Chapter Twenty-Two
C HLOE CHECKED UP on the customers’ late returns. Last time she had closed the window without finishing going through the list. She saw that there were three books that hadn’t been returned to the library yet.
‘The first step is to send a letter to their address,’ Mrs Cook explained. ‘Then if they don’t bring the book back or respond after seven business days, ring them.’
It sounded simple enough. Chloe dug out the template for the warning letter, changing only the names and addresses, and printed them off to be sent.
The library fees for the late returns weren’t super expensive, but Chloe hoped that the people would get their letters and remember to return the books to where they belonged.
The third book on the list was overdue by several months, longer than Chloe had been working here, and the letter had gone ignored. ‘Oh dear,’ said Mrs Cook. ‘I haven’t been keeping on top of this, have I?’
‘It’s all right,’ Chloe reassured her. ‘I’ll give them a call.’
She had the phone number and address in front of her in the database. It was a home phone number, and nobody answered it. She supposed they must be at work.
‘She lives nearby,’ said Mrs Cook. ‘H. Campbell.’
‘Hm?’ Chloe clicked on the record to see the full name. ‘Oh! It’s Hannah.’
She didn’t even know her friend had come to the library before the event. Reassuring Mrs Cook that she had Hannah’s private number, she sent her a text message.
Hannah soon responded with an apology, saying she must have forgotten.
Could you come and pick up the book at my house this weekend? And I’ll pay you the fee. If that’s okay? We could have a cheeky cup of tea as well?
Chloe didn’t mind and said as much back. She hadn’t visited Hannah’s home yet, and it would be nice to see where she was living now.
I’ll see you on Saturday.
‘It’s sorted, Mrs Cook. I’ll get the book back on Saturday,’ she reported to the librarian.
Chloe went out to post the other late notice letters, briefly wondering if the books they had borrowed had started glowing.
She amused herself for a moment by imagining a character escaping from a book while someone was reading it, ready to cause havoc around their home.
The thought was funny at first, but then she was alarmed. That would never really happen, would it?
She brought it up with Mrs Cook, who tapped her chin in thought. ‘I shouldn’t think so, Chloe. I think the library’s magic is confined to these walls, and it seems only certain people are allowed to see it at work.’
‘The superhero came out at the café,’ Chloe argued.
‘That’s true, but the comic book only started glowing when it was inside the library, right?
’ Mrs Cook glanced at the beams above their heads.
Clementine was on one of them, sitting with his tail hanging off the side, regarding them with a haughty look.
‘Hey, library? Books are not magic when they’re outside these walls, right? ’
The building creaked its response, and Mrs Cook gave a satisfied nod. ‘Nothing to worry about, love.’
That Saturday, Chloe entered the address she had saved from the library account’s information into her GPS .
Hannah’s house wasn’t too far from here, and anticipating a cup of tea and a good hour of gossip, she drove to the Hazel Lane neighbourhood.
Today was sunny and cold, and Chloe couldn’t help admiring the picturesque landscape as her car trundled over the country road.
The hills, traditional cottages, and fields dotted with sheep were cute and cosy, more comforting than a city skyline.
Feeling cheerful, she pulled up to number seventeen, parking her car next to the black Saab in front of the house. It was a terraced home, maybe two-bedroom, with stuffed animals on the windowsill that made Chloe smile. They had to be Lily’s.
The fee for the late library book wasn’t too bad, but Chloe still made up her mind to buy a few cakes at the café this week to soften the blow.
Hannah was a busy mother, and no doubt the library book was tucked away on a shelf somewhere, an honest mistake.
She knocked on her friend’s door and it opened a minute later.
Lily stood in the doorway, her long brown hair a mess like Hannah had been trying to put it up for her while Lily was wriggling around. The little girl rubbed her eyes.
‘Hi, Lily.’ Chloe crouched, recalling that children prefer for adults to be at their eye level. ‘I’m here to pick up a book for the library. Is your mum coming to the door?’
‘My mum?’ Lily looked confused. ‘No, this is my dad’s house.’
‘Sorry?’ Confusion swept through Chloe as heavy footsteps approached the door.
‘Who’s there, Lily?’ said a man’s voice and the door opened fully.
Before her, balder and with a beer gut, stood Chloe’s ex-fiancé, Liam.
For a moment they stared at each other, Chloe’s eyebrows rising in shock. The blue eyes were the same, though his brown hair had thinned. There were food stains on his old shirt.
‘Wow. Chloe, is that you?’ Liam’s face lit up. ‘You look good.’
‘Uh,’ said Chloe, thoroughly confused. ‘Y-you’re Lily’s dad?’
Liam and Hannah. Liam, Lily’s dad. The idiot who only saw her on weekends.
‘This is your house,’ she said finally, her brain slowly catching up.
‘Chloe, want to see my Hot Wheels?’ Lily asked, taking her hand.
‘I heard you were back in town, Chloe. How’ve you been?
’ Liam asked, like the last time they saw each other hadn’t been her yelling at him for kissing her sister.
In a daze, Chloe let Lily pull her to the living room, where toys and books were scattered across the floorboards and a cartoon was playing on the TV .
‘I’ll make you a brew,’ said Liam, halfway out the door. ‘Milky with no sugar, right?’
It sickened her that he remembered, but she gave a weak nod. ‘Uh, yeah. I’m just going to run to the toilet . . . Lily, I’ll have a look at your cars in a sec, okay?’
‘Okay.’ Lily was already eating some crisps, entranced with her show.
Chloe locked the door to the bathroom and rang Hannah, her heart thumping a hundred miles an hour. She felt like a criminal, sitting on the closed toilet seat and leaning forward, as though that would make her voice quieter. Her migraine was coming back.
‘Hi, Chloe. Are you nearly here? Did you get lost?’
‘Hannah!’ Chloe hissed. ‘What the hell? I’m at Liam’s house!’
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, ‘What?’
‘The address on your library card must have been wrong. It sent me here to Liam’s. Lily is here. Lily’s dad is Liam?’
‘Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I’ll be right there. I must have gotten the library card when I lived there and . . . just wait there, okay? I’m sorry. I’ll be over in five minutes.’
Chloe held her cup of tea in her hands, feeling so awkward that she almost wished she was facing Eric and talking about her rejection instead. It would be less painful than this.
Lily was their saving grace, happily assuming Chloe was her dad’s friend, chattering on about her different Hot Wheels cars while Chloe watched Liam out of the corner of her eye.
It was surreal, seeing him here. She had always remembered him at eighteen, perfect in her eyes until he’d betrayed her.
But this guy was . . . older. Imperfect. Balding. Normal.
‘This is the fastest one, watch.’ Lily pulled back her car and let it go. It raced across the floor and hit Chloe in the foot.
‘Oh!’ she said, even though it didn’t hurt. ‘Wow, um, Lily’s talking is really good for her age.’
‘Yeah, she’s my little genius,’ said Liam proudly.
She sipped her tea, glad that at least she had that to do while waiting for Hannah. Damn him, but the tea was made perfectly.
Hannah burst in five minutes later, which felt more like five hours. Her face had blanched and her cardigan was done up lopsidedly, the buttons fastened one too high. She looked between Liam and Chloe.
‘Mummy!’ cried Lily, jumping up from her toys and going to hug Hannah around the waist.
‘Hi, Hannah.’ Liam rose, wiping his hands on his jeans. Maybe he had the decency to feel uncomfortable, too. ‘Cuppa?’
‘No, thanks, Liam. I’m just here to pick up Chloe.’ Hannah was breathless, like she had run all the way here. Chloe set down her cup and said bye to Lily, who seemed a bit upset her mum wasn’t staying.
‘It’s all right, Lily. Hey, want to watch Paw Patrol ?’ asked Liam, and Lily waved goodbye.
‘I still need that book,’ Chloe reminded Hannah.
Hannah slapped her forehead. ‘Right.’
It took some time, but Liam finally dug out the library book from one of Lily’s toy boxes. Chloe could guess why Liam hadn’t been back to the library to return it if he knew Chloe was working there.
Nausea squirmed in her guts. Liam, Lily’s father. She still couldn’t believe it.
She couldn’t breathe properly until she stepped outside and the cold air hit her face. ‘Chloe, I’m so, so sorry,’ said Hannah quickly. ‘Let me explain.’
They walked up and down the street, leaving their cars in Liam’s front drive. ‘How did that even happen?’ Chloe found herself asking. It just seemed so unlikely.
‘Oh, it’s so stupid.’ Hannah sighed. ‘Everyone else had gone, you know? To university or whatever. I asked my cousin to set me up on a blind date, if you can believe that, and it turned out to be Liam.’
‘And he got you pregnant.’ Chloe raised an eyebrow.
‘It was dumb. I laughed at first, thinking it was a joke, but my cousin worked with him and didn’t know about .
. . everything. About you. And you had already left by then.
We got to talking, one thing led to another .
. . We weren’t even going out. I didn’t even like him that much, and when I decided to keep the baby, we tried living together for a bit.
’ She gestured towards Liam’s home, rolling her eyes.
‘I suppose I must have made my library account when my address was registered there. I’d forgotten all about it.
’ She rubbed her hands over her face. ‘I’m sorry.
There never seemed to be a good time to tell you.
Either Lily was there, or we were talking about other things .
. .’ Chloe knew she meant Mum and Dad’s deaths.
She guessed she could understand that. Who would want to drop a fresh bombshell on a grieving friend?
‘This is just so weird,’ Chloe said. Her ex-fiancé had slept with her friend, and they had a child together.
‘He’s one of the few people, apart from me, who didn’t leave this town after school,’ said Hannah.
‘We were reminiscing, you know? And I suppose I was lonely and a bit desperate. Too many tequilas, and next thing you know, I was knocked up. But I really wanted to keep the baby, and I’ve been doing just fine by myself.
’ Sorrow filled her gaze as she gently took Chloe’s wrist. ‘Do you hate me?’
Chloe walked alongside her. ‘Of course I don’t hate you,’ she said finally.
Something strange had happened. Seeing Liam as he was now had shifted something in her.
And despite her continued awkwardness with Gwen, she just couldn’t bring herself to feel anger at Hannah.
As she’d said, Chloe had long left by then.
Things had been over between her and Liam for years.
If anything, she felt bad for Hannah that she was now tied to Liam for ever in their joint parenthood.
‘Good, because I was going to tell you, eventually.’ Hannah blushed.
‘You’ve been so great, with the café and everything, and I just feel like I’ve been a terrible friend.
I didn’t expect to see you walk in that day .
. .’ She was rambling now, and Chloe half listened, trying to process her feelings.
‘I need to take this library book back,’ she said eventually, even though she wasn’t working at the library today.
‘The fee, right?’ Hannah looked anxious. ‘Just let me know how much it is, and I’ll come in and pay during my break or something.’
She still looked so upset that Chloe took her shoulders. ‘Hey, listen. I’m not angry at you. A bit surprised, but that’s all. Liam and I had long since broken up.’ She smiled at her. ‘I got over Liam a long, long time ago. You haven’t done anything wrong.’
‘Oh, Chloe.’ Hannah sounded tearful as she hugged her. ‘You’re amazing, you know that?’
They talked about normal things as they reached their cars.
Paw Patrol was on the television so loud they could hear the cheery theme song through the living room window.
It was still wild that the little girl in there was not only Hannah’s, but Liam’s, too.
Chloe still wasn’t sure how it made her feel. It was weird. And kind of funny.
Chloe hugged Hannah goodbye, reassuring her again that she wasn’t upset with her, and drove back to the library to return the book. A few more days wouldn’t make much of a difference to the fee, but she might as well.
She supposed everyone did make mistakes.
And any bad feelings she might have about the fact had been diminished by Hannah being so apologetic and embarrassed about it.
At least it meant she hadn’t lusted after Liam while Chloe was with him.
And if Liam and Chloe had gotten married, it was doubtful he and Hannah would have gotten together.
It wasn’t until she drove home and took a hot bath that Chloe realised why it didn’t bother her as much as it perhaps should.
She had gotten over Liam a long time ago.
Maybe she had still been upset about everything that had transpired, but she had felt nothing at seeing him except shock.
There was no old flame rekindling, no heartache or pining for what they had lost.
No, when Chloe closed her eyes and let someone she liked wander into her mind, it was a brown-eyed construction worker who made her heart flutter and a smile tug on her lips. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, when Harry had gone from annoying stranger to a friend. Maybe more.
She dunked her head under the surface of the bathwater, the heat heavenly on her scalp.