Chapter 9
Stella’s cell phone alarm buzzed early Thursday morning. She blinked open her eyes, focused on the pale pink wallpaper, and
experienced a moment of forgetfulness. For a few seconds she drifted back to childhood, thinking her dad would be awake in
the kitchen, drinking black coffee and heating up blueberry Pop Tarts for her and Percy’s rushed breakfast before school.
Percy would already be in the bathroom fixing his hair as though his teenage years depended on the perfect hairstyle.
Then reality settled in. No one was in the house with her. Not her dad, not Percy. A weight pressed on her chest, making her
breaths labored. Stella remembered Arnie was in the ICU. She pushed herself into a seated position and battled lightheadedness.
After kicking off the covers, she padded into the bathroom to shower and prepare for a day she wasn’t sure she could handle.
She’d never been in charge of the library full-time without Arnie.
It wasn’t as though managing it was too complex for her, but the idea of being there without Arnie for who knew how long felt all wrong.
What was the library without Arnie? Less enjoyable for one thing.
Lonelier for another. But she wouldn’t be alone today because both Vicki and Dan had agreed to come in.
She’d received no calls or texts during the night alerting her that someone had set off the library alarm. Did that mean the
people in the archives hadn’t left? Or had Arnie given them the alarm code? Would he share something as private as that with
people Stella had never met before? And what about that Jack Mathis guy?
Stella’s thoughts whirled so badly she felt dizzy in the shower. Once out of the hot water, she twisted her wild curls into
a messy bun on top of her head. She dressed in a white blouse and flowy knee-length skirt. Instead of her usual sneakers,
she strapped on a pair of sandals. Then, before she realized what she was doing, she performed a slow twirl in front of the
mirror.
After a complete turn, she stopped and gawked at her reflection. “What are you doing?” It dawned on her then that she was dressing up for a potential encounter with Jack. She rolled her eyes at
her reflection. “Clearly you’re sleep deprived.” Nothing else could explain why she would waste an ounce of energy on her
appearance given everything else that was going on.
Stella stomped into the kitchen, annoyed with her ability to get sidetracked so easily by a handsome face. Her annoyance increased
when she realized she was out of instant coffee pods. She snatched a half-full box of Cheez-Its and drove to the library,
leaving a dusty trail of frustration behind her car.
As she drove, Stella called the hospital.
Lisa was back at the nurses’ desk and bent the rules enough to tell Stella that Arnie had experienced a setback during the night—difficulty breathing and spiking blood pressure.
They had adjusted his medication in order to get his system back in control, and he needed to remain on the oxygen machine.
The doctor didn’t want to risk the chance that Arnie’s heart was not yet strong enough to pump oxygen properly to the rest of his body.
He was doing a little better this morning, and he’d been lucid enough to speak with the doctor and his nurses until he’d fallen asleep again.
His stay in the ICU would be for at least a few more days, and he’d remain under observation for possibly a week, depending on his recovery.
Stella asked Lisa to keep her updated if anything changed.
Blue Sky Valley could never be called a sleepy town. The sun shone down on people walking through the park at the end of Main
Street. Small groups sat outside at the coffee shop’s wrought iron tables, most of them sipping iced beverages in the rising
heat. Families snuggled into Grits & Gravy to fill up on stuffed French toast and pancakes covered with sweet, sticky syrup.
It was an odd juxtaposition to see the townsfolk going about their day like normal when Stella had experienced anything but
a normal evening. Shouldn’t everything be tilted out of alignment, not just her life?
When she arrived at the library, the alarm was still set. Either no one left last night after her, or Arnie’s guests knew
the code. Both options unsettled her. She checked the archives almost as soon as she arrived. The heavy vault door was still
closed and unlocked, but when she walked through the aisles, she found no one. She felt silly doing it, but she called out
to Mr. Darcy and Jack, even wished good morning in French to the couple, but no one responded. Where were they? The most logical
explanation was that Arnie had given them the code, and one of them reset the alarm after they left. If that was the case,
then they were just regular folks. And Jack Mathis wasn’t a character from a book, but someone pretending to be him?
With no one there to offer answers, Stella went through the process of opening the library for the day, clicking around the tiles on her sandaled feet.
Vicki and Dan would be in within the next hour, but without Arnie, the building was oddly quiet.
Even when they weren’t in the same room, Stella felt Arnie’s presence and was comforted by the fact that he was around somewhere.
But now, alone in the library, she felt the silence intensifying his absence and her worry.
It also didn’t help her mood that around every corner she kept imagining running into Jack. Disappointment darkened her temperament.
Shouldn’t she be relieved that the partygoers from the night before were gone and the library was still in working order?
That they hadn’t burned it to the ground or stolen what little money there was or robbed the archives?
“What did you expect, Stella?” she asked herself, sounding as irritated as she felt. “Jack Mathis showing up with coffee,
asking you how your night was?”
“You must have read my mind.”
Stella gasped and spun around so quickly that she had to steady herself against the circulation desk. Jack Mathis stood in
front of her, tall and striking, wearing a pair of shorts, a navy-blue T-shirt with a New York Yankees logo, and white tennis
shoes. He held two mugs, steam rising from both.
“Good morning,” Jack said. He extended a mug toward her and smiled. “Cup of joe? If you don’t mind me saying so, you’re looking
lovely today. How was your evening? Were you able to rest?”
Stella stared at him and pressed her hands against the waistband of her skirt. “You . . . your clothes.”
Jack glanced down as if surveying himself. “More suitable than my uniform, yes?”
Stella’s thoughts shifted to slo-mo. Jack Mathis was just as handsome in street clothes, if not considerably more unsettling for appearing so normal.
At least when he wore the uniform and said he was a man from a book, her brain attempted to accept it.
Now Jack Mathis looked like a regular guy, albeit a distractingly good-looking one, which immediately put Stella on the defensive.
Was he just a regular guy? Someone Arnie “brought out” for her to have a chat with?
Jack extended the mug farther. Stella reached out and wrapped her hands around the warm ceramic. “Yes,” she finally said.
“You look more suitable. Thanks for the coffee.”
Jack sipped from his mug and watched her. “Did you rest?”
Stella stared at the steaming liquid. Was she really going to have a normal conversation with this guy? Neither of them mentioning
how bizarre it was for him to still be here? “Not the greatest night’s sleep I’ve ever had. I didn’t really think you’d be
here today.”
“I don’t expect so,” Jack said.
“How did you get out of the library without setting off the alarm?” Stella asked. “Did Arnie give you the code? How did you
get back inside this morning?”
“I didn’t leave last night,” Jack said simply.
Stella exhaled and put her mug on the desk. “Seriously? You expect me to believe you spent the night in here?”
“Do you have a minute? Let’s sit.” He walked around the desk and slid out a chair for her. He waited for her to sit down before
he sat in the rolling chair near her and scooted his chair closer. “Let’s start with the easier question. How’s Arnie?”
She crossed her legs at the ankles and lifted her mug only to set it down again. “The nurse said he was resting better now,
but he experienced shortness of breath last night, and his blood pressure was high. They adjusted his medications, and they’re
leaving him on the breathing machine for now. The medication adjustment and the oxygen seem to help. She said he might be
in there for as long as a week. I know Arnie, and he’ll follow their directions to a T. I bet he’ll be out of there sooner.
I know he wants to come home.”
Jack’s smile sent a rush of comfort toward Stella. “Hearing that he’s resting well and aiming to come home soon is the best news I’ve heard all day.”
“All day? Been up long?” Stella asked, unable to stop her smile. “It’s only seven.”
“I’ve been up for hours,” he said, then drank more coffee. “Waiting for you.”
Stella straightened in the chair. “Why?”
Jack put down his coffee. “There’s no reason to be scared of me.”
A nervous laugh bubbled up her throat. “I’m not scared.”
“Your expression says otherwise.”
Stella tried to relax her face. “I just don’t know if you’re a creep or not.”
Jack’s laugh charmed her. “A creep? I’ve been waiting for you to get here because I assumed you’d have questions.”
Goose bumps rose on Stella’s arms. “I do have questions, but none of them seem like they’ll cover the entirety of this situation’s
strangeness. I’m having trouble accepting what’s happening here. None of this makes any sense.”
Jack nodded. “That’s a fair response.”
But even as she shared her disbelieving thoughts, she also knew there had been other odd things happening in the library during
the last week, things she couldn’t explain and Arnie had shrugged off. Like the people in the archives the night she fell