous. I never know if the budget line items to run the library will be renewed. But I’ve never been seriously worried before. I am now.
“You talk to my wife about me?” Joe tosses back. “And then bring it up on the phone with Sophie?” There’s a long, pregnant pause. Like they just remembered I’m on the line.
Then Joe starts in again. “How about your delivery on that, Dora? Should we talk about your spouse now? Huh?”
I start to laugh. It’s all good-natured. And the back and forth between them is so perfectly Longdale that I start feeling nostalgic for my town. Which doesn’t make any sense at all. How can I be nostalgic for a place I’m currently in?
Longdale isn’t gone, but if my relationship with Oliver progresses, I might be. I might have to leave, and I can’t do that. I’m almost the same age my mom was when she died, and that truth is a dumbbell across my chest She loved this little town and all its quirks. Shewasthis town, the lake, the sky, the ibis. She was everything that’s here.
And that’s the hardest thing of all.
Chapter 29
Oliver
Scott looks no less pathetic parked at the Longdale city offices than it did the other day on the side of the road to Fairhill. It’s a piece of junk. But thanks to Sophie’s vision, it served the people of Marshall County for a long time.
The whole thing was extraordinary, how she transformed it from nothing to something remarkable. I don’t think most people ever even realized how much a labor of love the library was for Sophie, and how she created it out of thin air with sheer grit.
People did notice her dedication and intelligence enough to keep asking her for help, though. They know she’s amazing, which is why they tried to sweet talk her into a thankless task: chairing Longdale Days. I’m so glad she stood up for herself and said no.
So, now here we are, Sebastian, Alec and me, to help her unload all the books. I think if it had been anyone else, my brothers wouldn’t have agreed to come. It’s only a couple of weeks until we open and Sebastian’s busy. He doesn’t manage the other locations anymore, but he still has final say on a lot of things. He has a lot on his plate.
And Alec? Well, he’s been helping where he can. Except, he’s been preoccupied with feeling depressed about his knee. Which translates into a lot of moping around, eating terrible food like those frozen Cheeto tacos you reheat in the microwave, and obsessively watching and rewatching film from his playing days. It’s sad. And also annoying. You pile on top of that his heartbreak from losing his girlfriend back in college, and the guy’s just a walking chip-on-the-shoulder mess. Which means doing some service for the community will be good for him, right?
I park my Mercedes, and my brothers and I get out. It’s after five, which means most of the cars in the city and county offices parking lot belong to people who are here to help Sophie.
But I’m not prepared for the chaos I’m seeing as we try to enter the bus. There’s a line of twenty or more people, passing stacks of books in a chain. Like a conveyor belt, people are passing them along until they reach the person at the bottom of the ramp, who’s, in turn, loading them onto a dolly, which, when full, someone else steers over to the building.
I get territorial where Sophie is concerned. I know this about myself. And when I see people showing up for her, it’s like the flipside of that. I don’t know what to call it, except maybe a huge sense of gratitude. And something like pride.
Sophie squeezes past someone. “Oliver? You made it.” The smile she gives me is everything, even though it’s laced with fatigue and stress.
I survey the orderly chaos. “We wouldn’t have missed it. Put us to work.”
It’s then that she notices Sebastian and Alec. “Oh, and you came, too. Thank you.” She smiles, palming her ponytail to one side and rubbing her neck.
Oh, the blessed sight that is Sophie’s neck.
“We can use you in a little bit,” she tells us. “We’re almost done with the books, but then we’ll need to untether the shelving from the walls.” She tightens her high ponytail, and in her t-shirt and jeans, she looks pared down, vulnerable.
I’ve hardly seen her lately. Since the bus broke down, she’s been busy trying to get answers from the county and calling around and visiting local businesses to drum up funds for repairs or a new bus. I know she’s really hoping for a building to house the library in, but none of us are holding our breath for that. She’s still found time to work on the library nook project, but it’s taken a back burner.
I pull her aside and we walk around to the other side of the bus. It’s quieter here, and we’re alone.
“I can’t talk long,” she says, gesturing to the crowd of people on the other side who’ve come to help.
“I know. I just wanted to touch base really fast.” This is where l saw her crawling on her hands and knees on the ground. This very spot is where things started to shift for me, when I began thinking of Sophie differently than I ever had before. When I realized how much I’d missed her, only seeing her once a year, and how much I was drawn to her.
But I don’t bring that up now. There isn’t time.
“How’s the opening coming?” she asks, and then chews on her bottom lip.
I’m distracted by the nape of her neck. “Really good. Insane. Have you heard anything about another location for the library?”
At this, her face crumples, and she takes a steadying breath. “Just that they won’t even be able to make a decision until July or August.” She shrugs. “I don’t know what to do. I mean, I always knew my Scotty boy would give up the ghost eventually. I just thought we’d already have a plan in place.” She rests a hand on the bus’s frame.
“Is there anything I can do?” The thought that she won’t have work for a few months gives me both a shot of giddiness and a ton of reservations. I’m sad for her, but hopeful at what this could mean for us.
