Chapter Ten
Alice
For the second day in a row, Caleb blocked out the light around him. He found me in the stacks, his massive shadow suddenly looming over me. I let out a yelp and jumped backward, hitting the book cart beside me.
His arm shot out, catching my elbow. Once I was steady, I removed my arm from his grasp.
“Sorry,” he murmured, holding up his hands. “I thought you saw me coming.”
I pressed my hand over my fluttering heart. “I didn’t. I was concentrating on my task.”
“Sorry,” he repeated. “I’ll give you a warning sign next time.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” I licked my lips, but it didn’t do much good. “Jesse should be at his favorite table.”
“He is. I spoke with him.”
“Okay…” I took a step back, tucking my hair behind my ear. Caleb’s eyes followed the movement.
“You changed your hair.”
My mouth fell open, stunned. Not only had he noticed, but he’d remarked on it. Admittedly, it looked great. I’d perfected using the curling iron, only burning myself once. But why was he bringing it up? Why was he here, talking to me at all?
“I did. A couple weeks ago.”
He nodded. “I noticed…that day at the diner. When you were on your date.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I remember.” That had been an incredibly awkward few hours. We’d had nothing in common, and I’d overcompensated by laughing too much. At least it had been a good lesson in what I didn’t want in a future partner.
“Right.” He rested his elbow on the shelf beside him. “It looks nice, but you didn’t need to change it.”
I stopped myself from smoothing a hand over my bouncy curls. “I wanted a change.”
He cleared his throat. “Hope it wasn’t because of me—of what I did.”
I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. “No, Caleb. The changes I’ve made have nothing to do with you.”
He nodded once, then harder a second time, like my answer had really mattered. “Good. That’s good.”
“Yeah.” I exhaled slowly, unsure where to go from here. He wasn’t clueing me in. “Is there something I can help you with, or was that it?”
A faint smile curved his lips, and his eyes flicked up to mine, warmer now. “Actually, I was wondering if I could get a library card.”
That surprised me enough I almost lost my footing and stumbled into my cart again. Luckily, I caught myself on the shelf. “A library card? You don’t have one?”
He shrugged one of his massive shoulders. “Never needed one before. Jesse always checks out his own books. But there’s one I’m interested in reading, so I figure it’s time.”
“That’s a very good reason.” I smiled, and it wasn’t even wobbly. This was my territory—where I was most confident. I could handle Caleb here. “I can definitely help with that.”
I led him between the stacks and out to the main desk. Jesse watched warily as we passed, but Caleb waved, telling him everything was all right without breaking step with me.
I moved behind the desk, gesturing to the clipboard with the sign-up sheet. “Just fill out your name and address there. I’ll get you all set up.”
He picked up the pen, his big fingers dwarfing it, and bent over the paper. I tried not to watch him, but failed spectacularly. His handwriting was unexpectedly neat, almost blocklike.
“How long have you been a librarian, Alice?”
I jerked my eyes from the paper. His head was still bowed, the pen moving rapidly as he filled in the blanks.
“Since I finished my master’s degree five years ago.”
He nodded. “You need that kind of degree to do this job?”
“Not to work in a library, but to be a librarian, yes, you do.”
He finally lifted his head to eye me with interest. “You have a master’s degree and you’re still waitressing.”
“It fills my nights.” My mouth curved into a half smile. “And I don’t know if you know this, but being the head librarian in Sugar Brush isn’t exactly going to make me a millionaire.”
Though technically, I was one now. I only had to lose my entire family for that to happen.
“No, I guess not.” He shook his head. “I should have guessed it.”
“Guessed what?”
“That you were a librarian. The way you always snuck in reading a few pages between customers.”
My heart flipped. He’d noticed that…yet, he’d missed a whole lot more.
“You didn’t have to guess, Caleb.” I lifted my chin, meeting his warm gaze. “Anytime in the last four years, you could have asked.”
“Yeah.” He put down the pen and laid his big hand across the application. “I should’ve. I’m seeing that now.”
Too late. Too late. Too late.
Opening his eyes now, after all this time? It was almost insulting.
I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat and pulled the application toward me. “Why don’t you go find the book you’re interested in while I get your card ready?”
He hesitated, eyes holding mine like he wanted to say something more, then he gave a single nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
As he turned and strode off between the stacks, I shook off the effects of being in close proximity to Caleb Kelly and went to work. My hands moved automatically, inputting his details into the system like I’d done dozens of times.
What book could Caleb possibly want to check out? He wasn’t a reader. He’d admitted that.
The card printer whirred to life. I was focused on peeling the adhesive backing and slotting it into the protective sleeve when his boots sounded on the carpet again. I looked up, ready to ask what he’d chosen, and froze.
In his big hand was a hardcover copy of The Shadow of the Isle.
My favorite book. The one I reread at least once a year. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that. How it had gotten me through countless hospital waiting rooms, the weight of my sister’s illness, lonely days and nights, and had transported me to another realm when everything was too heavy.
Instead, I clamped my mouth shut, took the book from him, and scanned it.
He rested his elbow on the counter. “I heard it was good.”
“It is.” I didn’t quite meet his gaze when I smiled at him. “I hope you like it.”
“You know, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to talk to you about it as I read it.” He took out his phone. “Could I have your number?”
It wasn’t often I got angry. I’d never found much use for it. Now? Red flashed behind my eyes as a ball of fury filled my belly to the point of bursting.
Could he have my number?
Could he have my number?
Oh, this man. Whatever he was playing at was not happening. I was over him. I’d moved on. He didn’t get to suddenly take an interest in me.
“No.” I pushed the book and his new card toward him.
He went stock-still for a moment, then uttered, “No?”
“Right.” I squared my shoulders. “No. You can’t have my number.”
He dropped his phone on top of the book and stared down at me, his brow furrowed in deep lines.
“Alice, I—”
I held up one hand. “After four years of liking you and being too”—I dropped my voice to a whisper—“chickenshit to do anything about it, I finally made a move, and you rejected me, which is your right. So—”
“You’ve liked me for four years?” he asked, incredulous, which showed how little he paid attention to me.
“I hate to admit it, but yes.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and put on a brave face. “Then I decided to get over you, so I did.”
“You did?” he echoed.
“Yes, I’m over you.”
I sounded a lot more sure than I felt. Eventually, though, it would be true. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.
Before Caleb could say another word, Jesse appeared beside him. “Are you checking out a book?”
Caleb slid his gaze from me to his son. “I am. Thought on the nights you’ve got your nose stuck in one, I could join you.”
“Really?” Jesse screwed his face up, skeptical. “I mean, I know you can read, but can you read?”
Caleb choked out a laugh. “Yeah, kid, I can read. It’s been a while since I finished a book, but I’m pretty sure I can handle it. Besides, I hear this one is really good.”
Jesse peered at the title, his eyes darting to mine. “He’s reading your favorite book.”
I shot a grin his way. “That’s the rumor. You’ll have to let me know if he actually does.”
He crossed his arms, side-eyeing his dad. “Oh, believe me, I will.”
Caleb ruffled his son’s hair. “All right. Enough making me the butt of your joke. Are you ready to head home?”
“Yep.” Jesse’s brows shot up. “But first, I need to ask Ms. Clark a question.”
I leaned forward, my hands on the desk. “What’s that?”
He glanced at his dad then back at me. “If you’re free Saturday, it would be cool if you came to my competition. It’s in Lander, at the high school. You don’t have to come or anything, but you know, you might like to watch.”
I hesitated, but couldn’t think of a reason why I shouldn’t go. Jesse had been telling me about his team’s robot for months. Seeing it in action would be incredible.
“Yes, I’d like that very much.”
“Cool.” He shrugged, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “It starts at ten. You might want to get there around then to get a good seat.”
I tapped my temple. “I’ve got it in the schedule. I’ll be there.”
When he walked back to his table to grab his backpack, Caleb was still watching me, his eyes unreadable as he tucked his book under his arm.
“You don’t have to go. He’ll understand.”
I frowned. “I want to. From what Jesse tells me, his robot’s going to destroy all the others. How could I miss that?”
The corner of his mouth hitched. “When you put it that way, I guess you couldn’t. And don’t worry, I'll keep clear of you.”
“It’s no big deal if you don’t.”
“Right.” He rocked back on his heels, his gaze sliding over my face and neck before returning to meet my eyes. Then his mouth formed the words I’d said before Jesse interrupted us. “Over you.”
“Yeah,” I agreed softly. “Over you.”
He saluted me with my favorite book, then turned to join Jesse, leaving me standing there, confused and a little pissed off. Why was he looking at me like that? Turning up at my library? Asking me questions? Showing more interest in a few days than he had in four years combined?
I’d never know why, and it didn’t matter. I’d moved on.
You’re over him. You’re over him. You’re over him.
I almost believed it.
When I arrived home, there was a potted plant on my porch that hadn’t been there when I’d left. I bent down to examine it, finding a small, folded piece of paper tucked in the leaves. Opening it, I read the neatly scrawled note inside.
Alice,
Hope an apology plant is okay. My grandmother said this kind is easy to take care of and hard to kill. Don’t know if you have a green thumb, so I thought it was a safe bet.
This is a thank-you plant too. I appreciate all you’ve done for Jesse, giving him a safe place to spend time, being a listening ear, encouraging him. Means a lot to me, and Jesse too.
Be good and take care.
CK
I sank down on my porch step, thoroughly bowled over. Damn that man. He’d found a way around my flower ban and hastily constructed walls. Did he not understand how hard I was working to move on?
Probably not.
Well, I’d have to work harder.
I took out my phone, opened my dating app, and swiped to the conversation I’d been having with a guy the last few days. I’d been lukewarm about meeting him. Now I couldn’t remember why.
It might have been his slightly off-color jokes or the fact that his profile picture was him holding up a fish half his size, but I knew better than to judge a book by its cover.
I needed to move on. Truly.
It had taken less than five minutes to arrange a date. That easy. He was looking forward to it. By Saturday night, I was sure I would be too.
I looked at the plant beside me, its bright-green leaves unfurling under the porch light.
“I’m done,” I whispered to it. “Really. I’m done.”
I stood, brushed off my skirt, and carried the plant inside.