Chapter 9
Ding
The bell above the door of the library never failed to make the librarian look up and forced Ava to quietly wave at the woman before walking the other way. It just felt inappropriate to yell a 'hello' in the quietness of the little library.
For some reason, it seemed like it rained in this place for the better part of the year and she was slowly getting used to arriving at her destination drenched. The carpeted library floor prevented her shoes from squeaking but her hair was dripping wet.
Before she left, however, she'd made sure to wrap the books in a plastic bag inside her normal bag, keeping them dry. The last thing she needed was to ruin a bunch of library books and get banned from the only library in town.
"Heya, Ava!" she heard from across the aisle. Everly was seated at one of the reading tables at the back and waved enthusiastically at her.
"Hey, Everly," she smiled back as she approached the table, earning her a gasp from Everly. "What happened to you? Ever heard of an umbrella?" she asked, referring to Ava's currently dripping state.
Of course, she'd heard of an umbrella, she just didn't have one.
"I have, as a matter of fact," she replied. "I just forgot it and then it started raining." It wasn't technically a lie, she'd left a bit before it had started to pour but it wasn't like she didn't know it was going to. It had been raining all day.
"Oh, yeah. Hate when that happens," Everly nodded gravely. "Well, take a seat and warm yourself up because the book club is in session, babey!"
Time flies when you're having fun really held true, Ava found out.
After explaining what had happened to her hands and assuring Everly she was fine she confessed that she'd read all of the books in the stack, impressing Everly.
She'd only read the one Ava had recommended because she'd been working double shifts all week.
They spent the entire afternoon obsessing over the books and discussing the characters when Everly suddenly gasped, "I have to be home in five minutes," she said, obviously stressed. "I'm so sorry, Ava, I have to go. I'll pick up that book you recommended later," she promised.
"It's fine," Ava said, "Go, or you'll be late."
"Right, same time next week?"
"Sounds good."
"Alright, talk to you later then, bye!" With a smile thrown over her shoulder and a small wave, Everly took off. Ava stared after her for a moment while struggling to hide her smile. It had been the most fun she'd had in ages and she already wished it was next week.
The books in front of her would have to be returned and she gathered them all to take them back to the librarian. She would take them back herself but she didn't want to offend the nice woman or make a mistake in putting them back.
Next, she set off to find the book Averly had mentioned.
It was a new adult book and usually, she wasn't into those.
But she really wanted Everly to like her so she grabbed it anyway.
She grabbed a few more books before checking them out and carefully placed them back into the plastic bag before bidding her goodbyes to Ms. Jones, the librarian.
As she stepped outside she got hit with a blast of cold air and icy rain against her face. With a sigh, she braced herself for the walk back again. Her simple jean jacket was no match to the winter cold and she hadn't even turned the corner before violent shivers ran across her body.
She did wear two shirts to be warmer, though it barely helped.
In order to leave the town, she had to walk across a bridge that always seemed to be windier than anything else in the area.
It wasn't particularly long but she still made her feet go faster.
The trees formed a protective barrier against the wind and she released a sigh once she reached them.
From the reflection on the wet trees, she spotted the headlights from an approaching car behind her. She didn't want to keep walking on the road in case they didn't notice her in the pouring rain so she stepped aside to walk through the wet grass. Her shoes couldn't get wetter anyway.
The car didn't approach as she'd expected, it took too long to pass and when she checked behind her she saw that the car slowly creeping after her. Silently, she plotted her escape route through the woods in case someone wanted to kidnap her.
Adrenaline started pumping through her veins as she heard it come closer to her and she hoped it would suddenly start driving off again. The car still went faster than she did but she didn't dare look inside and make eye contact.
"Ava," a voice called out. A familiar one, at that.
Confused, she looked towards the car to see Mr. Castain look through an open side window, making her worry the interior of the sports car would get wet.
"Mr. Chastain?" she replied, hoping he'd hear her through the rain tapping down on his car. His perfect eyebrows were downturned and he didn't look too happy to find her here. Maybe he'd needed her back at the estate only to find that she was gone for the day.
"Get in the car," he called out again, making her hesitate.
It wasn't that she didn't trust him, she had already been in his car before, but she was dripping wet and she didn't want to ruin the expensive leather interior.
What if the leather started to crack because she sat down while wet from the rain.
"Your seat will get wet," she responded. She only succeeded in making his mouth turn downwards as he glared at her before reaching over the passenger seat to throw the door open.
"Get in the fucking car, Ava," he said as he shifted in his seat. The tone in his voice didn't really leave any room for discussion so she reluctantly did as he said. She let her bag drop from her shoulder and put it on her lap before quickly closing the door.
She expected him to start driving when she'd put on her seatbelt but he hadn't yet, prompting her to look at him.
His scowl was held firmly in place and she thought he almost looked.
.. Disgusted? His eyes scanned her entire outfit and with a disapproving huff, he tore his eyes from her to start driving again.
She felt bad about disgusting him, she didn't want him to feel that way about her but there wasn't much she could do about it. The jacket hadn't been in fashion for a while now but it was still wearable. It didn't even look that bad when you ignored the frayed seams that decorated some spots.
"What were you doing walking along the road? In the pouring rain, too," he asked as soon as he'd gotten the car up to speed, which he did surprisingly slow compared to the last time she was in his car.
"I was headed back to the estate," she replied quietly. She'd be lying if his slight anger hadn't scared her a bit. It was always smarter to be careful.
"Yeah, I get that," he bit back. "Why were you walking in the pouring rain?"
"Dinner is served at 7, I couldn't wait for it to stop," she explained.
"Wait you always walk to town?" he asked incredulously, as though she'd just told him something ridiculous.
"I don't have anything else to get me there."
He went silent at that. She dared take a peek at his face but he seemed to be hard in thought as he stared straight ahead. "Why didn't you at least bring an umbrella?"
"I don't have one," she replied simply. It felt a bit stupid to say but tons of people didn't own umbrellas, right?
"And you don't have a winter coat either?" he questioned. At first, she thought that his tone was mocking but the curious look on his face told her it was genuine interest.
"I have this jacket--" she started but he cut her off. "That jacket was made for the summer, you didn't even close it," he observed.
"I can't close it," she replied sheepishly. While the jacket looked in good enough condition to wear it you'd notice on closer inspection that some of the buttons weren't present anymore. "Right," he replied, not even sounding surprised.
To his credit, he both stopped asking questions and stopped looking mad. The silence that replaced his questions was somewhat awkward so she thought of something to ask him. "So, what brought you into town?"
He glanced at her like he hadn't expected her to ask him anything. "I have friends who live in town, since I grew up here and all," he explained. "What brought you to town?"
"I went to the library," she replied, happy with the pleasant conversation that had replaced the previous one. He glanced at the stack of books in her lap before he replied, "you know there's a library at the mansion, right?"
She didn't.
"You can use it, if you want? It would save you from having to walk to town all the time."
The thought delighted her. Unlimited access to all these books without having to leave the house? It sounded great until she realized she also went to the library for her book club. She decided not to tell him and just accept his generosity.
With a smile, she nodded enthusiastically.
"That'd be great, thank you," she replied.
She couldn't wait to check out the books he had and read the good ones.
She'd still go to the library on her days off but she didn't have to actually carry any books there.
It relieved her to know she wouldn't have to keep carrying the heavy bag all the way to and from town.