“While I’m sure you know what I meant, I will reiterate that it is nice to be working with a young, handsome, and charming man.”
A mixture of both frustration and anger ricocheted through me. “For God’s sake, GramBea, I’ve barely caught my breath after catching Grant cheating!”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Are you aware that I’m still processing? That in the emotional turmoil and hell where I currently reside, I can’t even fathom finding another man attractive?”
“Yes, Finley, I’m aware of that.”
“Then why would you bother bringing it up?”
“Because I’m challenging you—”
“Oh yeah, you’re challenging my sanity for sure.”
GramBea shook her head. “I’m challenging you to remember in spite of the pain, you’re still alive. You might be broken, but you’re fixable. You’re allowed to find another man attractive as well as enjoy his company. Most of all, you’re allowed to find moments of levity. You’re allowed all those things even as you grieve the death of your marriage.”
Well, all right. Maybe she had a point. “Is that how you handled Granddaddy’s death?”
Sadness flashed in her eyes. “I’ve heard people say death is kinder than divorce. Somehow the fact they knowingly didn’t choose to leave you makes it easier.”
“I totally get that. It’s pretty hellish knowing Grant stopped loving me, or he never truly loved me.”
“I can only imagine it is. As your grandmother, I hate more than anything in the world to see you in pain.”
“I know. But in spite of how you feel I should handle things, I’m going to need time.”
GramBea held her hands up. “Okay, okay. I’ll give you time.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
“Will you just promise you’ll try to look even if you’re not going to touch?”
Groaning, I replied, “You’re impossible.”
“No, I’m tenacious. It’s what has kept the women of our family going. You’ve just got to learn to embrace it.”
“I will.” Giving her a pointed look, I added, “In time.”
With a reluctant sigh, she nodded. “All right. Now I’m going to check out my book and head home. Just call me when you’re ready to come home.”
I would have offered to walk, but there was the pesky fact I’d worn heels for my job interview. “Okay, I will.”
“Good luck, Finley Anne,” GramBea said before heading to the circulation desk.
At the thought of the shape of the history room, I muttered, “I’m going to need it.”
Chapter Six
Bright and early on Tuesday, I headed into the library armed physically with the paperwork Naomi had given me to fill out and emotionally with the desire to do the best damn job I could. I hit the ground running, working on the history room. In my mind, I had nicknamed it Dante’s Inferno since it was in such chaos. The first thing I did was going box by box to catalogue what was inside. Using my laptop, I made a list to help me organize the shelves later.
Everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome, including Zeke. Whenever I headed out of the Inferno to go to the bathroom or get something to drink, he would throw up a hand and smile. Of course, he never came by the room to chit-chat like some of the others did. During his interactions with the patrons, he always acted like a perfect gentleman. Yet there was still something aloof about him. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. No one was that good-looking and nice. I came to the conclusion he was harboring some kind of secret.
By Friday afternoon, I’d learned tidbits about every single female employee of the library. However, one person still remained a mystery. Zeke. Maybe it was part of my journalism background or maybe it was partly I was nosy, but I was desperate for more information about him. While I told myself it was because he could potentially be dangerous, deep down I knew the truth.
I was seriously attracted to him.
Considering where I was in my life at the moment, it was completely alarming. Over the course of my career at the paper, I’d worked with a lot of men. As long as I was engaged or married to Grant, I’d never found myself attracted to any of them. Sure, I might find one ridiculously good-looking, but that was as far as it went. Attraction, by definition, meant to evoke interest, liking, or desire. I think we all know where desire leads, and it isn’t good.
Looking back, I think it was one of the reasons why I’d gone off on GramBea when she’d suggested a potential romance down the road between Zeke and me. If I was already attracted to someone else, how could that possibly paint Grant as the ultimate villain? I was still supposed to be wounded and battle-scarred by the misdeeds of my cheating husband. I wasn’t supposed to be taking notice of the first new male peen that came my way. Especially a mysterious peen that could be in town for nefarious purposes.
During my lunchbreak on Friday, I decided to try and unearth some dirt on Zeke. After scarfing down my sandwich, I hung around the circulation desk to do a little interrogating of Thuy. I let a few minutes of small talk pass before I went in for the target. “It seems we’re not the only out-of-towners here at the library.” I nodded my head at the bank of computers where Zeke was working.
“Yeah, it’s crazy, isn’t it? Who would have thought two West Coast people would ever land in Green Valley?”
“I know.” I leaned back against the counter. “I haven’t gotten to talk to him much. He seems really cool.”
“He is. I don’t know many men who would volunteer most of their downtime to help out a library.”
“So true.” Shifting on my stool, I asked, “What else do you know about him?”
Thuy shrugged. “Not much.”
“How long has he been here?”
“A month.”
“He’s been here that long, and you don’t know anything about him?”
Thuy gave me an odd look. “It’s been a busy month putting the library back together after the remodeling.”
“Oh yeah, of course.” I nibbled my lip as I worked on how to continue my line of questioning. “It’s just always interesting to me what attracts people to small towns. With me, it was divorce and moving back to my family, and with you, it was death and helping out a friend.” Thuy had come to Green Valley from California with her friend, Madison, who was a former native. What was just supposed to be a quick trip to Madison’s father’s funeral turned into them staying to take over running his farm. She’d also fallen in love with a former biker, Drill.
“Zeke has never said what brought him here. Just that he was on sabbatical.”
“Why all the mystery?” I murmured more to myself than to Thuy.
“Sometimes people escape to a small-town to hide from their problems.” When I flicked my gaze to hers, she gave me a knowing look. “Maybe he needs privacy.”
“Of course,” I repeated. Instantly, I felt like an ass. Thuy was right. It was none of my business what Zeke was doing in Green Valley. Until I saw a mugshot warning he was a wanted man, I needed to let it go. I spent the rest of the afternoon focused on the Inferno and not on trying to decipher what Zeke Masters was up to.
After all the patrons had left and Thuy and Sabrina had said their goodbyes, I found myself still toiling in the Inferno. I was half inside a box when my phone rang. With the ring tone, I immediately knew who it was.
Once I extricated myself from the box, I quickly grabbed my phone. “Hey GramBea.”
“Finley Anne, where are you? It’s six thirty.”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “I wasn’t aware I had a curfew.”
“Don’t be smart with me, young lady. We’ve been waiting to start dinner until you got home.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I’m actually going to stay a little longer tonight. I’m making a lot of headway with the shelving, and I think a few more hours might wrap it up.”
“What about dinner?”
“I’ll be fine. I can buy some snacks from the vend
ing machine.”
“You mean you can buy junk.”
God, deliver me from the patronizing. “It’ll tide me over until I can eat the leftovers.”
GramBea sighed into the phone. “All right. Just don’t stay too late.”
“I won’t.”
“You have the doors locked, don’t you?”
“Yesss,” I hissed like a dramatic teenager.
“There’s no need to be exasperated, Finley. A single woman always needs to be mindful of her safety.”
I bit my tongue to keep from arguing that this was the backwoods and not the big city. “Yes, GramBea.”
“Okay, then, I’ll see you at home soon.”
“Bye,” I replied before quickly hanging up.
Before I could get back into the thick of things, I realized it was entirely too quiet, which was sort of an oxymoron considering I was in a library. Scrolling through the iTunes on my phone, I settled on one of my favorites. After plugging my phone into one of the speakers, the vibrato of Freddie Mercury filled the room.
With three boxes of high-level shelving to put away, I shoved one of the tables against the shelves before stacking the boxes on top. I kicked off my shoes and pulled myself up onto the table. After stomping along to We Will Rock You, the song changed over to Somebody to Love. Glancing up at the ceiling, I sighed. “My new theme song.”
As I shelved the books, I couldn’t help singing along. Especially since I felt the lyrics.
After sliding the last book in my arms on the shelf, I brought my hand to my mouth to mime a microphone. “Caaaan, anybody find meeeee. Somebody to love!” Before picking up more, I shimmied across the surface of the table performing to the shelves like they were a concert crowd.
“I get down, down, on my knees, knees, and I start to pray!”
When I whirled around and jabbed my finger in the air, I saw I wasn’t alone. “Fucking hell!” I screeched while jumping out of my skin. My reaction sent me wobbling at the edge of the table. I then proceeded to lose my balance. As I started to fall, Zeke rushed forward to catch me. Unfortunately, he tripped on a few boxes, so he ended up breaking my fall as we toppled to the ground where I landed on top of him.
Gazing down at him, I asked, “Oh, my God. Are you all right?”
Amusement twinkled in his eyes. “I will be when you get off me.”
“Right. Sorry.” Grunting with exertion, I scrambled off his legs and rose to my feet, desperately trying to preserve a little dignity.
As Zeke rubbed his head, he peered up at me. “What are you doing here so late?”
I drew my shoulders back. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
The corners of Zeke’s lips quirked up. “It looks like you’re organizing shelves on the pretense of perfecting a karaoke routine.”
“Not quite,” I replied as Zeke got to his feet. “Well, the organizing shelves part is correct.”
Gazing around, Zeke replied, “You’ve really made some headway in the last couple of days.”
“Thanks. It’s taken a lot of work. I hated to leave tonight until I finished with the shelving.”
“Your family doesn’t need you?”
I blinked at him since it was kind of out in left field for him to be bringing up my family. “No. They’re fully capable of taking care of themselves.”
“Right . . . sure.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I said, “I could probably ask you what you’re doing here so late.”
“I’d left the computers updating, so I wanted to make sure they were okay.”
“Sounds like that could’ve waited until morning.”
He gave me a funny look. “Maybe.”
I cocked my head at him. “You know, I’ve never met anyone who volunteered in their off time.”
With an amused look, Zeke asked, “Doesn’t everyone volunteer during their off time?”
Right. Duh. Jesus, why was I coming off sounding like a total idiot around him? “Yes. I just meant, here you are on vacation, and you’re giving up your free-time to work on computers.”
“Computers are my business back home.”
“I see. Being a journalist used to be my job, but I tended to leave it alone when I was on vacation.”
“Are you sure about that because you seem pretty inquisitive to me right now, and we’re pretty much off the clock.”
I had the feeling “pretty inquisitive” was code for nosy bitch. “Maybe I am.”
Leaning in Zeke asked, “Do you want the truth?”
I sucked in a breath. “Yes.”
“I was hoping to maybe get a look at the microfilm.”
Okay, that wasn’t the answer I was expecting. I thought he was about to unload a clue as to why he was here. I furrowed my brows at him. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Since I started working here”—he gave me a pointed look—“or volunteering here, the microfilm machine has been packed up. I thought since you’d been getting so much done, it might be unpacked.”
“No. Sorry. I was leaving that until the very last.”
“I see.”
Tilting my head, I couldn’t help asking, “What do you want with the microfilm?”
A momentary hesitation flickered in Zeke’s eyes before he replied, “I need to start transferring it over to the computer program.”
Dammit, foiled again for something salacious. “Right. Of course.”
Zeke jerked his thumb towards the door. “Well, I guess I better get back to work and let you do the same.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep the music down this time.”
“I’m a fan of Queen.” With a wink, he added, “I’d just watch your dance moves.”
Mortification flooded my face. “Uh, yeah, I’ll try.”
Nodding, Zeke replied, “Good night, Finley.”
“Good night.”
After he closed the door behind him, I collapsed into the nearest chair. Burying my head in my hands, I groaned. While embarrassed, I couldn’t help also feeling slightly defeated. I’d had Zeke all to myself for interrogating, and I had let him off easy. Barely a few weeks in Green Valley had apparently caused my journalistic tendencies to seriously slip.
Eyeing the mess in the room, I shook my head. I wasn’t a quitter. I would push through to finish the room. But more than that, I would get to the bottom of Zeke’s secret.
Chapter Seven
At the close of work on Friday afternoon, I felt like celebrating. Not only had I completed the first week of my new career, but I’d also whipped the history room into shape in record time. Thuy and Naomi were suitably impressed, which somewhat restored my battered self-esteem.
After driving home from work, I wanted nothing more than to soak in a hot bath while enjoying a glass of wine. However, those plans were shot to hell the moment I walked through the back door. “Change your clothes and spruce up your makeup. We’re going out for a celebratory dinner for your first week at the library!” GramBea exclaimed.
While I wanted to be incredibly selfish and tell her to bring me back something, I remembered how wonderful they had been to me the past week. “Fine. Give me twenty minutes.”
“Take thirty. You’ll want to get those dust bunnies out of your hair,” GramBea said with a smile.
Oh yes, the Lord was testing me this evening. I took the back set of stairs to the second floor. I shook my hair out before brushing through it to ensure it was dust bunny free. As I relined my eyes, the doorbell rang, which was slightly unusual. After I slipped into a semi-dressy sundress, I tromped down the back stairs and reemerged in the kitchen. Since the room was empty, I walked over to the granite-topped island to flip through some of the mail. Not that I should have expected to be receiving any yet. Grant had called to tell me he had spoken to a lawyer. He didn’t actually tell me that because I let the phone call go to voicemail.
When the girls reappeared, I tossed the mail back on the counter. “Here I am. Let’s get this celebratory dinner started.”
A
t the sound of a cough coming from the living room, I leaned back from the island and peered down the hallway. In the distance, I saw a somewhat familiar looking lanky figure perched on the sofa. “Is that Marcus?”
Marcus was Aunt Dot’s great-nephew on her husband’s side. We were only a few years apart, and we’d played together some as children. Mainly because I hated playing outdoors while Marcus’s frequent nosebleeds and allergies prevented him.
Just as Marcus raised his hand in hello, Dot swept passed me to close the kitchen door. When she turned around, she wore a cat-ate-the-canary grin.
“Why did you close the door?” My gaze bounced from hers over to GramBea’s who wore a similar odd smile. “What’s going on?”
Silence continued to permeate the kitchen until Estelle threw up her hands in a huff. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, would one of you tell her?”
With beads of sweat beginning to pop out on the back of my neck, I asked, “Tell me what?”
Fingering the pearls at her neck, Dot said, “I thought it was high time I tried my hand at a little matchmaking.”
My eyes bulged. “Marcus is here for me? Like to take me on a date?”
Dot wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a date. Just some conversation over dinner.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I countered, “Back in Atlanta, we call that a date.”
“Fine then. It’s a date.”
“Uh, I’m barely separated, least of all I’m not actually divorced!”
“We’re aware of that,” GramBea replied.
“Does Marcus know that?”
“Yes, he’s aware that you’re separated without the hopes of reconciliation.”
Ouch. Talk about sounding like a leper. “I have been in Green Valley one week. I caught Grant and Xavier together nine days ago. That’s not even two weeks.”
“I tried to tell them,” Estelle said.
“Yeah, so did I.” I narrowed my eyes at GramBea. “Was there any part of our conversation at the library on Monday that wasn’t clear?”
Shelf Awareness: Green Valley Library Book #4 Page 5