Chapter 2
Chapter Two
KINDRED
“On a scale of one to ten, how terrible would it be if I shut down the local library?" I ask Candy. She’s really new to town, but she and I hit it off quickly.
Right after she figured out that I was engaged to her baby daddy, my boss. The mayor of New Hope. In my defense, it had been his idea to make up that story. He was praying it would get his mother off his back so she’d stop throwing women at him to date.
"Why would you do that?" Candy turns to glance out the window toward the library I'm speaking of.
I serve as Mayor Hollis' right hand in this town.
Actually, I might be both hands; I run Town Hall, where my office is.
There isn't a ton to do around here. The town can almost run itself.
That's why part of my time is also spent as Hollis's assistant.
That has hella perks. I could retire off my Christmas bonus this year, but I won't. I get all the tea and gossip right here.
I'm not giving that up. That perk is almost better than the money… almost.
"I was looking over the budget." Except the budget is wide open, lush with money to spend, and not only because we make a killing off tourists. No, our mayor is loaded and often cuts his own checks when it comes to paying for things the town may need, not wanting to stay within any budget. He even renovated the home he lives in so that the taxpayers wouldn’t have to use any town funds.
"You guys have budget issues?" Candy's nose scrunches.
She isn't making that comment out of rudeness.
Not Candy, she's as sweet as her name. But life hasn't always been easy on her, and she's fought for everything she has.
Candy also knows her fiancé, whose wedding we're all scrambling to plan, is loaded.
Also, if Candy sued that fertility clinic that impregnated her eggs with Hollis's sperm, she'd probably be a millionaire herself. But that's a story that has already been told.
"No, not budget issues, but everyone uses e-readers nowadays. We should be saving the trees." I mean I can’t very well come out and tell her the real reason I want to shut it down. I’m barely willing to admit it to myself.
“I kind of feel like a small town like New Hope would want to preserve something like a physical library with real books.” She has me there. New Hope does have a certain charm to it, and the library is a part of it.
“You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“Oh, wait. More is happening here.” Candy sits up straighter, raising her chin. “Yes, the library must go.” She drags her finger across her neck, letting me know she's down for murdering the library, which is not a very Candy thing to do.
“It’s fine.” I let out a sigh.
I guess I’ll have to think of another way to put an end to Sheriff Hudson’s new obsession with the library.
It’s annoying, but he does take me more for a physical book person than an e-reader.
Christmas is around the corner. I could push the e-reader onto him as a gift, but then he'd likely think the gift was a trick of some kind.
But that’s the thing. I don’t believe he’s going for the books there at all. There’s only one other reason he would be visiting it so much, and that’s if he had a thing for Shelly. I bet they read books together all cuddled up. It’s disgusting.
It’s always the quiet, nerdy ones you have to look out for. Maybe I should just burn the place down. That sounds simpler than getting the town to agree to shut it down.
Whatever the reason is, I plan on putting a stop to it. Not because I’m jealous or anything but for other reasons. They both have jobs to do. Shelly should be tending to the books, and the sheriff should be keeping the streets of New Hope safe.
“We should go on a mission.”
Candy stares at me wide-eyed as though she’s scared of what I’m about to suggest. Okay, I might have gotten us into a bit of trouble before, but it worked out in the end.
I plan on finding out exactly what the sheriff is doing in that library all the time. Maybe a look around when no one is there will give me some answers.
“What do I have to do?” She’s such a girl’s girl, which I absolutely love about her. Down to help out, even though she knows it might not be completely on the up and up.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I’d ask you to commit a crime or anything.”
She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Okay, it could end up being a little crimey.”
“Crimey?” Candy laughs. “It’s like you dolled up the word so it sounds prettier.”
“It might be crimeless. You never know how these things could play out.” I open the top drawer of my desk, grabbing the pack of stickers I have in there. I slap one on the new contract Hollis needs to go over.
“And maybe this crime is related to the library?” I nod. “Are you still pretending you hate the sheriff and this is in no way connected?”
“Yes.” I pull off a sticker, get up from my desk, and put the star on her sweater. "Oh, two more." I grab two smaller stickers and put them on her belly. "The girls are in on this too."
"I don't know if they're girls. We'll find out on Christmas," Candy tells me for the millionth time. I don't know how the hell she's holding out on knowing. I would never last.
"They're girls." I shrug.
"If you say so." She shakes her head at me. "So is this crime now or later?"
"It would be better later, after the library is closed, but I'm not sure you're allowed out that late."
"Hey! He's not the boss of me. I do what I want.” It’s cute she believes that for even a second.
"I tell him that all the time even though he cuts my checks."
"See, and you still do whatever you want." This is true.
“I’m not the love of his life who is carrying his babies,” I remind her. We both know that Hollis is super protective over all of them.
All the dust only just settled with the crazy Maxwell man who had a weird obsession with not only Candy but Hollis too. That was fun watching him get arrested. Shit like that never happens here. It’s all gumdrops and unicorns.
“I’m coming. I mean you said we had some final stuff to go over for the wedding, right?”
“We absolutely one thousand percent have some details to iron out,” I inform her, knowing we pretty much have everything done, but this will give us an excuse to get out tonight. I know she doesn’t want to lie to Hollis, and I would never ask her to.
We make a plan to meet back up at seven-thirty; the library closes at eight this time of year. I head home and change. I can’t be sneaking around in heels and a dress. I mean, I could, but I love a good costume, and breaking into the library calls for all black.
When Candy comes back into my office at our designated time, I see that she hadn’t had the same thought as I did.
“Oh, no.” Candy catches on quickly. Probably because I’m in pants and sneakers. It’s far from my norm. We might live in a small town, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get all dressed up each day. “I didn’t get that memo.”
Candy had changed, but she now has on a bright pink sweater that has a snowman on it. The nose flashes a bright-ass red.
“No sticker for you.”
“I can turn it off.” She starts feeling around all inside of her sweater. It takes her a minute, but she finally gets the red nose to stop blinking. “So I did some crime research, and we should leave our phones behind.”
“All right.” I go to drop my phone down on my desk but stop. “Wait, this is my flashlight.”
“Right.”
“Any other crime tricks?”
“I’m fresh out.” I snort a laugh. “But I share my location with Hollis, so he’ll know if we leave Town Hall.” Town Hall is practically at the end of his driveway.
“That’s cute, Candy, if you think that’s the only way that man can track you.” Her nose scrunches, then a smile takes over her face. She loves how crazy Hollis is about her.
“He’s kind of obsessed with me,” she says very proudly. “In a good way.”
“Right.” I nod in agreement. Hollis is, for the most part, harmless.
Unless you mess with Candy, then all bets are off. I’m sure Hollis already knows we’re up to something, but he’s going to let it slide because he enjoys seeing his fiancée being fully embraced by the town. He knows it’s something she needs with her past and upbringing.
“Let’s do this thing. We’re going in the back.” I grab my bag and keys to lock the building back up. Candy is right alongside me as we walk toward the library.
“What’s the plan?” She asks as we get closer.
“Get in. Get what we need and get out,” I reply because I don’t really have much of a plan. To be honest, I’m not even sure what the heck it is that I’m looking for, but I’ll uncover something about the sheriff tonight guaranteed.
“Maybe you should be my lookout. This way if by some chance we get caught, you won’t get into any trouble.”
“That sounds lame. I’ve already risked so much by coming.” She frowns. I don’t know how Candy even keeps a straight face saying that. We are less than a block away from her home.
“Fine. You can come in.” That gets me a smile and a silent fist pump. I mean, let’s be honest. There's no way Candy is really going to get in trouble. Her soon-to-be husband and baby daddy is the mayor, and she’s pregnant. Those are two get-out-of-jail cards.
Plus, we only have one jail cell, and I don’t know if the door on that thing works. If you do end up in trouble, you get shipped right out. I think. It doesn't matter.
“Now, act natural,” I tell Candy as we make our way toward the library. She only fidgets more. God, I love her.
“How are we getting in?” she whispers way too loudly.
“I have a guy on the inside.” That makes Candy's brows rise all the way up. I nod to the alley between the library and the post office/bank. Yes, it is both. She follows me.
When we get to the side door, I knock twice. The door opens, and Wallach, the town handyman, walks right out past us, pretending to play on his phone. I grab the door to stop it from closing and locking. Candy hurries in. I glance up and down the alley, double-checking it’s clear.