Chapter 15 #3
Stella pulled Ariel into a hug. “I promise. Thank you for not freaking out.”
Ariel laughed. “Oh, I’m freaking out but also handling it well. Until tomorrow.” She pointed her finger at Jack. “You take
care of her. No pirate mishaps.”
“You have my promise,” Jack said with a slight bow of his head.
Ariel waved good night to Jack, and Stella walked her to the front door. “This is kinda surreal,” Ariel said.
“Tell me about it,” Stella agreed.
“Are you okay, like really okay?” Ariel asked, studying Stella with her large eyes. “With Arnie in the hospital and those painful words that show up
unannounced, and now Jack, who’s clearly into you, plus a pirate on the loose.”
Stella rubbed her left temple. “My life is a complete disaster. Ever since I burned that journal.”
Ariel’s eyebrows lifted. “That could have been the catalyst for all of this.”
“That’s what I believe,” Stella said. “I think burning those words set loose all these other events too. Like dominoes.” More like dynamite. “I don’t know how, but burning my heartbroken words freed my heart.”
Tears filled Ariel’s eyes. She touched Stella’s arm. “I’ve been wanting your heart to be free for so long.”
“Me too,” Stella said. “But I’m no closer to understanding what those painful words mean, and having the added complication
of Jack and the library just adds to my confusion.”
Ariel scrunched up her nose. “Is Jack a complication?”
“Good question,” Stella said honestly. “In a way, yes, because I—”
“Because you’re totally into him!” Ariel said in a dramatic whisper, glancing over Stella’s shoulder to locate Jack.
“Without getting too deep into the workings of everything, what you don’t know is that the people from the books can only
be here for two weeks, the same amount of time you’re allowed to check out a library book.”
Ariel’s disappointment pushed out her lips. “Jack can’t stay?”
Stella shook her head with the leaden reminder.
Ariel twirled the crescent moon earring in her right ear. “Regardless, Jack and the library might be part of what leads you to understanding all of this, including yourself and the new words. Call me tomorrow.”
“Be careful in this weather.” Stella locked the library doors behind her. She waved through the glass as Ariel dashed into
the rain.
Stella returned to the desk, her thoughts whirling. “If we find Hook, what should we do? Tie him up again?”
“That’s probably our best option.”
Rain slashed against the windows, and Stella watched the raging storm for a moment. “Where should we start?”
Jack slipped his hands into his pockets. “Hook likes to brood. That much I know about him. He’s likely plotting revenge in
a hideout somewhere, but he’ll also be searching for his sword, which he won’t find. There’s a back corner in the archives
floor where the stones are loose, and Crusoe hid it. If we can’t subdue Hook, you won’t like my suggestion for how to get
rid of him.”
Stella’s expression twisted. “You don’t mean turn him to ashes, do you? Because I won’t be able to stab him. I’d more likely
stab myself in the process.”
“Leave the stabbing to me,” he said. “The other option would be to buy a case of rum and let him drink himself into a stupor.”
Stella groaned. “Our two options are murder or breaking not only the library rules but also the law by having a case of rum in a public building that’s open to children. I’m not interested in jail time.”
“That’s a no on the rum, then?” She cut her gaze at him, and he offered her a comforting smile. “We’ll get through this together.
I promise.”
Together. The word wrapped around her heart like a hug.
Her breath stilled, and a flicker of hope appeared inside her.
She wanted to tamp it down—hope was dangerous—but looking at Jack’s smile, she didn’t want to close herself off or push him away.
She wanted to pretend for a few minutes that she was together with a handsome man who made her almost believe everything would work out.
With the help of Crusoe and Darcy, Stella and Jack spent the next half hour scouring every corner and opening every door.
Hook was a no-show and didn’t respond to threats, name calling, or insults of any kind.
At nearly ten Stella dropped into the chair behind the circulation desk. “I think we should call it a night. At this point,
I’m so exhausted I don’t care where he is or if he shows up as soon as I leave.”
The thunder and lightning had dissipated, but the rain continued to fall in dark, fast-moving sheets.
Jack looked toward the windows. “Crusoe can keep an eye out for him, but I bet Hook will sulk a while longer. Why don’t you
stay at Arnie’s tonight? He wouldn’t care, and you won’t have to drive home in this weather. After all this rain, the roads
will be slick.”
Jack had a point. The day had been so long and full that it felt like a week’s worth of time folded into one day, leaving
her weary and emotionally drained. She could run across the grass and go to bed without having to drive through the rainstorm.
“That’s a great idea,” she said, reaching for her purse.
With the book club disaster and then searching for Hook, Stella had forgotten what she and Jack had been doing right before
Ariel and the screaming interrupted them. The memory returned as she faced Jack. He had been seconds away from kissing her.
“Well, good night, Jack,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning?”
He nodded. “Give me a few minutes, will you? Don’t leave until I get back.”
Stella leaned against the counter while she waited.
In an unexpected moment of foolishness, she gave herself permission to daydream about what it would be like to kiss Jack.
Without much effort, her imagination took off on feathery wings.
Minutes later, her eyes snapped open when she heard Jack’s footsteps.
She touched her fingertips to her cheeks, feeling her warm, flushed skin.
“Crusoe and Darcy will keep watch for Hook,” he said.
Baby-blue words as fluffy as goose-down pillows slid out from beneath her sandals. Don’t go. Come closer. Hope. She tried to step on them before Jack noticed.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she said, awkwardly riffling through her purse in search of her keys.
Jack reached out for her hand, twining his fingers with hers. “I’ll walk you home.”
“In this weather?” she asked in surprise, even though the idea thrilled her.
He grinned. “I’ll run you home. Probably at a full-out sprint, but yes, I’d like to see you safely to Arnie’s.”
“Can you . . . leave the library?” Stella asked. Panic speared through her at the thought of something happening to him.
He squeezed her fingers gently. “There’s nothing to worry about as long as I come back. Will you let me walk you home?”
Stella nodded, and happiness swelled inside her. She flipped off the library’s lights, leaving the one light on over the circulation
desk. She set the alarm, which would give them sixty seconds to leave, then she pushed open the back door only to have the
wind slam it shut again.
“This is going to be fun,” she said, pushing open the heavy door again. “I hope you know how to swim. It might be more water
than land out there.”
She and Jack rushed out the door and jumped down the stairs.
They were soaked within seconds. The lawn between the library and Arnie’s cottage was a soggy mess, as if they were hightailing it through a marsh instead of across the grass.
Her sandals gave her no traction, and she slid over the ground like someone wearing roller skates.
When they reached the cottage, Stella stood beneath the sheltered side porch, wheezing and laughing. Her wet curls were plastered
to her face and dripping down her back. She shoved them off her cheeks. Jack’s face was shadowed in the darkness, but she
could tell he was smiling. Watery words formed in the raindrops over his shoulder. Breathless. Whisper. Come here.
“Thanks for running me home, Jack. I really—”
He stepped toward her and pressed his mouth against hers, his lips warm and wet with rain. Desire moved through her lightning-fast,
her body responding naturally to his closeness. A tingling sensation in her chest spread a slow, pins-and-needles-type burn,
waking up all the parts of her that had been sleeping or hiding from intimacy for months. She pressed her palms against his
chest, feeling the warmth of him through his wet shirt. He slid his hand to the back of her head and pulled her closer, then
looped his other arm around her waist, holding her.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been properly kissed. Wade had kissed her, but they’d never found a rhythm that
worked well, and she’d always thought of his kisses as a desperate escape for him, always on a timer.
Jack kissed her like he could go all night, and more than that, like he wanted to go all night.
He let his hands slide up her sides. She felt his heat through the thin, wet fabric of her blouse.
He stopped kissing her long enough to say, “I think I should come inside. Make sure you get in safely.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine—”
“I’d like to come inside, Stella.”
Stella’s lips formed a small o, and her heart thumped a frantic beat in her chest. He wanted to come inside. “You’ll be gone in a few days,” she said before
she could stop herself. Just saying the words swept low-grade grief through her.
“But I’m here now. I don’t want to leave you yet.”
Stella’s heart pounded and begged her to dive into the moment. “I don’t want you to leave either.”
She fumbled for Arnie’s key on her key ring. Then she unlocked the door, turned the knob, and looked over her shoulder at
Jack as she pushed it open. He looped his arm around her waist and tugged her toward him, leaning down to kiss her as they
stumbled through the open door, locked together and dripping water all over the hardwood.