Chapter 30
The text came in from Eric just as Scott entered the Reading Room, and even though his phone was on vibrate, the librarian still sent a glare his way.
Someone at work has a litter of kittens, do you want one? Immy is making me take two. Can’t bear to split the siblings apart. The text was accompanied with a photo of six adorable-looking tabby kittens.
Let me ask Dina, not sure how HRHH would react. HRHH standing for Her Royal Highness Heebie, of course.
Smart man , came the response.
Scott spent the next ten minutes daydreaming about presenting Dina with a new kitten, and seeing the way her face would light up as she held the small wriggling thing. A few nights ago they’d found themselves talking about children. He could still feel the palpable relief at Dina telling him she knew she didn’t want to be a mother. That she was happy being the fun aunt to the kids Eric and Immy would likely have. He would have done it, if that’s what she wanted, but he harbored the same feelings. Whenever he pictured his life, kids were never part of that dream. But a house full of pets and Dina and traveling the world with her hand in his—that was Scott’s dream. And by some lucky chance, he was getting to liveit.
He tried to shake himself back to reality and focus on the task at hand. He only had around ten minutes before the Reading Room closed for lunch. Cold winter light shone in through the windows, the outside air scented with the oncoming snowstorm, and the room was silent apart from the shuffling footsteps of librarians and archivists returning books to their shelves.
He’d promised Dina he’d find out more about her Amazigh heritage. While they still weren’t certain which tribe she was from, he’d found a book of Moroccan folk tales from the area east of Rabat that her family was from. And as museum staff, Scott could take the book out on temporary loan.
If the location was correct, then all he needed to do was climb this wooden ladder, and the book would be on a shelf halfway up. It looked a little flimsy, and he hoped it could carry his weight. Scott checked to make sure that the wheels that allowed the ladder to circle the shelf were locked in place. The ladder creaked ominously as he stepped onto the first rung.
He climbed higher until he spotted the book. He only needed to lean out a little to catch a hold of it. Then Scott heard a snap, and the ground rose up to meet him as it all went dark.