Chapter 30
30
Life was going to get back to normal now. Ayla had seen her sister that morning. Right there in the living room at the Hiller Ranch. Guthrie had driven Aubrey home and had carried her big sister into the house so carefully. Then Guthrie had arranged her on the couch gently—and waited on Aubrey hand and foot.
It had been so sweet to see how much he loved her sister.
Aubrey was going to be okay. She was sore, and hurting, and definitely beaten up and bruised, but she was going to be okay. Aubrey had ordered Grady to drive Ayla to the library for her regular time to read to the kids. Grady had not argued.
Grady had walked her inside, turned her over to Jake, and told her to stay put at the library until someone from the ranch came and got her. And then he had kissed her on the forehead, very sweetly, before telling her to have fun at story time. He was a big teddy bear inside—she was convinced of it completely, now.
Hala should just go ahead and keep him. He would be perfect for her. Ayla was going to tell Hala that, too. It was bound to set Hala off if she did…
Ayla was organizing the books in the return bin for restocking when the door opened. Jake had left early, asking her to stay while he ran errands and picked his little boy up from the elementary school. Ayla was just a volunteer, mostly she did story time, but she was helping Jake out more when she could. And they were brainstorming more library programs for the littlest patrons. Ayla thought a homeschool art class for elementary would be a good way to up engagement for the library during the day. But… it was a matter of funding.
She was going to talk to Aubrey. Her sister was really good at finding funding for things. Maybe even the hospital could make a donation. Her sister said Dr. Carrington was a real softie for any donations involving children’s programs. And he did have grandkids that lived in Value.
She was going to ask Jake if he had any ideas. She and Aubrey had grown up in Houston. She knew there were lots of different things for kids to do at libraries. She’d had one foster mother who had taken her to the library every week. Ayla had liked that woman, Miss Carly, her name had been. Ayla had been four or five when they’d lived there. Aubrey had been twelve or thirteen. They had both been really comfortable with her and she had been fun. But then the judge had said they had to go home to their mom after she’d gotten out of rehab and they’d had to leave Miss Carly’s forever. Sometimes, Ayla wondered what had happened to Miss Carly.
She had been one of the good ones. Not all of them were.
If Ayla was ever a foster parent, she’d make sure she was one of the good ones. Gunn had told her his parents had been foster parents sometimes. Until… what had happened to Greer, when a former foster son had turned on them several years later, and abducted Greer out of their driveway. Greer had ended up in a coma for three days and on crutches for almost a year.
Gunn. That man… he was kind of all she could think about right now. Considering. Maybe she should check the stacks, see if there were any self-helps on how to understand men and relationships and romance, that kind of thing. She kind of needed a playbook here, or something.
Gunn Hiller wanted to spend forever with Ayla Fisher. He’d said so himself. So technically, maybe she was dating Gunn Hiller now?
What was a girl supposed to think about that?
She was contemplating that very thing when the door opened. A woman a few years or so older than Ayla came in. Ayla thought she’d seen her before in town. Around the grocery store or something. The diner, maybe? Though she and Aubrey mostly ate out when they went to Finley Creek. “Hello, welcome to the library. Can I help you?”
This was only the second time Jake had left her alone. It was hard not to be nervous and everything. Still, he should be back any minute if she had any problems.
“I am Dinah Davidson, and you… are?”
“Hello, I’m Ayla. What can I help you with today?”
“I believe I saw you at the Hillers’ barbecue last week.”
“You probably did.” That was where she’d seen her—this woman had been one of the people to stop by and talk to Gunn. A lot of women had wanted to talk to him, she had noticed. People in general had a lot to talk to him about. Ayla had enjoyed watching him interact with people. He was very good at it, and very kind and helpful.
The man just made her feel gooey inside. No denying that.
“Have you known the Hillers long? The Lakes? I saw them there as well… ”
The words themselves were appropriate for small talk, but her tone was weird. Like… maybe this was an interrogation, or something. Like she was fishing for something. “Not really, actually. Well, Greer is my best friend. I’ve known her for a while. We take classes together. And my sister is seriously involved with Guthrie. Why?”
“I just wondered. You and Reverend Hiller seemed… close.” She just kept staring at Ayla. Ayla had definitely been stared at before; sometimes people could be really rude, with the questions they’d ask. Ayla was half-tempted to flash the woman or something, just to freak her out. But well… they were in the library. Ayla had to behave herself here—Grady had told her to behave herself earlier, after all.
“We are pretty close, actually. Gunn is a very nice man and we are… dating. Is there something I can help you with here at the library today? If you are looking for Gunn, he is out somewhere on church business with Reverend Riordan. I’m sure I can give Gunn a message for you when I see him tonight, if you’d like.”
Why lie about it? She had a date tonight, after all. Gunn had asked her if she’d like to go to dinner tonight. Since Aubrey was at the ranch now, with both Guthrie and Genny to watch over her, Ayla felt okay leaving her sister for a little while. Like Aubrey had said, it was just a few bruises and a broken arm. Aubrey hated it when Ayla hovered.
Besides, Guthrie was hovering over her sister just fine. Cooing at her, too. It was really sweet to watch. Those two were going to live happily ever after, Ayla just knew it.
“You will see him tonight?” Her eyes were so… weird. Almost… afraid… really. Creepy, actually. Really, really creepy.
“I will. We have plans together. Just the two of us—we are going to spend some time together after we have a family dinner to celebrate his new niece and nephew. Is there something I can help you with here at the library? We have plenty of new books in. Jake placed an order recently.” And she really wished he would hurry back. The way this woman was looking at her was seriously weird. Like serial killer weird. There had been one operating in Value when they had first moved there. He had preyed on blondes. She and Aubrey had been terrified until he’d been caught. Ayla was about ready to grab one of her crutches and prepare to go ninja, if she had to.
As if she’d conjured one Jake out of thin air, the library doors opened and there he was. “Welcome back.”
“Glad to be back. I think it is going to be drizzly out there. Good afternoon, Dinah. It’s been a while since you’ve been in,” Jake said. “How can we help you today?”
Apparently, they couldn’t. It took another long five minutes before the woman left, without a single book to read.
“Well, that was way weird.”
“She was acting differently than she usually does. Usually, she’s just… quiet. Sticks with religious books. Or books on gardening. I’ve never seen her with that expression before.” Jake had a worried look on his beautiful face.
“It was just… weird. No other word for it.”
And why did she feel like there was something else going on with that woman somehow?