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JUST A COINCIDENCE
“It fell out of a box the other day. Isn’t it funny the guy looks so much like you?” Mere giggled nervously. What if she was wrong? What if something not quite human stood in front of her?
“Is that why you have it?”
His tone hadn’t changed. Neither had his unnaturally still expression. Mere’s heart raced and her palms grew slick with sweat. Part of her wanted to grab the photo out of his hand and run, never stopping. Another part watched him closely, waiting to see what happened next.
“Um, I forgot I had it.” Liar.
God, she hated liars. She would have to discuss this with her therapist at her next appointment.
Anders peered at her, those blue eyes of his shining strangely in the dim light. He held out the photo, and she took it from him gingerly.
“Well, make sure it gets back to where it belongs. Who is it?”
The tension holding his body rigid seeped away, and Mere’s body reacted in kind. See, it was just a coincidence.
“It says ‘Leonard Reed’ on the other side. A long-lost relative of yours?”
His shoulders shrugged sinuously, a wave of rippling muscles drawing her attention. How was he doing that? Mere bit her lip to keep from staring at him with mouth agape.
“My grandmother may have mentioned his name. Life is funny this way, is it not?”
“It’s a small world,” she said, pulling the old cliché out, dusting it off, and instantly regretting the boring response. She was remarkably out of practice.
A grin flashed across his lips, and his eyes sparked with…something. Not the wariness of a moment ago, but something that looked a lot like interest.
“Yes, this world is very small.”
“I have dinner to cook, so I’d best get going. Thank you again.”
Anders looked at his toes and took a deep breath. “I’d like to buy you dinner.”
Oh. Oh. The dawning realization that perhaps he hadn’t been coming to the library for only the archives hit her in the solar plexus, making speech impossible. It had been so long. The few men her age she knew in Strawberry Creek were taken. And she hadn’t been able to trust anyone, including herself, since she escaped the dickhead five years ago.
“Sure, but not tonight.” The words were out of her mouth before she could bite her tongue to keep from uttering them. Dammit.
He rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his feet in the dirt, sending a rock skittering into the road.
“I promised my great-aunt I’d cook for her tonight. I’m off the next two days. Do you want to meet at Fielding’s tomorrow at six?”
What the hell? It was as if her mouth had a mind of its own. It was all true. Aunt Nadine looked forward to her visits. And though her aunt wouldn’t mind at all getting dumped in favor of a hot guy, Mere wanted to ask her about Leonard Reed. But she’d said yes. Like a woman who flirted with men. Like a woman who dated. Like a woman who hadn’t fled an asshole abuser.
Anders’s smile returned, bigger than ever. It lit his entire face and made him even hotter, if that was possible.
“I accept. I will see you tomorrow at six. Drive safely, Meretta.”
He strode to his truck and hopped in. Mere got into her car, started it, and drove away. He waited until she pulled onto the road before turning around and driving in the opposite direction. Had he come to find her? Had he been following her? Or had he merely gone out of his way to help a damsel in a modicum of distress?
These thoughts plagued her all the way home.
Mere dumped her stuff on the table in the hall and hurried over to the other side of the duplex. In exchange for checking on her aunt daily and helping with errands and doctors’ appointments, she lived in half the duplex for well below market rent. Nadine got company, her parents got a little freedom, and Mere got affordable rent on a small-town librarian’s salary.
“Sorry, Auntie Nay, blew a tire.”
Her aunt putzed in the kitchen, putting together a salad.
“Oh no! Everything okay?”
