7. Piper
PIPER
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Marjorie Brown: Need a good book. Anyone got recs for the library? The wilder the better!
Comments:
Tammy Jane: Have you ever heard of the omegaverse?
Marjorie Brown: Yes. And knotting too. If I wasn’t into the beef sandwich, I would’ve been curious.
Jade Clark: I thought you didn’t like meat, Marj.
Kerry Winsor: Wait . . .
Kerry Winsor: WHAT KIND OF BEEF SANDWICH?
I gave myself a second to breathe before walking through the doors of the library. It was a new day, and I was determined to make decent progress on my goals.
And the library was one of the reasons I moved here. When I saw it all come together, I knew it was the stuff of readers’ dreams. That and the glimpses of the close-knit community would make anyone want to move here.
I knew that TV wasn’t like reality, and I’d prepared myself for disappointment when I made my way through those doors.
But it was even more impressive in person than in photos. My jaw dropped as I saw the books lining the walls.
“Oh, Hen,” a voice said. “We got another one.”
My jaw snapped shut as I turned. An older woman with long, gray hair stared at me from a desk. She had a smile on her face, one that I forced myself to return.
I would make a good first impression. I had to.
“H-hi,” I said with a wave.
“You look like you like books,” the woman said. “Funny story, we have some of those. At least three.”
“Good grief, that was a bad one.” Another woman with short hair came around the corner. “Ignore her. She always tries to welcome someone in with a joke, and she’s running out.”
“I’m tired! I need another cup of coffee!”
“You had two. That’s enough.”
“I’m old! I could be dying! And you’re keeping me from my coffee? What kind of wife are you?”
That had to be Marjorie. Now I saw what Theo was talking about.
“Don’t talk like Hugh.” Henrietta rolled her eyes. “It’s beneath you.”
“I’m taller than him. Of course he’s beneath me.”
“Oh my God.” Henrietta turned to me. “What can I help you with?”
“I was just popping in to check everything out.”
“Need a card? We offer them no matter the address. And we have e-books too.”
My eyes widened at her words. They offered everyone a card? As an author, I wanted everyone to have access to books. These days, it seemed to get harder and harder to find libraries since funding was cut and regulations were popping up everywhere.
“Anyone can read here?”
“Yup.” Marjorie grinned. “We’re privately funded, kid. Some rich guy loves us.”
I’d heard of that. The show didn’t talk much about it, but many resources online said that something called the STM grant funded the library and other various things for the town. I hadn’t looked into it much further than that.
It was nice that something good was happening in the world.
“For now,” Henrietta added. “We want to share everything we can.”
“That’s amazing,” I said. “But I’m living here, actually. I just moved—”
“No way.” Marjorie’s hand fell to the desk. “You’re the woman who moved in above the coffee shop?”
I gulped. “You’ve heard of me?”
“Heard of you? No! That’s the problem. Everyone knows someone got that unit, but the only thing we’ve heard is that you’re cute! You are, by the way.”
My cheeks heated. “Uh, thanks?”
“Marjorie,” Henrietta said with a sigh. “Tone it down a little.”
“Never.”
“I-it’s okay. I don’t mind,” I said. “I’m a little . . . nervous when trying new places. I can power through. I’ve even met a few people.”
“Wren, Kelsey, Grace, and Dean, right? They’re the only people who said they’ve talked to you.”
Theo hadn’t said anything, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t want people to know about our chat in the alleyway a few days before. “Right.”
“I promise we don’t all stalk who moves in,” Henrietta said. “But we’ve gotten used to big things happening when someone comes to town. First, we got our strawberry patch back, then the library—”
“And then our town good girl got knocked up,” Marjorie added. “Which was big news.”
“I wasn’t gonna mention that,” Henrietta said. “But yes. A lot has happened in recent years, and we’ve grown used to the news.”
“I’m not really that interesting,” I warned. “Pretty quiet, actually. I mostly read.”
“Well, we love readers here. What’s your genre of choice?”
Oh, boy. This was where it could all go wrong. Some people had things to say about me reading and writing romance. They thought the genre meant that I was stupid or shallow, even though love was something most people craved in some form.
“Romance,” I said.
“Then do we have good news for you,” Marjorie replied. “We have a massive romance section, courtesy of all the old ladies here who are big fans.”
“Really?” I asked. “It’s not all mixed into the fiction section?”
“Hell no! We have class here!”
“Class?” Henrietta asked. “You just burped the alphabet to me!”
“Hey, you were impressed.” Marjorie rolled her eyes. I was a little sad I’d missed that. Their dynamic was not what I expected, but I liked it. “Come on, kid. I’ll show you to it.”
Marjorie walked ahead of me, and I made sure to keep my distance in case she suddenly stopped. My body was still tense from being out of the house, but the library was massive and there weren’t a lot of people roaming the aisles. I had just enough brain space to marvel at all that they had.
“Here we are. The romance section.” Marjorie gestured to multiple rows of bookshelves, all with different covers I recognized.
“Holy shit. This is all romance?”
“Yep. We have contemporary, historical, romantasy, and then sci-fi. But be warned, their dicks are weird.”
“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Enjoy the ribbed penises. Welcome to Strawberry Springs!” Marjorie laughed as she walked away. I would’ve joined if it weren’t for me still staring at all the books in front of me. “We’ll sign you up when you find some books!”
Theo was so right to send me here. If I could, I’d kiss him.
I started from the top, going through each shelf with a detailed eye. I’d read a lot of romance, so it was rare to find things I didn’t recognize, but I found multiple in only a few minutes. I even saw my own books.
After I stacked six books in my arms, I knew I needed to check out.
“She looks like Tammy!” Marjorie said with a laugh.
“I don’t know who Tammy is, but I bet she reads like me.” I was out of breath. “I hope there’s not a limit on how many I can get for my first time checking out books.”
“We’ll let it slide,” Marjorie said. “Let me get you signed up and then you’ll be good to go.”
Marjorie was surprisingly professional as she took my information. She let me go with my stack and said that she hoped I would come back.
When I left, I knew that I would.
The walk back to my apartment was exhausting, but worth it. When I was in my own space, I couldn’t help but feel like I finally was making progress. I couldn’t wait to dig into the new books.
That was, of course, when my phone rang.
I fished it out, hoping it wasn’t Joey. I felt terrible for having the thought the second I had it, but I couldn’t handle explaining my every move to him.
Instead, it was Mitch. Usually my calls with him went far better than with his fiancé.
But only when I didn’t have a novel due.
“Hey,” I said into the phone. “If you’re calling to ask how writing is going, I’m contractually obligated to say it’s going very well.”
“So, is the book ready?” he asked.
“Almost,” I said. “Kind of. Mostly. I actually just started a new idea.”
“Piper,” Mitch warned. “You’re supposed to be turning in something.”
“I know, but nothing feels good enough.” I thought of Theo, who I wanted to see again. Each time we talked gave me new ideas. “I’m getting there, though.”
“Moving hasn’t killed your motivation?”
“Not really. Things are actually going well.”
“It’s good to hear you say that for once.”
“So, is this a work call or personal?”
“A little of both. I do want to know how writing is going, and Joey is worried about you.”
My shoulders fell. While I felt bad about Joey being worried, I also wanted him to see how well I was doing. Wasn’t this what we all wanted?
“I really am fine.”
“And that’s what I’ll tell him, but he really wanted me to ask. Now, what should I tell the publisher that wants your next book?” he asked.
“It’s getting there. I’ve made some good progress.”
“What’s the timeline?”
“A few weeks or so.” If I focused, I could easily make that.
Theo’s coffee shop would help.
And if I had more inspiring conversations with him too? Then it would be worth it.