5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Meg
A s soon as I had decent cell service, I found Lance Lovell on Facebook but not on any other social media. His profile said he lived in Darbydale, Ohio, which I Googled. The population was only seven hundred ninety-three and they didn’t have a hospital, but being close to Columbus, there were several within driving distance.
I’d been home from vacation for two weeks and two days. Today, I sat at the library’s main desk and scrolled through Lance’s Facebook photos. He looked like a surfer dude in his profile picture, just as he did the first time I saw him on the bus. His pictures were gorgeous and all from his travels—rainforests, Iceland, Europe, Mexico. There was one of a Bermudian sunset, but I wasn’t in it. Actually, his pictures either were solo selfies or of landmarks. I wondered if he always hooked up with a willing female when he was on vacation.
Probably.
Maybe that’s why he never posts pictures of anyone besides himself?
“Hello,” said a deep voice from across the library’s counter.
I glanced up from my phone and plastered on my friendly librarian smile. “Hi! How can I help you?”
The man facing me wore glasses, his expression serious and inquisitive, his dark-chocolate-colored hair cropped and neatly combed, making me wonder if it was always that perfect or if it was ever mussed like Lance’s. “I’ve recently moved to La Crosse—bought a Victorian on Tenth Street and wanted to do some research about it.”
I nodded reassuringly. After all, customer service was a crucial part of public librarianship. “Well, you came to the right place.”
He shoved his hands into his jeans’ pockets as if he might be shy. “My realtor said you’d be able to help? ”
“Absolutely.” Alas, my cue to push up from my chair, put my phone away, and step out from behind the counter. “You’ll find everything you need in the Archives. There’s a section of the library exclusively for historical research—even the City of La Crosse uses us to store their documents.” I beckoned him. “It’s upstairs. If you’ll follow me, I’ll introduce you to the archivist.”
He fell in step, his lips twisting. “Can’t you show me the documents?”
Was he flirting? Nah . “Nope,” I cheerfully replied, flicking my hair. “Otherwise I’d be upstairs sitting at Monique’s desk.”
The man was taller than Lance—about six feet two. He looked fit, like someone who might be into biking or hiking. “Thanks.”
I glanced at the computer processing icon on his black t-shirt with the tag line, “I’m thinking.” Does Amazon sell those in pink…maybe chartreuse? “Where’d you move from?”
“Madison.”
What a perfect place for a techie geek to be from. “Madison is nice, but it has grown too big for me. What brings you to La Crosse?”
“Work.”
I arched my eyebrows, but he didn’t volunteer anything further and I wasn’t about to press the man. I’d already pegged him as a techie type—though judging by his Tag Hauer smartwatch and trendy haircut, he was a high-end geek. Maybe he was the head of technology at Trane or one of the larger companies in town.
I stopped outside the Archives department and gestured to the woman sitting behind the L-shaped desk inside. “This is Monique. She’ll be able to assist with the research on your house.”
The man glanced her way, then back at me. He had soulful gray eyes and our gazes connected for a tad longer than was comfortable. “Thank you.”
Being a redhead, I was prone to blushing and my face burned as I smiled at them both. “I think you’ll like living in La Crosse. It’s a small town, but if you ask me, it has everything you need. Both Monique and I did our undergrads here and then went to Madison for our masters.”
He glanced at the back room with the rows of shelves barely visible through the doorway, then Mr. Geek again met my gaze—goodness, he had intense eyes. “What do you like most about it?”
I looked at Monique while a gazillion things riffled through my mind. “The historic downtown. Great theater and local musicians. The changes of season. The mighty Mississippi and how all living things rely on the river, even humanity. There are awesome hiking trails around Grandad’s Bluff. You’ll never be at a loss for something to do here.”
Monique’s head bobbed in agreement, her eyes wide.
“Here?” he asked.
“Hey, it’s a college town. I don’t lie. Just check explorelacross.com , there’s bound to be something to interest you.” Before I made a stupid remark like offering to take him on a Friday night pub crawl along our infamous Third Street, I gestured to the archivist. “Well, I’ll leave you in Monique’s capable hands.”
Heading down the stairs, Elaine had taken my spot manning the counter. I considered changing directions and going to my closet-sized office to work on next month’s schedule, but her face lit up as she caught my eye, beckoning me with both hands. “Who was that?” she whisper-shouted as I approached.
I suppose I should have introduced myself to the man and asked his name. But then again, we had a lot of visitors come into the library whom we never saw again. “A new La Crosse resident. He bought a Victorian and wants to do some research.”
She batted her eyelashes, which made me snort because Elaine’s glasses magnified her green eyes to comical proportions like Disney’s Honey Lemon. “He’s kinda cute.”
I glanced back up the stairs, my stomach fluttering. I ignored it. God knows what happened the last time I opened up to a cute dude. “Ya think?”
Elaine adjusted her headband—light brown hair, flawless skin. Yep, she could totally pull off playing Honey Lemon in a local production of Big Hero 6 . “Hey, what gives? You still haven’t spilled any details about the stud in your Facebook posts.”
“Lance?” I tried to sound like I hardly knew what she was talking about. Maybe I was also trying to convince myself that he was as insignificant as a gnat. And I did delete the pictures with him, obviously not before all my friends saw them. “Didn’t I say we agreed what happens on a cruise stays on the cruise?”
“Yeah, but that’s not your style.” My bestie pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose.
“Maybe not, but that’s how we ended it.” I busied myself by straightening the lane stanchion across from the checkout desk. “Besides, long-distance relationships never work. ”
“Damn shame.” Elaine tapped the keyboard of her computer. “Hey, you’re still going to the symphony with me Saturday, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” I replied, welcoming the change in subject.
“I’ll pick you up—it’s my turn.”
“Sounds good. Six-thirty?”
“Yep.”
As I headed for my office, I lit up my phone. It was still opened to Lance’s Facebook page. Interestingly, he hadn’t posted any pictures since Bermuda. What was he doing now? I hovered my finger over the “friend” button and held it there. Sure, he didn’t want to have a long-distance relationship. How could I blame him? He was a doctor. The dude was super busy with a stressful job. Hell, I was busy, but that was no reason not to be friends on social media.
Right?
I tapped the damned button and turned off my screen. If he didn’t friend me back he was a total douche. If he did friend me back, then…
Who knows what might happen?
I lived in one of La Crosse’s old houses that had been converted into apartments. Mine was on the ground floor and had a beautiful, south-facing bay window which let in a lot of light. It was cozy, with boring white walls and hardwood floors. My furniture was wicker and I’d decorated the couch and chairs with Bohemian pillows and throws in a riot of color—put a boho carpet on the floor in shades of oranges, reds, pinks, and blues. Sure, my walls might be white, but I wanted color in my life. A lot of it.
I’ve been saving like a fiend to buy my own place, especially since the dude who recently moved in upstairs cranks up the bass on his stereo so loud it not only rattles my eardrums, it shakes the entire house right down to the foundations. As Elaine pulled up outside, the plates in my cupboard clattered. I swear, the bass was so overpowering, I couldn’t even hear the music—just the deep thump, thump, thump pounding in the back of my head.
It had now been two weeks and six days since I got home from the cruise and right before my neighbor’s music interrupted my lovely quiet, I got a notification saying Lance had accepted my friend request. I didn’t message him immediately because that might make me look too needy. Besides, Elaine and I had a date with the symphony and I wasn’t about to sit through an entire concert looking at my phone, willing it to light up with a reply from him. When her horn tooted, I slipped my feet into my bright red heels, grabbed a scarlet shawl, my purse, and managed not to twist an ankle as I dashed for the car.
“Have you called the cops about that dude yet?” Elaine asked while I slid into the seat of her Mini. “I can hear his sound system over the rev of my engine.”
I fastened the seatbelt, looking up to the second floor. I wasn’t good at confrontation—at least not with people I didn’t know. Mom or someone like Elaine who I’d known for years—no problem. The hairy beast who lived above me? That was going to take some strategizing. “It’s on the list.”
She snorted. “You’re not going to call the cops are you?”
“No!” I smacked her arm with my purse. “I’d rather talk to him first.”
Elaine put the car in gear and turned down State Street. “Okay, when?”
“What do you care?” I asked, making a mental note to march up the stairs and pound on his door the very next time he wasn’t playing music so he’d be able to hear me. I bit the corner of my mouth. Maybe I shouldn’t pound. Perhaps he’d be more receptive if I knocked politely?
Before Elaine answered my question, a car came racing up Eighth Street and ran the stop sign. Elaine slammed on the brakes, the wheels screeching.
“Argh!” I screamed, my body lurching forward. As I was stopped by the seatbelt, my head whipped back against the headrest.
“Asshole!” Elaine shouted, continuing through the intersection.
With my next breath I doubled over shrieking, the pain excruciating as if a vampire hunter had driven an iron spike into my neck and up into my brain. My hands flew to my head. “Ow, ow, ow!”
“Meg!” Elaine shouted, the car lurching as she swerved to the curbside.
I dry heaved with the jerking motion. “Ow!” I screamed, cringing, and squeezing my eyes shut, trying to make the pain go away.
She put the car in park. “What’s wrong?”
Opening my eyes, I stared straight ahead, but everything was blurry. I blinked and opened wider. Holy shit, I’d gone blind in my right eye. “I can’t see!”
“But I just braked hard,” She patted my shoulder. “Nobody hit us. ”
God dammit, I’d never been in this much pain in my life. “I-I don’t know, my head snapped back, and now I swear my brain is about to explode out of my skull!”
Elaine waved a hand in front of my face. “Can you see this?”
My hands shook and my heart was beating so fast, my blood pressure had to be in the ozone. I blinked against the tears welling in my eyes. “O-only out of my left eye and i-it’s blurry.”
“Crap!” She put the car in gear, peeling rubber as she pulled onto the street, the sudden acceleration making stars dart through my vision. “Hang on! I’m taking you to the hospital.”