Chapter 4
Keely was whipping up a batch of dark chocolate peppermint fudge to take to Nick and Chloe”s house that night when her phone rang. Willa’s name flashed across the screen, and she picked up.
”Hey! Did you figure out a time for our baking extravaganza?”
”Not yet,” Willa said quickly. ”But Ali got back to me on the job front.”
She straightened up and set down her spoon. ”And?”
”The library does have an opening. Assistant librarian, basically. Grunt work like reshelving books and working the front desk. What do you think?”
”Sounds great.” Keely tried to keep her voice bright.
It was so kind of Willa to hunt down a job opportunity for her. She wondered why she didn”t feel more excitement. Maybe working the front desk of the library felt a bit too close to the cashier jobs she had worked recently.
But that was ridiculous. This was books! She loved books.
”When are they interviewing? Should I call Ali, or…?”
”That”s the thing.” Willa’s voice was taut. ”They”re interviewing today.”
”Today?” she squeaked.
”I asked Ali to save you a spot, and they can see you at two. Can you make it?”
She looked at the clock on her stove. It was nearly one o”clock. Anxiety took hold of her muscles, but she swallowed and nodded as if Willa could see her. ”Sure. I think so.”
”Great! Don”t forget to bring a résumé.”
”Right.”
They said their goodbyes, and she hurried to pour the fudge into a baking dish, which she then put in the fridge to set. Then she rushed to take a shower – How had fudge gotten in her hair? – and rooted through her still-packed clothes in search of something decent to wear. Why did so many of her shirts have holes in them? When was she going to get her act together?
Finally she found a pencil skirt. It had been black once but was now more of a charcoal gray. Paired with a button-up white shirt, it would have to be good enough.
She rigged up the old printer that she had brought with her from her parents’ house and printed out a copy of her résumé. Then she threw on her semi-professional outfit and tried to decide what to do with her hair. She took a blow dryer to it, because those copper masses took forever to dry on their own, and she didn”t want to show up to the library dripping water on the stacks. She tried putting it up, but between that and the pencil skirt the whole thing screamed trying too hard. Finally she settled on pulling some of it back while leaving most of it down, a bright flash of color against her job outfit. It would have to do.
She felt silly getting in her car to drive a mile, so she slipped on a sensible pair of shoes and walked up the hill to the library.
With all of that rushing, she made it there with ten minutes to spare.
She went straight to the front desk. The curly-haired young woman with a bright smile must be Ali. Keely had only met her in passing.
”Hi, I am Keely. I”m here about a job.”
”Yes! Willa”s friend.”
That designation felt like an ill-fitting coat, but she just nodded. She could be Willa”s friend if it helped her land a job in town. She would like to be Willa’s friend; she just didn”t feel like she was yet. Maybe after their baking extravaganza, the friendship would feel more real.
”Ingrid, the head librarian, is interviewing people just in there. Someone else is in right now, but you”re up next.”
”Great. Thank you.”
Too nervous to sit down, she walked in the direction of the head librarian”s office and pretended to browse the books nearest the open door. In reality, she was too anxious to even take in the titles on their spines.
Who did she think she was, applying for a job at a library? She had gone years without reading for pleasure, much less for self-improvement. She had just barely rediscovered her love of books again. Who was she to be recommending books to anyone else?
Did she think that she was too good for a cleaning job, a clerk job?
Her past choices said that she would be lucky even to get those.
Then the previous interviewee walked out, and Keely saw that she was probably too young to even be out of high school.
A timid spark of hope flared in her chest. Maybe she was the best candidate for the job after all. It was just a small local library. She was capable. She could do this.
Keely steeled herself and tiptoed toward the office. The gray-haired woman at the desk was looking down at her papers, and Keely tapped timidly on the open door.
The woman looked up with a severe expression and nodded at her. With a glance down at her papers, she said, ”You must be Keely.”
”That”s me.”
”Come in. Have a seat.”
”Thank you.” Keely walked through and sat in the curved wooden chair across from the head librarian.
”You”re a friend of Ali”s?”
She could only nod, feeling like a liar.
”And you”re interested in working here at the library?” Ingrid prompted gently. She had a no-nonsense expression, but her voice was kind.
”Yes,” Keely squeaked. She cleared her throat. ”I love to read, and I”ve been hoping to find a job here in town. I just moved to Pelican Point, and I’m hoping to become a part of the community.”
”What brings you to Pelican Point?”
”My brother lives here.” She looked down at her folded hands. ”And I can”t think of anywhere else I would rather be. It”s a special place.”
”It certainly is.” Ingrid smiled gently. ”You brought a résumé?”
”Yes!” She hurried to pull it from her bag. ”Sorry it”s creased, I didn”t have a folder or anything, and I walked here…” She trailed off.
”That”s perfectly all right.” Ingrid was quiet as she read through her résumé. ”You like working in customer service? Interfacing with the public, answering questions?”
”Yes,” she said. It tasted like a lie, but she wanted to be agreeable. She wanted this job, if only to get her foot through the door in Pelican Point.
”And you”re still in college?”
”Yes. In my last year.”
”What are you studying?”
”Anthropology.” She perked up a bit. ”I love learning about ancient civilizations. Especially anything about daily life. I”m not so keen on wars.”
”I see. And what else do you like to read?”
”Do cookbooks count?” she blurted out.
Ingrid chuckled. ”I should say so. Do you have any favorites?”
Keely rattled off a few titles that she had been leaning into lately, and Ingrid nodded along.
”So you”re a baker?”
”I suppose I am,” she said, surprised that the older woman had recognized the titles and picked up on the pattern. ”I like any kind of cooking, but there”s something special about making a really amazing dessert. It lights people up in a way that meatloaf just can”t.”
Ingrid chuckled again. Was that a good sign, or was she laughing at her?
”I like to read other things too. I”ve been reading a lot of Austen lately, and I just read a really interesting book about the history of salt.”
”I think you”ll fit in just fine here.”
”I got the job?” She rocked backward in surprise.
”Well, I do still have two more interviews scheduled.” But her smile was promising. ”I”ll call you in a day or two when I”ve made my decision.”
”Thank you very much.” She stood and held out her hand. Ingrid shook it, and Keely walked out the door.
In no hurry to leave but wanting to be alone with her thoughts, she veered to the left and walked deep into the stacks. Or as deep as she could in this little library. She soon met with a corner and turned right, wandering past the plastic-covered spines until she found the history section.
By the time she had finished getting to know the library, she was carrying a tottering stack of books three feet high. It was only when she reached the front desk that she realized that she didn”t know what their limit was. And she didn”t even have a library card.
The second problem was quickly remedied, and luckily her tower, impressive as it was, did not exceed the library limit for twenty books out at a time. She figured that the high number was probably more to accommodate picture books for children than towers like this, but there were just too many good books to be denied.
And now she was wishing that she had driven there. But she managed to stuff five books into her bag, and she clutched the rest in both arms as she walked down the gentle slope on her mile-long walk.
It would be amazing to land a job such a short way from home with so many fascinating books on offer. She was glad that she had gone for it, that she hadn’t let her nerves and low self-worth get the better of her. It was something that she and Michelle talked about a lot – being careful not to believe every thought or feeling or belief that came to visit.
She was learning to base her decisions on her values, rather than her emotions. It was easy in theory, but much trickier in practice.
The afternoon passed in a blink, with Keely curled up on her cozy new couch with her stack of books, bouncing from history to fiction to cookbooks, leaving scraps of paper in each.
It was only when the sky dimmed enough that she was straining to read by the light that came through the window that she realized it was time to walk over to Nick and Chloe”s house for dinner.
She pulled her peppermint fudge from the fridge and gave it an experimental nudge to make sure that it had fully solidified. It was ready to go, and so she clicked a cover into place and walked out the door.
She was still wearing the wannabe librarian outfit that she had donned earlier, but she couldn”t be bothered to change. Travis would be there too, and a part of her still wanted to put on something more alluring… but the bulk of her wanted to kick that hopeless romantic in the shins.
Travis couldn”t be bothered to answer her texts, and so she had no one to impress. She was going to dinner with Chloe, her brother, and her brother”s best friend. No need to change… or undo any buttons.
With her homemade fudge in both hands, she walked the short distance to Chloe”s place. The door was open in invitation. She walked inside, calling out as she did so, ”Anybody home? Everybody decent?”
”Very funny,” Nick said dryly. He closed the door behind her and then took the dish out of her hands. ”What”s this?”
”Fudge.”
He brightened. ”The peanut butter kind?”
She shook her head. ”New recipe. Peppermint dark chocolate.”
Nick made a face. ”I like the peanut butter kind.”
”What are you, six?” She kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen, which was rich with the smells of cooked tomato and… seafood?
”Hey.” She greeted Chloe with a kiss on the cheek. Chloe had a tomato-smudged apron on over a pretty floral dress. ”What”s for dinner?”
”Cioppino.” Chloe shrugged and smiled. ”I hope that”s okay. I had a craving.”
”It smells amazing.” She walked to the stove to see the tomato soup bubbling.
”It”s ready, I think.” Chloe turned off the burner below the pot. ”We”re just waiting for Travis.”
”Wait no more!” Travis said as he walked into the kitchen with Nick. It was a weak impression of his usual charm, and Keely peered at him, wondering again what was wrong.
Well, if he didn”t want to tell her, she didn”t need to know.
She deliberately turned her back on him and focused her attention on Chloe.
”Can I help you serve it up?”
”That would be great.” Chloe opened the oven to peek inside, and the rich smell of garlic bread wafted out. ”Nick, would you pull down four bowls?”
Nick handed the bowls to Keely as Chloe turned off the oven and pulled the garlic bread out. After a few moments of busyness, they all settled down around Chloe”s kitchen table.
The cioppino was phenomenal, a rich tomato soup studded with mussels, shrimp, crab legs, and squid. Aside from a few compliments to Chloe on her cooking, they were all quiet as they focused on cracking crab legs and prying mussels from their shells. It was a warm, homey, deeply nourishing meal.
”So,” Chloe prompted, ”who’s coming to tomorrow’s property renovation?”
”Is it here?” Keely asked.
”Yeah, it’s just up the hill. We had a massive donation recently from this guy who was born here in Pelican Point, and so we were able to purchase a big old house that was supposed to be demolished. Willa‘s husband Mac drew up plans to convert it into three separate units, so three families who had to move away to find a place with affordable rent will be able to move back.”
”That’s amazing.”
”Chloe’s the one who landed the donor,” Nick said. He looked at his girlfriend with an expression of pure adoration the intensity of which startled Keely. She had never seen her brother in love before, and it was a side of him that she wasn’t used to.
She was thrilled for them all the same.
”I don’t deserve all the credit,” Chloe said modestly.
”You charmed him and his wife, ordered them In’n’Out, and made all of the displays that finalized their decision.”
”He’s from here.” Chloe smiled as she looked down at her soup and freed a piece of crab meat from its shell. ”He would have helped regardless.”
”I’m not so sure about that.”
”What exactly are you doing tomorrow?” Keely asked.
Chloe grinned. ”Demolition day. Someone thinks that I’m too far along to wield a sledgehammer, but it’s still fun to watch. I’m in charge of refreshments.”
”I can bring something to share,” Keely offered.
”That would be great!” Chloe turned to Travis. ”You’re coming, right?”
”Of course.” Travis didn’t look up from his soup.
Keely frowned at him, wondering for the umpteenth time what had happened to the teasing, charming boy that she had known since childhood. Was it her? Was he only this awkward when she was around? Has she done something to offend him?
She made a mental note to ask her brother about it when they were alone.
Once they had washed the dishes and enjoyed the peppermint fudge with warm mugs of decaf coffee, it was time to walk home.
”I’ll walk with you,” Nick offered.
”You don’t need to,” Keely replied. ”It’s just a couple blocks.”
Her brother frowned. ”It’s dark outside.”
She rolled her eyes. ”It”s Pelican Point. Nothing ever happens in Pelican Point.”
Chloe gave her a strangely grim smile. ”You would be surprised.”
Keely frowned at her and tilted her head to one side.
”I can walk you home,” Travis said with audible reluctance. ”I’m going that way anyway.”
”Fine,” she agreed. It would only take a few minutes, and then she would be rid of him.
She hugged Nick and Chloe goodbye, then pulled on her jacket and walked out into the chill winter breeze.
It was warmer here than in the mountain town she had grown up in, but the wind that whipped in off the ocean still had a bite to it. She shivered as she stepped down off the front porch. There was a click as the door closed behind them, sealing all of the warmth and light of Chloe’s place inside.
Travis gave her an inscrutable look. ”Do you want to wear my hat?”
She looked at him sideways. ”What?”
”To keep your ears warm.”
She started toward home. ”I’m fine.”
”You’re shivering.” He trotted to catch up with her.
”What do you care?”
”I care,” he said gruffly.
She gave him a quick sideways glare. ”You’ve been completely ignoring me.”
”I know.” His voice was soft and sorrowful.
The admission caught her off guard, and she slowed to a normal pace.
”I’m sorry. It has nothing to do with you. I just… have a lot on my plate right now.”
They walked in silence for a moment, and he pulled a beanie out of his pocket. She accepted it and pulled it on, sheltering her ears from the fierce wind. When they got to her house, she pulled it off and offered it to him.
”Keep it,” he said. ”I have plenty.”
”Thanks,” she said somewhat begrudgingly as she pulled the hat back on. She had underestimated the coastal winds and left her own warm hats buried in a closet at her parents’ house with the rest of her heavy winter clothes. ”See you tomorrow?”
”Yeah.” His eyes held hers for a long moment, and he seemed to lean in – though maybe he was just leaning against the wind. A moment later, he stepped away. ”See you tomorrow.”
She stood on her porch steps until he was out of sight, and then reluctantly she turned and went inside.