Chapter 22
Behind the front desk at the library, Peggy swiveled her chair to face Felix. “Nervous?”
He paused mid-stride and chuckled. “What gave it away?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she mused, “maybe the endless pacing? Or the fact that you’ve run down to the room to check on ‘one more thing’ fifty times since lunch? Or, speaking of, maybe it’s that you skipped lunch, which I’ve never seen you do before.” She lowered her chin and put on her sternest mom face. “You need to eat something before people start showing up, kiddo. Can’t have you fainting in front of a dozen patrons.”
“I’m fine, Peg, really,” he said with a wave of his hand.
She gave an“mm-hmm,” opened her desk drawer, and fished out a granola bar. Without a word, she held it out to him.
Felix sighed and took it. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said with a wink.
It only took a single bite for Felix to realize how ravenous he was. He swallowed his pride and dove into his own desk drawer for the sandwich he’d been too anxious to eat at lunch. This was it. Everything he’d been working toward for the last six weeks came down to tonight. Jo would be here any minute. Leni and Warren, too, followed by… well, hopefully enough people to run an MnM game. He choked down his sandwich, peanut butter sticking in his throat.
Keeping an eye on him to make sure he ate, Peggy asked, “Did I tell you my kids are coming tonight?”
“All the way from Kansas City?”
Peggy’s twins, Madison and Denver, both went to college at the University of Missouri.
“Yessir. They owed me a visit anyway, so I made them come for launch week. Mad’s excited. I guess she’s got some friends who play the game.”
That’s two more, he thought hopefully.
Moments after Felix finished eating, Jo and Leni arrived. They were each lugging a giant pink box, like the kind donut shops used. Felix spotted them through the windows and jogged over to open the door.
“Here,” Jo greeted him, shoving her box at him without even stepping inside. “Sorry, I probably should have asked, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I’ll be right back, I have more in the car.”
“More what?” Felix called after her. She merely grinned over her shoulder.
He looked helplessly at Leni, who shrugged. “I don’t know, hun. I just ran into her in the parking lot. She said to take these downstairs.”
By the time they made it back to the lobby, Jo had returned. Tito was on her arm.
“Tito! ?Qué haces aquí?”
“You forgot about me, ey, Felix?” Tito retorted with a twinkle in his eye. “Your girl invited me to your big event, remember?”
“Sí, I remember.” Felix ran a hand through his hair. Now he remembered. How could he have forgotten the awkward conversation they’d had the day he ran into Jo at White Hills? And why hadn’t either of them said anything? He wasn’t going to worry about it now. Tito was here, and Felix was glad to see him. “Thank you for coming, Tito.”
“I wouldn’t miss it!” Tito crowed. “Whatever ‘it’ is.”
Jo laughed and guided him toward the elevator. “Do you want me to explain it again?”
“No, solete.” He patted her arm. “I’ll just be watching anyway.”
Before following them downstairs, Felix detoured back to the desk to double check that he wasn’t forgetting anything.
“We’ve got it, Felix.” Leni pushed on his shoulders, nudging him in the direction of the stairs. “Peggy and I will send people down as they show up. When foot traffic slows, I’ll join you to help you and Jo get people settled.”
Felix nodded, more to himself than to Leni. It was fine; it would be fine. Everything would be fine. With Peggy’s kids and Vanessa, that was at least three players—plus Jo and Tito to round out the headcount. They only needed a few additional people for the event to be well-attended. They might even end up with enough to split into two tables. Wouldn’t that be something? They’d planned for that, just in case. Jo was ready to jump in and GM a second table at a moment’s notice.
The front door opened as Felix hit the stairs. Leni called brightly, “Hi, hun. Are you here for Monsters and Mythology?”
“Uh, yeah,” the person replied. “I got this flyer at ACC?”
Felix’s heart stuttered and then skipped a beat. He couldn’t tell if he was more nervous or excited. Leni started chatting with the patron about MnM, and he sent her a mental thank you for buying him time to get downstairs and pull himself together.
Here goes nothing.
The primary thought in Jo’s mind was holy shit. Twenty--three people showed up at the Ashville Public Library on a Tuesday night to play Monsters and Mythology. Twenty-fucking-three. Nearly three times the number they’d hoped for. They had so many people that they overflowed to a second meeting room, and Leni had to be recruited to GM her first-ever game.
“Put me in, coach,” she said when Jo approached her with the idea. Jo handed over a copy of the same adventure Felix had practiced with them a few days earlier. Jo crossed her fingers that combat wouldn’t be too much of a shitshow. She had faith in Leni to at least make the game fun, regardless of how loose she was with the rules.
Seated at Leni’s table were Vanessa and her dad, a late-fifties white man with a beer belly and a bushy, gray beard. Vanessa had mentioned that he might tag along, since he’d been a fan of MnM since the eighties. He was one of the few middle-aged people in attendance. Everyone else—aside from one set of parents with their two children—looked to be college age or a little older. Exactly what Warren wanted.
By the time the first dice began to roll, over half of the cupcakes were gone, the “Free Dice” raffle bowl was stuffed with slips of paper, and Felix’s smile was bright enough to put the sun to shame. Jo wished she could stay and watch him GM, but she had volunteered to take charge of the overflow room so neither he nor Leni had to be alone. Among her eight players was the pink-haired young woman who’d been at Stan’s the same night Jo and Felix were, when Jo had guerilla marketed the launch to a table of twenty--somethings. None of the other people from that table had come, but, hey—one out of four wasn’t bad.
Jo did her damnedest to show her players a good time. She used all her goofiest character voices, leapt to her feet during combat to keep the energy up, and encouraged people to speak in character and describe their actions. She had people laughing and trying out character voices of their own, cheering for one another and yelling in frustration when dice rolls didn’t go their way. When she brought the game to an end, all eight players applauded so loudly Jo was sure they could be heard upstairs.
Jo brought them back to the main room for the raffle just as Felix was wrapping up his adventure. Leni descended on them, armed with a smile and a big, pink box. Jo snagged a cupcake and took the opportunity to glance around. Vanessa and her dad were cracking up over some shared joke. Tito sat in a far corner, smiling broadly at Felix from behind his thick, black mustache. Warren was in another corner, hands behind his back, observing. Jo gave him a quick smile when she caught his eye, and he nodded in acknowledgment. She watched his eyes dart over her group, as if counting. He must not have realized there was an overflow room. A wave of smug satisfaction washed over Jo. She hid her smile behind her cupcake.
Felix switched gears the moment his game was done. He grabbed the raffle bowl and thanked everyone for coming as he stirred up the papers inside. Leni quickly replaced the cupcake box in her arms with a basket full of dice sets. They’d planned for three winners, but with so many people, and plenty of dice to go around, they bumped it up to five. The woman from Stan’s was one of the winners, and Jo cheered as she chose a set of pink dice to match her hair.
“Let’s hear it once more for our winners,” Felix said, leading the group in a final round of applause. “We hope to see you all at Monsters and Mythology night next week. Every Tuesday, all summer long, we’ll be here.”
“The library’s open until nine if you’d like to browse!” Leni called, bouncing on her toes. “MnM books are in the sci-fi and fantasy section.”
“And take cupcakes on the way out,” added Jo. “Please don’t make me take these home.”
As the din of conversation rose, Jo noticed Warren pull Felix aside. Leni stood near the door, offering cupcakes as people slowly filtered out. Jo decided to check on Tito.
“What did you think, Tito?” she asked. “I hope you weren’t bored just watching.”
“Solete, I’m so proud of my Felix,” he replied, his eyes shining. “It feels good to see him happy again. Thank you for bringing me.”
Jo’s heart melted. “I’m so glad it went well. Did everyone in here have a good time?”
“The best time. Including me.” Tito took Jo’s hand and kissed her knuckles.
“Stealing my girl, old man?” Felix said. He sauntered over to them with his hands in his pockets and a winning smile on his face. Jo looked him up and down, enjoying the way his slacks tightened over his thighs with every step. The sight of his approach would probably never cease to make her shiver. She leaned back against the wall so she didn’t lose control and pounce on him.
Before she or Tito could respond, though, Vanessa’s dad stood up from his table. He and Vanessa were the last two attendees left in the room.
“Excuse me, sir?” he asked, glancing at Felix’s name tag. “Are you in charge?”
“I am,” Felix said, instantly switching back to his professional demeanor. He extended his hand to the man. “Felix Navarro. What can I help you with, sir? Did you enjoy the event this evening?”
“Greg Pearce.” He shook Felix’s hand. “My daughter, Vanessa.”
Felix nodded at Vanessa, who waved from behind her dad’s back. Jo slipped away to help Leni clean up, both of them doing a terrible job of pretending not to eavesdrop.
“I had a great time. We both did,” Greg continued. “I was wondering if you need more volunteers to GM. I’ve been playing MnM off and on for decades. I used to organize SWOP events at a game store in Wichita, but they shuttered about a year ago. I know a bunch of the people who played there. I bet they’d make the drive a couple times a month for the chance to play and GM again.”
“That sounds incredible,” Felix said. Jo could hear the barely restrained elation in his voice. She and Leni shared a smile. “To be frank, the turnout tonight was higher than anticipated, so more volunteers are sorely needed. I’d love to set up a time to connect. Would you mind emailing me about this? Let’s head upstairs, and I can give you my card.”
“Be glad to. Thanks for bringing MnM to Ashville.”
While Felix was upstairs, Leni and Jo packed up, reset the tables and chairs, and escorted Tito to the elevator. He peppered them with questions about dragons and dice, trying to get a better grasp on what the heck he’d just witnessed. Leni was only too happy to oblige. When the elevator dinged on the ground floor, she took his arm and walked him over to the fantasy section, book recommendations falling from her lips one after another.
Jo trailed after them, but switched directions when Felix came around the corner from the reading room. She watched him walking toward her again, giving him another, less subtle once-over.
Felix’s eyes sparkled, but he kept his voice polite. “The library is closing in five minutes, miss. May I help you find something?”
“No, thank you,” Jo said softly, gazing up at him. “I have everything I need right here.”
A slow smile spread across Felix’s face. His eyes crinkled in the corners. “You know tonight never would’ve happened without you, right?”
Jo scoffed lightly and looked down at her hands. “I don’t—”
“Stop.” Felix touched her chin with the tip of his finger and tilted her head up. His dark brown eyes smoldered. Jo had never had someone smolder at her before, but seriously, there was no other word for it. “Don’t do that. If you hadn’t walked into my life six weeks ago, none of this would have happened. You did this, Jo. All of it.”
Jo opened her mouth to say something. What to say, she didn’t know. She wanted to remind him that she didn’t do this alone. He and Leni had done more than their share of the work. But, God, the look in his eyes halted all of the words on her tongue. She could tell Felix didn’t want to hear any of that. Another time, maybe. Right now, he seemed to want Jo to accept his words. To feel appreciated and acknowledged and seen.
“Th—”
A quiet laugh around the corner broke the moment. Felix took a large step back, turning toward the people exiting the reading room and wishing them a good night. Jo pressed her lips together and veered toward the front desk, her heart pounding against her ribs. After the patrons were gone, he moved behind the desk to shut down the computers for the night.
“What did Warren talk to you about?” she asked.
Felix grinned. “He congratulated me, and by extension, Leni and you, for the wildly successful event. He wants to meet tomorrow to talk about the game night program for the rest of the summer.”
“What about it? Isn’t everything all set?”
“He didn’t say specifically. But he sounded excited, so I hope it can only be good news.”
“Fingers crossed.” Jo said, making the gesture with both hands. “I need to get home to Merry soon, but do you want to come over?”
He winced and gave her a remorseful look. “I’m sorry, cari?o, I’m exhausted. I need to crash as soon as I drop Tito off. Where is he, anyway?”
“In sci-fi-fantasy. Leni’s turning him into a nerd,” Jo said. They shared a laugh even as guilt pricked at her. “Do you want me to take him home? I didn’t mean to give you one more thing to worry about tonight.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t mind. I’ve barely spoken to him tonight.” His brow furrowed, and he cocked his head at her. “How did you even get him here? Only family can sign residents out.”
“Ah, ah—not just family,” Jo said, shaking her finger at him. “It’s anyone designated by the resident.”
“Which is me. And my parents, who, as far as I know, are in Barcelona.”
“And me. Tito added me last week.”
“Last…” He put his fists on his hips like a stern parent. “And neither of you thought to mention that at brunch on Sunday?”
“We wanted to surprise you?” Jo spread her hands helplessly as Felix unleashed a dramatic sigh. “It was Tito’s idea!”
He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I never should have introduced the two of you. You’re both menaces to society.”
She braced her forearms on the desk and leaned forward. “Yeah. But you love us.”
“Yes, I do.” Felix mirrored her, hands flat on his side of the desk, torso pitched toward her. Jo recognized the look in his eyes and flicked her gaze toward the camera above the desk. He frowned and leaned back. “How about I come over tomorrow night, cari?o mío?”
“Tomorrow it is. I’ll make us dinner to celebrate tonight’s success. Which I made possible.” It wasn’t anything like the heartfelt “thank you” she’d planned to give him earlier, but he looked pleased to hear her take credit anyway.
“Sounds perfect,” he said. “Now where’s that old man? Tito! Library’s closed!”
“Sorry!” Leni called back. “We’re coming.”
She entered the lobby a minute later, Tito on one arm and a stack of urban fantasy under the other.