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The statement sparked a bit of warmth in me. My sister might’ve had all she needed here on the island, but all the same I was pleased to know that she had some company other than her sketchbook and my staff.
“Great to hear.”
I’d gone back to work, the sun setting with wild colors over the ocean behind me as I finished up for the day. When seven rolled around, I made the executive decision that a ten hour workday was more than enough. I stood and stretched, trying to decide how to spend the rest of my evening, settling on a little time in the library with some whiskey and a good book.
I made my way down the stairs, the automatic lights of the hallway flicking on as I walked. It didn’t take long to reach the library on the second floor, and as I approached the door, I heard the sound of quiet conversation.
I drew closer to the door, finding myself hoping to find Emily in there. As I stepped inside the library, however, I only saw my sister. Marianne stood in front of one of the many tall shelves, moving her finger over the spines of the books placed there.
“Would she like this… maybe. Wait! She said that she’s barely read anything… I bet that means she hasn’t even read Harry Potter. Oh, that’s such a good idea.”
I smiled, watching Marianne zip here and there, plucking books off the shelf and tucking them into the huge stack under her arm. My sister often spoke aloud to herself, it was her way of keeping her thoughts in order. I was content to watch her for a time, but when she put one book too many under her arm and nearly dropped the whole stack, I hurried into the library to help her.
“Easy there, sis,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder and using the other to steady the books. “Looks like you’re biting off more than you can chew.”
Marianne blushed, an innocent, bashful expression appearing on her face, the smile that always reminded me that she was different.
“Sorry, Ev,” she said. “Just got a little excited, I guess.” Her eyes flashed. “It’s just that Emily said she’s barely read any books! Well, books like these, anyway.” She cocked her hip to the side and turned her arm, showing me the spines of the books.
I tried to get a sense of what they were. I took one off the top and examined the cover, which depicted a couple, both seeming to be no older than their late teens, in an embrace in front of a full moon. The boy’s eyes glowed a deep red, trees surrounding them.
“Wolf Fever,” I read aloud. “I don’t even want to know what this is about.”
Marianne grinned. “It’ssogood. It’s about a girl who moves to the forest to escape her mean mom and gets protected by a pack of werewolves.”
I chuckled. “Classic literature, huh?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make fun. Anyway, Emily should like these.”
“Are you taking them to her?”
Marianne gave a crisp, affirmative nod. “I sure am. But Emily said she’s a fast reader, so I figured that means I need to bring a lot.”
“How about something a little more sophisticated?” I asked, turning my attention to the shelves. “Ah, here we go,A Tale of Two Cities. Good book, not too hard to read.”
“Yeah, not hard foryou, maybe. But didn’t you hear what I said? Emily wants romance stuff. She said she usually only reads old books when she’s not working on her own.”
That got my attention. “Her own what?”
“Her own book!” Marianne’s eyes flashed. “Oh, shoot. I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that.”
Too late, she already had my interest. “Emily’s working on her own book? What’s it about?”
Marianne shook her head. “No way. I already screwed up by telling you about it. I don’t want her to get mad at me.”
“I doubt she’d be mad at you, Mar.”
“Not going to work. When I promise to keep a secret, I keep it.” She turned back toward the shelf. “Oh!Nightwing Lover! She’ll love this one!”
Caught up in her excitement, she reached for the book so quickly that the stack under her arm became unbalanced, falling out of her grasp. I moved in quickly, grabbing the stack and squeezing it from the top and bottom to hold it in place.
“Oh, shoot!” Marianne regarded what had happened with wide eyes. “I almost dropped it!”
“Good thing big bro was here, huh?” I replied with a wink.
“Yeah, good thing! That would’ve been a huge mess.”
In that moment, a plan occurred to me that would allow me the chance to see the woman I’d been thinking about nearly nonstop for the last two days.
